Virtually everyone who has visited a foreign country is aware of the difficulties of communicating in a foreign language.

Ironically, this is largely because most people are able to hear and talk, according to Peggy Linn Prosser, a deaf American who has been living in Japan since 1991 and working as a teacher and consultant to deaf people in a number of different organizations.

"Deaf people who are used to sign language can express themselves through body language and have a better chance of transmitting a message, whereas hearing people tend to be pressured to use words, often making themselves more difficult to be understood," Prosser said.