ศาลาชุมนุม

[Glenn Slayden]

A Superior Court in Southern California needs a Thai Sign Language interpreter to assist a defendant. Please contact Estela at (951) 955-5847 if you are able to assist.

Thanks,

Glenn

[JingJo Thames]

I have considered learning Thai Sign Language. But my American Sign Language is not good enough yet to merit expansion into another one....



โจ้

[pensive]

Is sign language language-dependant? I would have thought there should be in international sign language as I would have thought it a language in its own right.

[JingJo Thames]

Is sign language language-dependant? I would have thought there should be in international sign language as I would have thought it a language in its own right.

You are right and a bit off on both counts, Khun Pensive. It is a confusing situation, at first. Sign-languages are, in fact, languages in their own right - as you say - and for that reason there are a multitude of regional, social, communal, and familial/personal dialects - just like spoken languages.

But the history of sign-languages is different from that of spoken language, though sometimes in parallel, and so there are such amusing situations as when British Sign Language and American Sign Language are mutually unintelligible for the large part. ASL was based more upon local American dialects and French Sign Language! In Thailand the two major dialects were Old Chiang Mai and Old Bangkok, but now there is a standardized national (as in most other countries) Thai Sign Language [or Modern Standard Thai Sign Language]. TSL today is in the ASL language-family as early Thai educators were mostly American trained and thus mixed local sign languages with ASL. Nevertheless, the two are not mutually intelligible!


Hope that is of interest and use.

[pensive]

Fascinating!

[DanielFrancis]

I guess you need a professional interpreter. My friend can help you as he is working for a interpreter services, will talk to him. But heard that was afraid as many a times court did not pay full fees to such interpreter, is it true?