Many types of sign language are in use all over the world, and most are as different from each other as their spoken counterparts. You might assume that different types of sign language are essentially similar — but this is simply not the case.

Just like spoken languages, sign languages differ significantly from one geographic region to the next, and they are rarely mutually intelligible. (This is why you’ll never meet a universal sign language interpreter.)

Read on to find out more about some of the different types of sign languages and how they developed.