(ASL)
ASL is an 'expressive' language whereas Deaf people use their facial expressions to make a point. To be able to be good at ASL, one will have to be able to have excellent receptive skills (reading signs) and using signs. For people who are beginning to learn ASL, it will take a while to get hang of it. It takes years of practice such as going to classes just to learn. It is like learning a foreign language! But with more patience and practice, you will probably learn to enjoy using ASL.
How ASL came into existence? To make a long story short, Thomas Gallaudet was sitting outside on a beautiful day, watching his siblings and neighbors playing. He noticed a girl was sitting far from those kids. He called to one of his siblings and asked him who she was. That was Alice Cogswell who was deaf whose father was a well-known doctor in the state of Connecticut. Thomas came up to her and showed her the hat. Thomas processed to draw in dirt, "hat".
Later on, Thomas met Dr. Cosgwell, he explained that Alice became deaf due to 'spotted fever' (cerebra-spinal meningitis) at two years old. Dr. Cogswell was impressed by the way Alice learned so he encouraged Thomas to travel to Europe to learn the methods of teaching deaf people. He travelled to Scotland and England first but he did not have much luck. In England, Thomas met several French teachers who were visiting that day. They invited him to visit their school Paris, France. Those Frenchmen were Sicard, De L'Eppe and Lauret Clerc.
Thomas asked Clerc to come to America to open a school for the deaf. Together, they opened American School for the Deaf in Connecticut in 1817. The rest is history. That was how Clerc and Gallaudet brought ASL to America. Today ASL is 65% French, 30% Old American sign language 5% British Sign Language.
Meanwhile I am doing a research on books of ASL. I will add more information about books that you can use to learn. I will also add links to different sites about ASL. More to come up!