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Article: Students learning with their hands Hampden Academy now offers class in American Sign Language
- Article from:
- Bangor Daily News Bangor, ME
- Article date:
- October 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2005 Bangor Daily News Bangor, ME. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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HAMPDEN - High school students here are learning a new language,
but they aren't working on conjugating verbs or perfecting
pronunciation.
Instead, they're studying hand shapes and movements, finger
spelling and facial expressions as part of Hampden Academy's new
American Sign Language class.
Offered here for the first time as an option for meeting the
school's foreign language requirement - along with French, Spanish
and Latin - the class aims to give students a basic understanding of
sign language.
"Like any foreign language, it takes years to be fluent," teacher
Melissa Shaffer said this week.
Developed naturally over time by its users, American Sign Language
is a complex language with ...