So I heard that people don't sign and talk at the same time. But what if that's for the benefit of a third party who doesn't sign? To save time and not having to summarise and translate later?
Hello,
actually, depending on the setting, people do frequently sign and speak at the same time. its called Simcoming, aka simultaneous communication.
However, problem with this type of communication is that both languages in question suffer during this - its impossible to actually produce two languages at once, so instead what comes out is sort of combination of both. Sign languages in general have different word order and different vocabulary compared to spoken languages.
So when SimComing happens, its usually either spoken language grammar and word order with signs or sign language word order and grammar with spoken words. Either way, at least one participant in conversation (depending on how the languages are mixed) won't get the proper language response.
This type of communication is used in informal settings or in family situations, etc. It was used quite commonly in professional settings (think schools) in past as well, but its more frowned upon now, as the resulting communication suffers.
Its not like, morally wrong to use it or anything, and sometimes deaf people themselves use it too. But its definitely not for professional settings and interpreting.
And also, honestly... its usually the deaf person who gets the short end of the stick and the language is remade to suit the hearing person needs... which, eh. We don't support that here. Deaf people already have to deal with lot of communication hurdles.
Mod T
