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  1. Auslan stems from British Sign Language but with a few differences. All sign language is two handed but I think you are referring to fingerspelling which is 2 handed in Australia and UK but most other countries use only one hand. Sign language does differ vastly between countries. It’s like spoken language.

  2. Yes, they are different between countries, not languages. For instance, American Sign Language (ASL) is used primarily in most english speaking countries on the Northern and Southern Continents of the America, however, Australian Sign Language is entirely different, as well as British Sign Language, even though they are the same “spoken” language. As another example: Mexican Sign Language and Spanish Sign Language (used in Spain) are also different. All Sign Languages incorporate both of the hands, however, when Fingerspelling (spelling words using a manual alphabet) most sign languages are only one handed. The British Manual Alphabet is one of the most common 2 handed manual alphabets, but ASL, FSL (French), Japanese Sign Language etc etc all use only one hand to fingerspell. The Australian Manual Alphabet is a double handed alphabet, and it’s a lot of fun to use once you get a handle on it and begin increasing speed. Have fun with it!

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