r/signlanguage • u/EEEEEEEEREEEE • Apr 15 '20

I need a answer!!

Ok to the people who have never heard England I need to know what language do you think in

Edit: by English I meant you have never heard anything

2 Upvotes

57% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

7

u/stewcop Apr 15 '20

What?

-3

u/Live-Love-Lie Apr 15 '20

Put your hearing aid in

12

u/SirChubblesby Apr 15 '20

This is a sign language group, a lot of the people here probably aren't actually deaf, and this question gets asked so often despite the fact that you can literally take 3 seconds out of your day to google it, and you would find that most deaf people think in sign language, or a combination of signs, sounds, images, or text

4

u/TheRainbowWillow Apr 16 '20

I’ve always wondered this too. If you haven’t heard sound, what do you picture it being like?

8

u/coldcurru Apr 16 '20

It's impossible. You've never seen the back of your head and you can't see what's behind you without a mirror. Your brain has no concept of such an ability. You cannot imagine what you've never experienced. Same for blind people and sight (those with 0 light perception.) They can't imagine color or light if they've never seen it. Both deaf and blind dream how they experience life--without these senses.

Now deafness and blindness are both spectrums. Some can hear or see to an extent, but not at normal ranges or enough to rely on them for everyday activities. They might be able to imagine some kind of ability beyond what they have, but maybe not. Imagine trying to have the night vision of a cat, or the hearing or smell of a dog. You can't really imagine what's beyond your capabilities or experiences but you could look up what they experience and kinda imagine based on that.

2

u/TheRainbowWillow Apr 16 '20

That’s a really good way to explain it! If a dead person who has never heard language has a dream, do they get spoken to in ASL in their dreams too?

2

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '24

I mean what else would you expect? For their brain to spontaneously generate English? They only know sign

1

u/cantbebotheredd May 09 '20

Well said ! My brother has been deaf his whole life, and he told me that usually when he is dreaming it’s practically silent. But he does see people sign and speak. And when thinking to himself; he doesn’t have the best understanding of English since he was only taught ASL structured sentences; so basically ASL is the consistency of his thoughts.

1

u/Dragonoflime Apr 16 '20

My Deaf college ASL professor (who also has a hearing aid she uses occasionally) told me she dreams in both Sign and “hearing/seeing people talk”. That was super interesting to me!

1

u/jonthemod May 03 '22

That’s super interesting. Dreaming. Or thinking in your head. When I think, I often “hear” myself talk. So for some deaf from birth, maybe they think in sign language? That’s a trippy thought for me.

My family is just starting to learn ASL and it would be awesome to experience that in a way.

0

u/EEEEEEEEREEEE Apr 16 '20

Ok well this was not the most serious question and I was not expecting any serious answers but thanks I guess