ASL My reasons for wanting to learn American Sign Language (ASL) are both personal and practical. I truly believe that communication is one of the most valuable aspects of life, and that mastery of languages -- of all varieties, even for those who are disabled -- is an integral part of human interaction. Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to learn ASL so I can become more adept at communicating with a wider variety of people than I am currently am.

From a personal standpoint, I have always wanted to learn ASL since a friend of mine showed me a few basic characters in it. They were just a couple of letters of the alphabet, but I really liked the fact that she knew this language that not a lot of other people did. I originally wanted her to teach me sign language. She was a good friend and I was looking forward to spending more time with her; I thought that learning this...

The few tips that she showed me helped to pique my interest.
Another extremely personal reason that I want to learn ASL pertains to the fact that I believe there is power in communicating with other people -- even readily in front of them -- in a way that other people are not able to do so. This notion first presented itself to me when I was in high school, and there were two of my friends who spoke a variety of pig-latin that had incorporated 'op' sounds. I admired the fact that they could be talking quite fluently in front of people and no one rightfully knew what they were saying. Ever since then, I came to value communication and language a lot more than I had before.

From a pragmatic standpoint, I have wanted to learn ASL to help bring about more of a…