The first of these two images is an example of global language. Whilst at a book store in Adams Morgan on March 20th, I came upon a sign in the store that said “هنا كتبنا باللغة العربية”, which translates to “here are our books in the Arabic language”. Being an Arabic student at GW, I appreciated the sign, since it could help non-English speakers of Arabic locate books in their native tongue if need be. This sign showed that Arabic is a global language, since it is “spoken widely throughout the world and in diverse cultural contexts”. Although Arabic is associated with being spoken in the Middle East, its presence in the Americas and in the Western world due to immigration is evident.
This second image is of the GW Speech and Hearing Center for students with hearing and language disabilities or impairments. This is an example of sign language, because moments before taking this picture, a group of Deaf students entered the language center. Sign language is a type of communication that uses physical hand signals and movements to communicate an entire vocabulary of information. American Sign Language (ASL) is a type of sign language dialect that is likely spoken at the GWSHC, and therefore, this building is an example of a place where this form of unspoken language would be used.