How to Translate Speech Into Sign Language

American Sign Language (ASL) is the official language of the deaf community in the United States. If you are going to translate English into ASL, then understanding the unique structure of this beautiful language is imperative. What follows are some general guidelines to use when interpreting English into sign language.

Instructions

1. Learn American Sign Language by taking community classes, reading books, renting videos or looking up websites dedicated to ASL. If you are going to be interpreting for someone on a specific topic, then learn the associated words for that topic.

2. Wear appropriate clothing while interpreting. For example, if you have light colored skin, dark colors will enable your hands to be seen clearly. Also, stand in a well-lit area throughout the translation.

3. Show the emotions of your speaker through facial expressions. Sad messages should be interpreted with a frown while smiling communicates joy to your audience.

4. Communicate questions appropriately. For instance, "WH" questions are expressed with furrowed eyebrows while yes/no questions are interpreted with a raised brow line.

5. Ask the speaker to talk slower than normal throughout your interpretation. In addition, remember to pause between sentences so your audience can follow the flow of your speaker's message.

6. Translate English into American Sign Language using appropriate (Topic/Comment) sentence structure. For example, "I see the cat" changes to "cat, I see."

7. Use finger spelling for signs you don't know. In addition, finger spelling comes in handy when communicating proper nouns to your audience.