When the Spanish, French, English and the other languages at your school are too boring for you, try something new and this will help you to get a special talent among your friends and family.

Ariel Ruiz, senior, taught sign languages to herself by watching videos.

“I learned it on Youtube, it took me about 3 months and I’ll plan to take a class at Hancock”, said Ariel.

Sign language is an employing of hand gestures, movement, orientation of the fingers, arms or body, and facial expression to convey a speaker’s idea. From 1520 to 1584, the first alphabet was discovered and from there on was developed throughout history.

“Every language has different signs and many words have more than one sign. The word ‘Hi’ for example has 3 different movements to express,” said Ariel Ruiz.

A common misconception is that all sign languages are the same worldwide or that sign language is international. American Sign Language (ASL), used in the United States and Canada, is derived from French Sign Language.

“Not everything has a sign. Sometimes you have to letter it,” said Ariel Ruiz.

Sign language is not only for deaf people. During wartime, British used it as a secret communication method.

Ariel doesn’t know yet if she wants to get a job using ASL later on.

“I want to help. My mom works at the court. Maybe I will do something with sign language there. In Santa Cruz, there was a sign festival. They were so fast, I couldn’t understand them, so I am still studying,” said Ariel.

It is a process, but it’s definitely possible. Some soccer teams have begun using sign languages to communicate during games.