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Apparently people without the right vocabulary fail this test too. Here's a Radiolab about a deaf community that developed its own sign language and how they fared on the test as the language developed. I found it pretty interesting when I first heard it.

http://www.radiolab.org/story/91730-new-words-new-world/

@nock If you thought that was interesting, you should give a listen to: http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts/sign-language-works/

I'm completely ignorant when it comes to sign language, but at the end when all three are signing, they are all sing different motions and gestures... so clearly, they aren't actually signing the words. It's more like a form of interpretive dance to my eyes.

My question is: is signing so ill-equipped for a musical style like rap that they just get across a few words and try to represent the attitude of the lyrics more than anything?

I'd like to give that sign language interpreter a few signs of my own!

Facial expressions are in deed part of sign language.
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/11/why-great-sign-language-interpreters-are-so-animated/264459/


..But this dude got them moves! Some of those have to be gang signs, and it's at times really in sync with the music and flow..

Are facial expressions part of sign language? I thought not, but this guy uses them so vigorously and passionately.

One cool thing about sign language is that all the "voice expression" has to be performed physically - your facial expressions ARE your emphasis, humor, sarcasm, etc. Kids who speak sign language are uninhibited, AND required to be really physical - if you EVER get a chance, go to some deaf theatre or a deaf speech competition at some point. They're AMAZING.

In America it's ASL, or American Sign Language. Even from different parts of the states, or within each community they can have lots of variation. (Was with a ASL interpreter for years and oldest daughter was hearing impaired.)

So it's quite possible he's signing a different dialect, so to speak. But the issue is even the South African's were complaining . . .

But yeah, there will be a lot of cross over in signs that have actual meanings, but for the most part, he was signing gibberish.

(Fun trivia, the monkey's from Penguins of Madagascar actually sign real ASL.)

This brings all kind of interesting questions to mind... How hard is it to learn to essentially use two languages at once - spoken (or sung) English and ASL in this case? And I assume you can't exactly rhyme in sign language, either - how does this all translate over? Not that "jingle bells" is exactly full of sense, but anyway.

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Also, it needs to be said, that although the S.African interpreter is probably completely faking it, sign language is actually different from country to country, just like speaking/writing language, so a reall S.A interpreter might not make sense to a US interpreter either. (Not saying the guy at the Mandela ceremony is real, but a real translater might be nonsensical to the rest of the worlds hearing impaired as well..)

Now THIS is what sign language SHOULD look like! *promote

That arm motion at the end was robot sign language for
"One of these days, I'm going to lubricate my joints with your blood"

I envy people that have a switch that can turn off all noise in the world entirely.

I do not envy them for sign language, or speaking disabilities, but turning off all sound when you want silence, would be pretty cool.