The Basics of Using Sign Language

Series Summary

Sign language, an often overlooked language, is incredibly beneficial to know and fun to learn. American sign language is very easy to learn for native English speakers and requires only a modicum of dedication, but the benefits of knowing sign language are immense. Imagine being able to communicate with someone who is often ignored because they cannot hear or speak the same language as those around them. Those who are hearing impaired deal with this on a daily basis. Imagine what an impact it could make their lives to have one more person connect with them by speaking their language. Most likely that would come naturally for you if you only knew how to sign. Well if you would like to learn, you can get some basic lessons from our sign language expert.

In this free video series, learn how to sign common phrases. Learn how to sign animals and colors. Also, learn how to communicate about the weather. Melissa Schenk shows you the step-by-step process of using sign language, and she gives you tips to communicate more effectively with sign language. So, if you are looking to expand your education, watch this free video series and learn common sign language phrases today!

Video Transcript

"Hello! My name is Melissa and on behalf of Expert Village, today we're going to be learning some basic signs, words, phrases in sign language. Before we begin actually learning various signs, it's important to keep in mind some of the basics and to remember a few different things here. First of all, the sign images. You have to realize that each of the signs that we are practicing are going to be displayed from the viewers point of view, so your point of view. If you are signing to someone that's what it would look like to them, not so much to you. I will show you different signs from my angle as well, but keep that in mind. It's going to be displayed from the perspective of the viewer, all of the signs we're doing today. Also, facial expression is very important. When it comes to sign language, you're using your hands, your body language, you facial expressions. Things like raising and lowering your eyebrows. Your face is an integral part of sign language because you're not using a spoken word. When we refer to things like body language, facial expressions and body language is so important because you have to think about your voice. When you raise and lower your voice the tone, the inflection of your voice, adds meaning to the spoken word, so do things like body language and facial expressions for sign language. That adds extra inflection and tones literally to the words that you're trying to express. If you're angry or you're surprised you do that with your facial expression as well as your hands. Some important things to keep in mind as we go into our various clips on words and phrases in sign language."