Alberto SO
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2014
- Messages
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Hello everyone! Some weeks ago I was in an International deaf exchange in Romania. There I learned some International Sign and watched people from 8 completely different countries use it succesfully to communicate, which of course made me fell in love with it.
Since the exchange finished I've been searching for resources, communities or information about IS, and I've realized these are very scarce. I'd like this thread to be a place where we can share and learn together this wonderful tool.
I'll be adding things to this post progressively, such as basic information and the few resources that currently exist on the Internet. I think it'd be nice to practice together, so maybe we could make a Skype list of people interested in learning, or make a chatroom in a videoconferences website.
To make sharing easier, if you're interested in International Sign say so in your post and I'll add you to the International Signers list, along with a link to your profile. You can add any other information you want, such as your Skype username.
Thank you and let's get this running! <3
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Quick important facts
- It's not a language, but a communication system. It hasn't a defined grammar and its vocabulary is limited. This is why it's called just International Sign instead of International Sign Language.
- Since it doesn't have a grammar of its own, International Sign's speakers usually use their own sign language's structure.
- It's mostly used by travellers, in international deaf exchanges and meetings and in international big deaf events, such as the Deaflympics.
- International Sign was formerly known as Gestuno and it was officially introduced in a book published by the World Federation of the Deaf in 1970. It can be found on the Internet, but most of its signs are now obsolete.
More info: International Sign - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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International Signers list
- Alberto SO
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International Sign dictionaries
- Sematos: While Sematos' IS dictionary has only 440 words, it's the biggest one I've found. It contains most of the signs you'll need to have a communicate in a basic way, but it's missing some important ones. (Most of the videos are vocalized in Spanish, so don't get scared if what they vocalize looks completely incoherent)
- Handspeak: Has only 150 signs, but some of them can't be found in Sematos.
Since the exchange finished I've been searching for resources, communities or information about IS, and I've realized these are very scarce. I'd like this thread to be a place where we can share and learn together this wonderful tool.
I'll be adding things to this post progressively, such as basic information and the few resources that currently exist on the Internet. I think it'd be nice to practice together, so maybe we could make a Skype list of people interested in learning, or make a chatroom in a videoconferences website.
To make sharing easier, if you're interested in International Sign say so in your post and I'll add you to the International Signers list, along with a link to your profile. You can add any other information you want, such as your Skype username.
Thank you and let's get this running! <3
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quick important facts
- It's not a language, but a communication system. It hasn't a defined grammar and its vocabulary is limited. This is why it's called just International Sign instead of International Sign Language.
- Since it doesn't have a grammar of its own, International Sign's speakers usually use their own sign language's structure.
- It's mostly used by travellers, in international deaf exchanges and meetings and in international big deaf events, such as the Deaflympics.
- International Sign was formerly known as Gestuno and it was officially introduced in a book published by the World Federation of the Deaf in 1970. It can be found on the Internet, but most of its signs are now obsolete.
More info: International Sign - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Signers list
- Alberto SO
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Sign dictionaries
- Sematos: While Sematos' IS dictionary has only 440 words, it's the biggest one I've found. It contains most of the signs you'll need to have a communicate in a basic way, but it's missing some important ones. (Most of the videos are vocalized in Spanish, so don't get scared if what they vocalize looks completely incoherent)
- Handspeak: Has only 150 signs, but some of them can't be found in Sematos.
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Carry on! :P