Hello, welcome to learning the fourth most commonly used language in the United States,
sign language.
Sign language is the native language of approximately one-half million deaf people and a growing
number of hearing people who wish to learn to communicate with them.
Sign language is a visual gestural language in which signs are used to stand for concepts.
In spoken languages, words have a similar function.
In this course, we will use English words to help indicate the concepts the signs represent.
But remember, signs do not stand for English words, but rather ideas and concepts.
Just as words have characteristics that make each one unique, also signs have certain parts
which make each one different from other signs.
Signing occurs within an imaginary area that extends from the top of the head to the waist,
no wider than the shoulders.
Most signs are formed on the chest or the head where they are easily seen.
Each sign has four parts, its handshape, its palm orientation, its location, and its movement.
Let's look at examples of each of these.
First is a sign's handshape, an open handshape, a five handshape, an extended index finger
handshape, an S handshape.
Next is the orientation of the palm when making a sign.
An open palm is facing the chest.
The five-hand palm is facing up.
The extended index finger is pointing up and the palm is facing left.
The S hand palm is facing down.
Next is the sign's movement.
Let's watch the extended index finger move.
In a circular motion, downward at an angle, outward in an arc, in and out quickly.
Quickly is the location where the sign is formed, whether it is at the right temple,
near the right shoulder, or moving from the chin to the chest.
That's all there is to it.
Let's see if we can put it all together.
Let's begin with a five-hand.
Now orientate the palm to face left.
The sign will be formed in front of the middle of the chest.
Now bring the thumb from the center of the chest outward in an arc.
That's fine.
That's a sign for fine.
Be careful now.
Just by changing one part of the sign, a whole different concept is communicated.
For example, change the palm orientation and the sign becomes mine.
Change the location and the sign becomes mother.
Change the movement and the sign becomes super fine.
Before we begin signing conversations, it's important to know the role of fingerspelling
in sign language.
Fingerspelling is the spelling out of the words one letter at a time using the manual
alphabet.
The manual alphabet has a distinct hand shape for each of the 26 letters of the alphabet.
Let's learn the manual alphabet.
You will notice that the hand shapes often resemble the letter it represents, A, B, C,
D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.
Now it is your turn to try it.
The signer is right handed, so if you are left handed you will have to reverse the signs.
Now hold your hand at a comfortable level in front of your right shoulder.
Then with your palm facing out, smoothly move from letter to letter without moving your
arm or wrist.
To help you form the manual alphabet, the camera will shoot over the signer's shoulder
so that you will see the hand at the same angle that you see your own hand.
Fingerspelling plays two very important roles in sign language.
First of all, many signs use a hand shape of one of the letters in the manual alphabet,
so it is useful to know those hand shapes.
And second, fingerspelling is used to supplement signs when there isn't a sign or you don't
know the sign, especially proper names and technical words.
Practice fingerspelling words whenever you can.
In front of a mirror you can practice seeing the hand shapes from a reader's point of view.
Now by putting the letters together smoothly, words can be formed like this, H-E-L-L-O.
Hello!
Did you notice that the hand bounced a little to form the double letters?
Also, say the entire word that you fingerspell, not each letter.
Now we are ready to begin our dramatized section, which will help you learn sign language in
a common situation.
As you observe the dramatized section, you will notice that the signers use a lot of
facial expression and body movement.
These are important parts of conversing in sign language.
Don't be afraid to be quite animated with your face and body when you sign.
These movements help convey the meaning of what you are saying.
Now watch this dramatized scene as two friends greet their old school chum and renew acquaintances.
In this dramatized visit between friends, the actors did not attempt to verbalize what
they were saying, although many deaf people talk or at least mouth what they are saying.
Here the voices were not used to help you concentrate on the signs.
I hope you were able to recognize some of the signs from the body language and the other
clues.
Many signs look like some aspect of the concept they represent, making it fairly easy to recognize
and remember them.
The pronouns in this scene were also quite easy to understand because most pronouns are
formed by pointing to the person to whom you were referring.
However, if the person is not present, you may establish an imaginary space that that
person occupies and then simply point to that space.
First she says she has a daughter and she establishes an imaginary location for her
on her right side so she can point to that location for the pronouns she and her.
Then she establishes a location for her son Joey on her left so she can point to that
space for references of he and his.
Then when she wants to say they, she can point to both locations.
Now let's review pronouns.
For first person pronouns, use your extended index finger to point.
I or me.
He she or it.
They or them.
We or us.
You.
Now for possessive pronouns, they are made with open palm facing the person you're talking
about.
My or mine.
His, her, hers, or its.
Their or theirs.
Our or ours.
Your or yours.
Finally, we have reflexive pronouns which use the extended a thumb toward the person.
Myself, himself, herself, or itself, themselves, ourselves, yourself.
In sign language, many of the signs that refer to males are made at the upper part of the
head.
Many of the signs referring to females are made at the lower cheek or chin.
Watch these pairs of related signs and notice where they are formed on the head.
As they are being made, I will give you some clues to help you remember them.
Boy, the boy seems to be tipping his cap.
Girl, the thumb follows the bonnet strings of early pioneers.
Man, the man moves from the male position to the ruffles on the old time shirts.
Woman, the sign is made of girl plus touching the ruffles on her dress.
Son, the sign is made of boy plus baby.
Daughter, the sign shows a girl baby.
Father, mother.
Grandfather, the sign shows a father who is a generation away.
Grandmother has a similar formation.
Husband, man plus Mary.
Wife, woman plus Mary.
Brother, boy plus same, meaning a boy in the same family.
Sister, girl plus same.
Do you have the idea?
Before we review the dramatized section again, let's look at some of the questions the actors
asked.
When asking a question, your face should show a quizzical look.
The question is then followed by a question mark drawn in the air, similar to this.
Who are you?
Why are you here?
What do you want?
How old are you?
Where do you live?
When are you going home?
Do you like to sign?
Very good.
You have now finished the first section of your sign language course.
And now you will see again a slightly slower version of the dramatized scene you saw earlier.
This time you will find captions which give you the English translation of what is being
said.
Try to understand the signs without looking at the captions.
They are there as an aid in case you miss something.
Good luck.
Thank you.
I hope you were able to understand most, if not all, of the scene you have just watched.
If so, you should now go back to and watch the first presentation of the scene at a normal
signing conversational speed.
If you had any trouble understanding the scene just presented, review the sections that show
the signs which gave you trouble.
Welcome to your second lesson in sign language.
We are going to watch a scene of two couples who meet every week to do something together.
You will see them name many sports and activities for which the sign looks very much like what
it stands for.
These signs will help you follow the rest of the conversation.
Don't worry if you can't follow everything that is said.
We will have some practice exercises later to help you.
Thank you.
I hope you managed to recognize at least some of the signs in the scene you just watched.
Did you understand these signs related to sports?
Football, bowling, exercise, baseball, movies, theater, dancing, fishing, play cards.
Here are some other sports related signs you might like to learn.
Horseskating, pool, hunting, bicycle riding.
The signers in the scene used many signs that referred to location or direction.
These signs can best be remembered by looking at them in pairs because of their opposite
movements.
Let's look at some of these pairs.
Now let's learn the days of the week.
The signs used for the days are referred to as initialized signs because most of the signs
have this hand shape of the first letter of the English word.
For example, Monday is formed with an M hand shape, Tuesday has a T hand shape, Wednesday
a W hand shape, for Thursday quickly flick out TH, Friday has an F hand shape, Saturday
an S hand shape, Sunday is made with both open hands moving in a circular motion outward
in front of the chest.
The signs for the days of the week, except for Sunday, can be made with the palm either
facing in toward the chest or out, Monday, Monday.
To learn the different periods of the day, pretend your left arm is the horizon and hold
it in front of you.
Your right hand then will become the sun moving over the horizon.
Watch the sun move as in the sign day.
When you want to say all day, make the sun go slower indicating a long duration.
Now let's move the sun over the horizon in a different direction.
See the sun coming up in the morning?
And when the sun is straight overhead, it's noon.
As the sun begins to go down, it's afternoon.
And finally, as the sun goes below the horizon, it's night.
Today is either the sign now or now day.
For tomorrow, the A thumb moves forward into the future.
For yesterday, it moves backward into the past.
Now let's pretend the left hand is a calendar with the months going down and the weeks going
across.
The finger moves down the month for month and across for week.
If you do something monthly or on a regular basis, repeat the movement.
Repeat week for weekly.
For next week, move the finger into the future.
For last week, move it into the past.
For year, the hands show the earth revolving around the sun.
Next year shows a year going into the future.
Last year shows one going into the past.
The movement for some times shows something occurring once in a while on your calendar.
Often shows it repeated.
Now let's view again a slower version of our dramatized scene.
See how much you can understand without looking at the captions.
If this is not too difficult, then see how you do looking at the version at the beginning
of the lesson without captions.
Good luck.
lesson three of Say It By Signing.
In this lesson, you will learn signs for many foods and containers.
But before we watch our dramatized scene of our two friends going to a restaurant, let's
learn about verb tenses.
Verb tenses are designated by first establishing a time reference such as next week or two
weeks ago.
Then everything that is signed occurs within that time frame until you change it.
Remember there are no endings on the end of signs such as English words have to show which
tense it is.
Let's watch some examples.
I will translate the signs into English, but remember signs do not really stand for those
words.
Yesterday I go train to New York.
In English that would be transliterated as I went to New York on a train yesterday.
Today I go read book.
In English you would use the present tense of go or today I'm going to read a book.
And here is go in the future tense.
Tomorrow I go to dentist.
Or tomorrow I will go to the dentist.
One more thing.
Did you notice that sign language doesn't use the articles a, an, and the?
Now let's watch our friends as they go out for lunch.
Let's watch our friends as they go out for lunch.
How did you do?
Did you understand much of the conversation?
Let's take another look at how verb tenses were shown in one part of the scene you just
saw.
Let's go back to the man asking his friend if she's been there before.
She immediately establishes a time frame for the verbs to follow.
A literal translation of what she said was something like, yes, last week I come.
The context and her body language finished the idea with here.
In English syntax the idea was, yes, I came here last week.
Notice that the verb used by the woman was come.
The time frame designated that it was in the past tense.
That sentence literally was food is emphatically good.
Since no change in time has been designated, the verb should be translated in the past
tense as was or the food was really good.
I eat too much or with a past tense verb again I ate too much.
Now we have a new time designation later but we're still not up to the present time so
the verb is still in the past tense.
Later I didn't feel well.
Now the woman designates a future action for later the same day so the verb is in the future
tense.
Literally she said I eat little bit today or with the future tense I will eat only a
little bit today.
There is one more way of designating a past tense verb that you should be familiar with
because it is used so often.
That is the use of the sign finished.
A person may sign finished eat and that means I have already eaten or finished go means
I have already gone or I have been there before.
Now that you know how to form verb tenses let's learn some verbs.
There are so many verbs we will just review a few common action verbs.
Walk, stand, run, cry, laugh, kiss, sleep, eat, sit, see, give, wait, have, do.
Now it's time to learn some adjectives of feeling.
Many of these adjectives are formed with the middle finger which is often called the feeling
finger.
First, here is the sign for feel.
How do you feel?
I feel fine.
I feel sick.
I'm tired.
I'm thirsty.
I'm hungry.
I'm disappointed.
I'm sorry.
I'm excited.
I'm enthusiastic.
I'm happy.
Did you see how important body language was to communicating those adjectives?
Body and facial movements are very important.
Be sure to practice signing with a lot of expression and movement in your face and body.
Before we look at a slower version of our restaurant scene let's review some signs
that indicate quantities.
Many people like corn on the cob, many.
I don't like too much butter, much.
I can eat a whole watermelon by myself, whole.
I want more lemon pie, more.
You didn't put enough salt in the soup, enough.
I only want a small piece of cake, piece.
I will eat a few pieces of candy, few.
I will try a tiny bit of dessert, tiny.
Now take another look at the couple eating lunch in the restaurant.
Try to understand the conversation without looking at the captions.
If you have trouble with the slower version go back and watch the scene at the beginning
of the section which is at normal conversational pace.
If you have any trouble with the section review the practice exercises.
Go back and watch.
Thank you.
Please stand still.
Before we join our friends of a shopping trip let's learn numbers and sign language.
As you watch the signer form the numbers try to do it along with him.
Let's begin.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
You may want to stop the tape now and practice the numbers from 1 to 10.
Be sure to keep your hand at a comfortable position, similar to fingerspelling, with
the palm facing out.
Now let's continue to 20.
Notice that the numbers 16, 17, 18, and 19 are formed by making a 10 and then 6, 7, 8,
or 9.
11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.
Did you follow that?
Stop and practice if you'd like.
The number 21 is a little unusual and takes a little coordination.
21.
But after you learn the numbers from 1 to 21, the rest of the numbers to 99 fall into
an easy-to-remember pattern.
To form these numbers, just form them as you say them in English, moving the hand out slightly
for the second number.
22, 23, see?
Oh yes, to form 30, 40, and so forth, form 3, 0, 4, 0.
Now you can express any number from 0 to 99.
Let's watch our friends now as they go shopping.
Okay?
Thank you, and I'll be there in a minute.
Before you watched this scene, you learned how to count in sign language.
Now let's learn the ordinal numbers, for example, first, second, third.
Ordinals are made by striking the thumb on the left hand with the right index finger.
First, the shoes are on the first floor.
Men's clothes are on the second floor.
I came in fourth place.
Another way of forming ordinals is by twisting the wrist like this.
I want to be first.
Who is second?
That apple is my third.
You are last.
The scene you just saw also talked about money.
Let's first learn the signs for different coins and then how to express larger amounts of money.
First, here's a sign for money.
Money.
Penny or cents.
Nickel or five cents.
Dime or ten cents.
Quarter or twenty-five cents.
For different cents amount, sign them the way you say them.
Sixty-five cents.
Twenty-two cents.
This is a sign for dollar.
Dollar.
For even dollar amounts up to eleven dollars, sign the number and twist the palm sharply.
Five dollars.
Two dollars.
For even dollar amounts over eleven dollars, sign the numeral then sign dollar like this.
Fifteen dollars.
Forty-two dollars.
For all other dollar amounts, just sign them the way you say them.
Thirteen dollars.
Fifty-two cents.
In the last lesson, you learned many adjectives that express feeling.
Now we will look at other adjectives.
Let's review colors.
Most of them are initialized.
That is, their hand shape is the first letter of the English word.
Color.
Red.
Blue.
Yellow.
Green.
Purple.
Orange.
Black.
White.
Pink.
Brown.
Those were quite easy to learn.
Other adjectives are better presented in pairs because many of them are formed with opposite movements.
Large.
Small.
Tall.
Short.
Long.
Short.
Wide.
Narrow.
Easy.
Difficult.
Soft.
Hard.
Dark.
Light.
Same.
Different.
Quiet.
Noisy.
Pretty.
Ugly.
Cold.
Hot.
Old.
New.
There are so many more adjectives, but these are basic ones that will get you started.
It's time now to repeat a slower version of the scene in the department store you saw earlier.
Try not to depend on the captions.
You have enough information now to follow most conversations in sign language.
Be sure to include facial expression as part of the clue as to what is being said.
If you can follow this version easily, go back to the original version at a normal conversational rate.
Thank you.
Congratulations! You have finished the last section of this course.
Now you must practice and use your skills whenever possible.
Don't be afraid to approach a deaf person and try out your new signs.
You will find that deaf people are patient and helpful.
They are generally pleased that you have taken the time to learn their special and beautiful language.
Thank you.