But from hearing it spoken at work and when socialising, it finally sank in and I could then use a dictionary to look words up.
This is especially useful after a hard day's work when you just want to wind down over a beer, and be left alone
Once you have sufficient command of the local lingo, you can also pretend that you don't understand English
Or are you just trolling?
ash
==Who uses Makaton? ==Makaton is an internationally recognised communication programme, used in more than 40 countries worldwide.
Most Makaton users are children and adults who need it as their main means of communication. But everyone else who shares their lives will also use Makaton. These include the families, carers, friends and professionals such as teachers, speech and language therapists, social workers, playgroup staff, college lecturers, instructors, nurses, and psychiatrists.
However, it doesn't stop there. Makaton is rapidly spreading into the wider community, with requests for training to use signs and symbols from supermarket staff, youth groups, theatre groups, bus drivers, the police, museum staff, people working in sports and leisure, faith communities.
The UK government recently legislated that public and commercial services must provide access to important information for everyone, including sign and symbol users. This can be achieved by translation into Makaton symbols and signs.
For example, it is important to understand what a visit to the dentist is all about, to understand about the medication you are taking and its effects, to become aware of danger such as fire or danger from electricity, to have confidence to travel on public transport, and to have access to public buildings.
Taken from http://www.google.ch/url?q=http://www.makaton.org
Ros
English is already this century's lingua franca, with a solid cultural and economic base to support it. There aren't really any good reasons to change that in the near future.