Basic Sign Language Tips For Beginners
Language is important to everyone. To those who can hear and those that cannot. But how do you talk with somebody that can’t hear your words? Easy. With your hands. Sign Language is not only communicating with your hands, but is also a way to potentially communicate with any person on the planet.
Here are some tips on how to get started.
Learn the Alphabet.
Sounds simple, right? Well it is. Learning to spell the alphabet is the quickest way to be able to communicate with the hearing impaired. Once you master the different signs of the each letter you can effectively spell out any word (unless you can’t spell).
Spelling words out may take longer, but you are communicating with somebody and that is the most important thing to remember.
Learn Signs That Pertain to Certain Groups.
Search your local library, or the Internet for signs that are used to describe, define and expand your vocabulary of a particular group. Say, family for example. Learn how to say Mom, Dad, brother and sister. Practice streaming these signs together with your spelling so that you can form sentences about your family.
When I was learning to speak Spanish in Chile, I was told that you only needed to know two hundred words to be an effective communicator in the language. By knowing how to spell words and knowing the signs of various groups you increase your communicability, and, are one step closer to becoming a master of sign language.
Practice, practice.
And ultimately, practice. Practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes permanent. Make sure you practice with everyone and anyone who will spare time for you. Even when a person can’t offer his/her time to practice you can still use your bedroom mirror and watch how you communicate with your reflection.