A common problem that we face mostly with younger kids (4–18) is the lack of any understanding of questions. For the most part, they know that they are being asked a question and that I am expecting some sort of reply but… exactly what kind of question; that is up to their interpretation. The two questions we have the hardest time with are “who” and “what”. The school does not teach the difference between these two signs here and therefore they attempt to learn their meanings by watching other kids use them. Of course, this leads to a problem when the kids around them don’t know how to use them either.

It seems like such a simple concept, “who” and “what” and yet it seems to take months to master. Here we are giving Billy a crash course in their meaning (this is after I got sick of him pointing at the Bible and asking “who???”. We were able to get a basic understanding down by asking whether things have a heart beat or not. If they do, it is a “who” question, if not it is a “what” question. This is only a crude outline of their meanings but at least it is a first step in the right direction. I think the best part is when he still catches himself mid-sentence and corrects his “who” for a “what” or vice versa.

If you know ASL or are a part of the Deaf community in the United States, you already know that sign language tends to evolve slowly over time. The difference here is that it is evolving so rapidly that it is hard to keep up with. The reason for this rapid evolution is mostly response to the next generation of deaf kids (ages 8 – 18) who are dying to communicate and find the language that is being taught in the school to be deficient.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have been teaching the deaf here in the DR for over 15 years and have molded the local sign language to be very similar to the ASL that we are familiar with in the US, the difference though is that since most of the people that have come here to teach the deaf didn’t have a very firm grasp on the language (or even the culture for that matter) themselves, the deaf were still left needing a more comprehensive language to be able to express themselves in. This, mixed with the few deaf that have been to the US and the misunderstandings between hearing and deaf, as well as a lack of awareness to deaf culture in the schools has been the burning catalyst that has been spurring on this evolutionary process.

It is interesting to see what the kids in the school here in Santiago come up with since the culture is still not very tight and for the most part, the ones who have the tightest grasp on their language are all under 18. Many signs are just recycled ASL whereas others are different all together.

Here is a sample video that we did on the spot with An Unbaptized Publisher named Jessica and a student of hers named Claritza. They are both 14 and have been in the deaf school since they were young. (Jessica is quite a bit more communicative since she spends so much time with us)

If you just had a hard time understanding that, don’t worry! We were recently at another students house with Jessica who is in the same class. Before we started the Bible study, Jessica was chatting with the other girl and about 2 minutes in, Jac and I both looked at each other and asked “do you have any idea what they are talking about???” It is just a simple fact that the language in this country is changing whether we like it or not and this is going to affect more than just us and the Bible education work we do, it may well affect the entire deaf community.

The only downside to this is that where ASL has had many MANY decades to evolve and grow with great coaxing and care, mostly from ‘closed to hearing’ deaf groups, the language here is still very young and has a lot of outside meddling and playing that is done by well meaning hearing people that still don’t fully understand the detrimental affect their inventing of signs has on the deaf community.

It is interesting being in the thick of it all and realizing just what it means to be part of the deaf community in any country and to see why the deaf community I’ve come to know in Michigan, New York and Florida are so weary about letting hearing people in to romp through their beautifully arranged and delicately balanced language.

I guess we will just have to see what the future holds but for the moment, we are just trying to strike that balance between the ASL we teach with and the ‘DSL’ (hehe “DSL”) that is popping up all around us.