Friday, February 8, 2008

Learn Sign Language 1 Word At A Time

Learning a new language can be quite overwhelming task. This is especially true whenever you're trying to learn a spoken language such as Spanish or German. In order to learn these languages you will not only need to know the words, but also many times you will need to do the dialect and inflections that go along with it. This is not the case at all whenever you are trying to learn sign language. Learning sign language is simply learning how to say words in your language using your hands. Although it does take some practice to be able to learn how to both sign and to read sign, doing so can have benefits that will last you a lifetime. The best way that I have found to learn sign language is to learn it in one word at a time.

The first thing that anybody that is trying to learn sign language should do is to learn how to finger spell. Even though it is not a common practice to finger spell every word when communicating in sign language, it can help you when you do not know it all. Finger spelling is also a good way to be able to communicate thoughts and ideas in which a sign may not readily be available. Many people are already somewhat familiar with signing using the alphabet and it is an invaluable resource whenever you are learning sign language altogether.

The next thing that you will need to learn is some of the basic signs for words. Most words have their in particular sign and many of them are actually easy to associate with the word. One example of this would be the word think. In order to say the word think in sign language your index finger would make a small circle on your forehead. Another example of this would be the word right, in which you would finger spell the letter R and move your hand towards the right. Not every word is as easily associated as these examples but this gives you a picture of what you will be dealing with for the most part. Once you are familiar with many of the basic words you will need to learn how to effectively communicate them.

Sign language is not a word for word language. You would not sign every word in the sentence in order to convey the thought to your listener. What you would do, however, is to pick out the main points of the sentence and then to sign them in order to get your point across. This can take some practice, and the best way to get that practice is to begin signing right away. Although this may seem like an overwhelming task to the beginner, most people that speak sign language are just happy that you are taking the initiative to learn. They will fill in the gaps and help you when necessary. By learning sign language this way, one word at a time, you will be able not only to retain it but to speak it fluently in a short period of time.

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2 comments:

Billk said...

Hi,
I recentlly became a life member and am enjoying it. I learned finger spelling way back in HS( I am now 66 yo and retired) I carried it with me through my military years and as a police officer,using it many times in both professions. Although I did pick up some 2 hand speaking I have always wanted to learn more and I see this as my chance.
I am having trouble downloading some of the lessons as they are shown on UTube and having dial up here only (DSL hasnt reached us yet) it takes a long while to download the lessons. But I hang in there until loaded.
Want to say thanks for the chance.

My member name is Billk

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