Is American Sign Language useful? Or should I go with something more common?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
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<p>In middle school I arbitrarily chose to take French, which ended up being pretty useless. Now I'm trying to figure out what language I should take in college. Some that I was thinking about were:
-Spanish
-German
-Arabic
-Mandarin
-Cantonese</p>

<p>They all seem semi-useful, with spanish being the most common in the US, but then I heard about people studying ASL and thought that it sounded really interesting. As a doctor it seems like it could be useful, and also learning to hand gesture would be useful in communicating with non english speakers. Any input?</p>

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<p>There’s flaw in your logic.</p>

<p>Signing in ASL won’t help you communicate with non English speakers since many signs are arbitrarily symbolic and not literal. Also it’s American Sign Language and is only used/taught in the US. (The deaf in other countries learn other non-mutally intelligible different signing systems.)</p>

<p>Unless you plan to attend school or practice in an area which has a significant deaf population or you plan to go into ENT, your ASL won’t get much use, if any.</p>

<p>(Also fewer and fewer deaf individuals are learning ASL as the use of coclear implants and assistive devices gains wider use. The current emphasis is on oral communication.)</p>

<p>If you want a useful second language–pick Spanish. It’s the second most commonly spoken language in the US.</p>

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<p>Like WayOutWestMom said, ASL will not help you communicate with speakers of other languages. You don’t mention where you are from, but if you ultimately end up practicing in an area with a large Deaf population (such as Rochester or DC), you would likely be able to get a large following from patients who use ASL. I assure you your knowledge will be appreciated, especially as many Deaf people struggle to be provided with appropriate access to communicatuon in the healthcare setting. Even with cochlear implants, there are plenty of ASL users.</p>

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<p>Spanish for sure. As was said, asl is only for English. That’s why it’s called American sign language</p>

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<p>Actually ASL is only for North America. The deaf in Great Britain and former British colonial territories use British Sign Language.</p>

<p>D2 went to undergrad in Rochester, NY, which has a significant deaf population. Her school offers ASL as a language option, and two of her roomies took ASL minors.</p>

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<p>I don’t think ASL has anything to do with English. It actually has French as a root and is a descendant of LSF(French Sign Language). Also, ASL is used in many parts of the world (North America, Southeast Asia, much of Africa, parts of South America)</p>

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<p>I guess that makes a lot of sense. I’ll probably just go with spanish.</p>

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<p>The most useful is Spanish and it opens more opportunities at Med. School also, try to get to a speaking level.</p>