What is Sign language?
[[File:ASL family.jpg|thumb|Two men and a woman signing]] [[File:Preservation of the Sign Language (1913).webm|thumb|thumbtime=5|''Preservation of the Sign Language'' (1913)]] [[File:Pictograms-nps-accessibility-sign language interpretation-2.svg|thumb|right|Graphic used in the US to show sign language [[wikt:accessibility|accessibility]] ]] A '''sign language''' is a way of communicating by using the hands and other parts of the body. It should not be confused with [[body language]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ldits.co.uk|title=L&D Interpreting and Translation Services|website=L&D Interpreting and Translation Services|language=en|access-date=2018-09-13}}{{Dead link|date=January 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Sign languages are an important way for [[deaf]] people to communicate. Deaf people often use them instead of spoken languages. [[Spoken language]]s use sounds from the mouth and are understood with the ears. Sign languages use hands and are understood with the eyes.<ref>People who are blind and deaf can use sign languages too. They feel each other's hands while they are signing.</ref> Deaf people can use sign languages more easily than spoken languages. ==Language learning and use== Deaf people sometimes learn a sign language from their family, especially if their parents are deaf. But, most deaf children have hearing parents, so they learn a sign language from other deaf people. They may meet other deaf people at school or in the streets. Hearing people may learn to sign directly from deaf people. Or, they may learn a sign language by going to signing classes or by studying a sign language workbook, which can come with an interactive DVD. Sometimes deaf people do use a spoken language, especially when talking with hearing people. Sometimes hearing people use a sign language with each other, rather than speaking. But, deaf people tend to use sign languages, and hearing people tend to use spoken languages. Some deaf people can also understand spoken words by looking at a spea