When my wife decided that she wanted to be a teacher, she knew that she would probably have to go through quite a bit of testing before she could be certified.  I told her that there were a number of things that she would need to learn before they would let her teach.  I thought that it might be a good idea to learn the sign language alphabet, in case there were any kids in her class who could not hear.  She thought that it would be a good idea as well, so she picked it up as soon as she could.