When you meet a deaf person, you need to introduce yourself in a way that they can understand. This article will tell you how to say your name in American Sign Language, which is used in the United States and Canada. There is no single international sign language - deaf people different countries are explained differently. For example, you can find a list of resources dedicated to Russian Sign Language.

Steps

Introduce yourself in American Sign Language

Make the "hi" gesture. Palm open, fingers together. Raise your hand to your head, pointing thumb to the temple, and move it slightly to the side, as if in a salute.

• Another greeting option is to wave your hand slightly at head level.

1. Make the "my" gesture. Place your hand on your chest as if you are pledging allegiance. Lightly pat your chest a couple of times.

   Make the "name" gesture. Make a fist with your hand, extend your index and middle fingers - in the American fingerprint alphabet this is how the letter U is shown. Turn them edgewise so that the index finger is on top. Using the fingers of your dominant hand, lightly tap the fingers of your other hand twice. The fingers of both hands should form an X in front of you at this moment.

   Show your name using the fingerprint alphabet. Use the American fingerprint alphabet to spell out your name. Keep your hand in front of you in a stable position. Show letters at a steady pace: smoothness is more important than speed.

   • If you want to show both your first and last name, leave a short pause between them.
   • If your name has two identical letters in a row, open and close your hand again to repeat the letter. If the letter is not easy to repeat (for example, the M in Emma), instead move your hand slightly to the side to show the second one. identical letters without changing the position of your fingers.

2. Learn to show everything together. Practice showing the entire phrase in a smooth motion: “Hi, my name _____” (“Hello, my name is _____”). The words must appear in this order.

   Use body language to convey emotions. Body language and facial expressions are extremely important when communicating in American Sign Language. Just making gestures without changing your facial expression or posture is the same as speaking monotonously and without any emotion, and it will be much more difficult for people to carry on a conversation with you.

   • When you show your name, try to appear friendly. Smile slightly, open your eyes a little wider. By the time you make the “my” gesture, you should tilt your head a little as a sign of understanding. Look at the person you are addressing.

3. Add your sign name (optional). Sign names, which will be discussed below, are usually not required when meeting people. If you are introducing yourself formally, you usually only need to show your name in fingerprint letters. If necessary, you will use the sign name later, in more informal communication. However, if you are being introduced informally, such as a close friend introducing you to their friends, you can introduce yourself as follows: "Hi, my name (sign name), (spell name), (sign name)."

   Get a sign name in American Sign Language

   1. Start with the fingerprint alphabet. While you don't have a sign name, you can introduce yourself by spelling your usual name. To get started, learn the signs of the fingerprint alphabet using our website or videos on the Internet. It's easy to form your name from these signs: just show it letter by letter. Practice until you can do this at a normal pace, keeping your hand in front of you and without changing its position.

      Find out what sign names are. A sign name is a word made up specifically for you. There are no special sign names in American Sign Language: there is no sign that means "Mary" or "Alexander", so each Mary or Alexander will have its own special sign name. Therefore, read about the meaning of sign names and the basis on which they are usually given.

      If possible, have someone from the deaf community give you your sign name. When an adult, respected member of the community gives you a sign name, it means you have been accepted into the community. For a person who is not a native speaker, this is very important point, and in many circles it comes only after many years of friendship. If this argument doesn't sound convincing enough to you, there are a number of reasons why you shouldn't invent a sign name yourself.

      • You may come up with a gesture that is too complex or a gesture that violates the rules of the language (you don't want to be called, for example, Zzskbub?).
      • You may accidentally choose a gesture that means a rude or obscene word.
      • Someone in the community already has the same sign name.
      • Your sign name may coincide with the sign name of a famous person (what will your new American acquaintances think if you introduce yourself to them as Martin Luther King?).
      • And most importantly, in the culture of the deaf community it is considered unacceptable for a hearing person to come up with a sign name for themselves.

   2. Create a name from your initial. Let's say you don't know anyone in the deaf community, but you're just curious about what signed names are like. Here is one common way to create such a name. Form one hand into the shape of the fingerprint letter that begins your name. Tap it a couple of times on some point on the body - usually on the forehead, cheek, chin, shoulder or chest. Another option is to move your hand between two adjacent points or move it back and forth in the "neutral space" in front of you. chest, at a short distance from it.

      Use a descriptive gesture. Sign names of this type are usually associated with some noticeable physical characteristic. For example, you can run your hand over a scar on your face or roll your finger down from your neck to show your long hair. Beginners often choose such names instead of arbitrary ones, as they seem more interesting. However, such a name is even more difficult to come up with on your own. Sign languages ​​use a visual grammar that is limited by the position of the fingers, the position of the hands in space, and their movements. If you haven't taken an American Deaf Language class or spoken it for a long time, the name you come up with may not look like a word at all.

      Consider a hybrid signed name. This is the third and final type of sign name: a gesture indicating a physical characteristic in which the fingers are placed together to form the first letter of your name. This type is very popular among the deaf community, although some believe that it is a modern invention originating from hearing people and does not follow the tradition of sign naming. It is possible that a person from the Deaf community will give you a hybrid name. However, if you want to come up with such a name yourself, your attempt may be regarded as even more rude and impolite than if it were a name of a different kind.

It all started again with the series. Although, to be completely precise, it comes from a beautiful interior. I was looking for series with interiors from Greg Grande, the same one who was the artist on .

This is how I came across the series “They were mixed up in the maternity hospital.”

It's about two girls who were mistakenly confused by doctors in the maternity hospital, and their families only found out about it when their daughters turned 16 years old. This is where the series begins, and then everything seems to be as usual: first love, conflicts with parents, arguments between the parents themselves, rivalry at school, breakups and reconciliations. Oh yes, all this in beautiful interiors.

The tricky part is that one of the main characters is deaf.

She became deaf when she was two years old and now wears hearing aids, goes to a school for the deaf and speaks sign language. And the plot is also strongly twisted around this.

I became seriously interested when I started watching interviews with actors and found out that some of the actors are actually deaf.

Actress Katie LeClair, who plays main character- Meniere's disease, the syndromes of which include hearing impairment and dizziness. The disease does not prevent her from working, but it helps her to talk about this diagnosis in interviews and more people go to the doctors to get checked.

While still at school, Katie learned sign language. Imagine, in the States you can easily choose sign language as a second language to study.

One of the episodes of the series was filmed entirely in sign language, not a single word is used in it. At the very beginning, the two main actresses appear and warn the audience that don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with your TV, but some scenes will be filmed in complete silence.

This is so cool! Talk about people with special needs not through short commercials or speeches trying to squeeze out a tear.

I watched the series and realized that disabled people are not only the people we imagine in wheelchairs.

Oh, this stereotype, firmly settled in the head thanks to the sign on car windows and on the asphalt of parking lots.

And so I ran into a deaf company at an intersection. I remembered that at the age of eight I myself suffered a serious otitis media with the risk of losing part of my hearing. The organizers of the event, who invited me as a speaker, asked me to speak louder, since there was a participant with a hearing aid in the hall.

It felt like the Universe was desperately hinting to me: “Would you like to learn sign language?”

I entered “sign language teaching” into the search and very quickly found it in St. Petersburg sign language school "Image". The school is located on the territory of the Herzen Pedagogical University, which means that at least twice a week I find myself in the very center of the city.

The university campus, which I need to completely cross - from the entrance with a strict security guard to building 20, our teacher Denis Aleksandrovich - “So, you’ll already learn these gestures at home yourself, now there’s no time to waste on this” (in fact, he’s very cool!) - all this brings me back to nostalgia for my student past.

Training twice a week for two months. This is an express course, the usual course lasts four months. The lesson lasts one and a half hours. What you need to learn something new and not get tired. And most importantly - no hate for me sports uniform in a bag, changing clothes and showering in open stalls. In general, one hundred thousand five hundred times better than sports.

There are many students in the group. One of my classmates born in 2000. Imagine! I thought they were still somewhere in kindergarten, and they are already in higher educational institutions. It's hard for me to believe this. But there are also adult students like me.

Most of my classmates ended up in class for the same reason as me. Interesting.

Only a few classes have passed, and I can already tell about myself, what my name is, what I do, how old I am and what year I was born. I can talk about the family and keep the conversation going: “Do you have a dog?” “No, I don’t have a dog, I have a cat.”

It's funny, but incredibly exciting.

Some interesting things about sign language

• Sign language is different in different countries, in our country it is Russian Sign Language (RSL). For some reason, this is terribly disappointing for everyone, they say, they could agree on one language and they would have super-power.
• Dactylology is a form of speech where each letter is expressed as a sign, but it is not a sign language. For example, you can edit a name or a foreign word for which there is no sign yet.
• Deaf people read lips, so it is important for them to see not only the hands that show gestures, but also the lips that pronounce words.
• Sign language has a different grammar and therefore uses a different word order. For example, a question word is always placed at the end of a sentence.
• Sign language is not a copy of a real language, but a full-fledged language with its own linguistic features, structure, and grammar. In sign language, the shape of the sign, its localization (the same gesture at the forehead and at the chest means different things), the nature of the movement and the non-manual component (facial expressions, turning the body, head) are important.

What I like most about my studies is that, perhaps for the first time, I am trying not to be an excellent student.

There is no need to write anything down in class - I took the notebook out of my bag after the first meeting. Yes, there is homework, but I don’t always do it. No grades or tests. I remember well what is taught in class and that’s enough for me.

We are accustomed to considering oral speech to be the only and main language of people. But besides it, there are other ways of expressing words and thoughts. People with hearing loss for interpersonal communication use sign language and facial expressions. It is intended for communication between deaf people and is called sign language. Sign speech is carried out using a visual channel for transmitting information. This type of communication is not widespread and has not yet been fully studied. In our country alone, 2 million people use Russian sign language.

In sign language, information is transmitted from talking man to the listener through the movement of hands, eyes or body. It is perceived through the visual channel and has the following properties:

• In sign language, the main focus is on the space around the person speaking. When communicating, it affects all levels of language.
• Unlike spoken words, which reach the ears sequentially, the language of the deaf is presented and perceived simultaneously. This helps convey more information using a single gesture.

There is no universal sign language for deaf and mute people in the world. There are more than 100 sign languages ​​used for communication between people with speech and hearing impairments. People using different gestures will not understand each other. Deaf people, like speaking people, can learn or forget the sign language of another country.

The use of sign language is expanding every year, making a primitive communication system a suitable area for expressing a variety of thoughts and ideas. Sign language is used in the educational system, on television, and video lessons. Russian sign language is used only for interpersonal communication between people.

In Europe, the language of the deaf appeared at the beginning of the 18th century. Before his advent, deaf people lived and studied in isolation from others. The first school for the deaf and dumb appeared in 1760 in France. The main task of teachers was to teach reading and writing to deaf children. To solve this problem, the old French sign language, which appeared among a group of deaf and dumb people, was used. It was slightly modified. Specially designed teaching gestures were added that were used to indicate grammar. In training, a “facial method” of transmitting information was used, when each letter was indicated by a separate hand gesture.

This training system later began to be used in Russia. In 1806, the first school for the deaf was opened in Pavlovsk. And in 1951, the World Federation of the Deaf appeared. The members of the organization decided to create a standard sign language. It was to be used for deaf professionals and public figures participating in the work of the congress.

To standardize sign language, experts from many countries, having analyzed similar gestures used by different nationalities, developed a common language for all. And in 1973, a dictionary of sign speech was published, which was prepared by the World Federation of the Deaf.

Shortly thereafter, at the VII Congress of Deafness in America, the International Language of the Deaf was created and approved, which was used for communication between deaf people from different countries who took part in world-class events.

Linguistics of sign language

Despite the prevailing opinion about the language of the deaf as a primitive language, it is distinguished by its rich vocabulary and not at all easy to use. A linguistic study was carried out, which proved the presence in the language of elements that are present in full-fledged oral speech.

The words of gestures consist of simple components - hirems, which do not carry any semantic load. There are 3 elements that describe the structure and differences between gestures:

• The position of the gesture towards the speaker's body;

The gesture can be used in a neutral space, at the same level with a part of the body without touching it.

• The shape of the hand that performs the gesture;
• Hand movement when performing a gesture.

The movement of the hand in space and the movement of the hand or fingers while the position of the hand remains unchanged are taken into account.

• Movement of hands in space relative to the body of the speaker or each other.

Gestures are schematic in nature, invented during communication, and have a distinctive connection with the visual designation of the word. The language of the deaf has its own grammar to facilitate communication on diverse topics and is not a visual repetition of ordinary language.

Distinctive features of the structure of sign language

• Specificity;

There is no generalization in the gesture, limited by the sign of the object and action. There is not a single gesture that uses the words “big” and “go.” Such words are used in various gestures that accurately convey the characteristics or movement of a person.

A gesture can represent an object. The sounds or letters that make up words, independent of the characteristics of the object, can be conveyed with a special movement of the hand. For example, to depict a house, hands show the roof, and to depict friendship, they show a handshake.

The origin of the names of things in speech is sometimes impossible to explain. The origin of gestures is easier to explain, since their history of creation and occurrence is known. But even this fades over time and becomes more sketchy.

• Imagery;

Thanks to imagery, gestures are easier to remember and assimilate. It makes gestures clearer for deaf people to communicate with each other.

• Syncretism;

Gestures have the property of unity in conveying words that are different in sound but have the same meaning. For example, fire, bonfire or video, filming. To designate synonyms in a gesture, additional features of the object are used. For example, the words “draw” and “frame” are shown to indicate a painting.

• Amorphous;

Sign language consists of concepts, but it is not capable of expressing such forms of grammar as case, gender, tense, number, aspect. For this purpose, gestural facial speech is used, which from a small number of gestures receives ordinary combinations of words. This happens by gluing (agglutination) words in a certain order:

1. A person or object is a designation of action (I - sleep);
2. The action taking place is negation (to be able to do so);
3. The designation of the item is quality;
4. The condition of an object or person (cat – sick, slightly).

• Grammatical spatiality.

Sign language conveys several phrases and words simultaneously. An expression conveyed in this way contains, in addition to gestures, also non-manual components. This is the facial expression of the speaking person, the movement of body parts, the gaze. This type of information transfer is used, like intonation in oral speech.

The language of deaf people is non-linear. Grammar is transmitted along with vocabulary, the speaker’s gesture can change during communication.

Russian sign language training

Learning sign language will take the same amount of time as any other language; special video courses will come in handy. In addition to the theoretical part, practice is required. Without it, it is impossible to master the language. Understanding deaf people is much more difficult than showing something yourself. The test speech contains words or expressions that have no translation into Russian.

You can learn sign language on your own, using video lessons or a dictionary. Using video training, you can learn to use in practice when communicating with deaf people such simple but necessary words as “thank you,” “sorry,” “love.” The word “thank you” in the language of the deaf is useful in life when meeting deaf people.

Using video lessons, it is easier to learn and remember information, understand how to correctly perform a gesture, and practice repeating movements. Studying the language of the deaf, with the help of dictionaries, lectures or video lessons, solves the following problems:

• Improving speech skills through the use of sign language;
• Expanding knowledge about the linguistic component of language;
• Formation of knowledge about the language of the deaf as a natural form of communication between people, the presence of similar and distinctive characteristics with other languages;
• Familiarization with the history of the emergence of language and stages of development;
• Forming the importance of language learning and understanding the role of Russian and sign speech in the life of society.

Learning a language with the help of a special program or video lesson contributes to the development of communication in different life conditions, during informal communication with friends, parents, strangers, or when talking in a formal setting.

Sign language is a method of nonverbal communication, that is, communication without words. Paradoxically, it is a person’s postures and gestures that can speak much more than words. In addition, we perceive gestures much faster than words. Knowledge of sign language can be useful in everyday communication, during business negotiations and when working with an audience.

With the help of certain non-verbal signals, we can focus attention on ourselves or on another person, and also read from the gestures of the interlocutor what he is thinking about during a conversation with you. Sign language is currently being studied by more and more psychologists, as it greatly helps people of different specialties in their work: psychologists, businessmen, teachers, diplomats and many others.

IN everyday life It is also useful to be able to read other people's nonverbal signals and manage your own. This way you can create the right impression when you find yourself in an unfamiliar place and understand the intentions and emotions of the people around you.

Congruence

Congruence is a special term in psychology that means the correspondence between a person's words and his actions. Quite often, it is gestures that reveal people’s true intentions and emotional states. For example, if a person talks about his good intentions, but at the same time demonstrates aggressive gestures, a contradiction arises, which is perceived at a subconscious level by the interlocutor.

At the same time trusting relationship You most likely will not have any problem with such an interlocutor. Also, if a person intends to firmly defend his position in difficult negotiations, but at the same time all his gestures express uncertainty, he is unlikely to achieve success.

The discrepancy between gestures and words often becomes the reason for distrust of the interlocutor and reluctance to take his ideas and proposals seriously. Moreover, in many cases, a person does not want to deceive his interlocutor and does not experience negative emotions towards him. He uses “wrong” gestures unconsciously.

This is especially bad for public people. But complete harmony between the words you pronounce and your gestures will convince everyone of your sincerity and desire to conduct a constructive dialogue. The success of many politicians and speakers sometimes depends not only on what they say, but also on how they present themselves during the conversation.

What do gestures show?

Many books on psychology and neurolinguistic programming give examples of typical gestures that can be used to understand a person’s intentions or his emotional state. Examples of gestures and poses are also given that allow you to make the right impression on others. Even before the conversation begins, the interlocutor evaluates your posture. It shows him how open you are and how ready you are for productive dialogue.

Types of poses

Open pose is a body position in which your arms and legs are not crossed. An open posture lets your interlocutor know that you are calm, relaxed, and ready to talk sincerely.

Semi-closed pose- These are crossed arms combined with uncrossed legs. This body position shows the interlocutor that you still doubt whether to trust his words.

Closed pose- crossed arms and crossed legs. People often sit in this position when they find themselves in an unfamiliar place. This pose shows that you are uncomfortable, you are not confident, you are trying to close yourself off from external influences, you do not want to talk to your interlocutor, you are trying to hide something.

Aggressive gestures

These are gestures that are subconsciously perceived by interlocutors as threatening, frightening or causing hostility.

“Hovering over the interlocutor”, invading his personal space. If you want to achieve something from a person, you should not get too close to him when talking, constantly lean towards him, or try to reduce the space separating you. This is read as a very unceremonious attempt to impose one’s opinion and invade personal space. The interlocutor will perceive you as an aggressor and an extremely annoying person.

Therefore, instead of, for example, convincing a business partner of the correctness of your position and the need to cooperate with your company, you will give the impression of an annoying and tactless person with whom you do not want to have any common business. If you want to inspire trust and attention, on the contrary, it is better to lean back a little, as if inviting the person into your space, showing trust in him.

Open palm gesture from top to bottom is perceived as an attempt to suppress the interlocutor, to silence him.

Open palm extended in front of you expresses reluctance to listen to the interlocutor, an attempt to force him to stop talking.

Hands folded behind back are perceived as a threat. When the interlocutor does not see your hands, he subconsciously understands that you want to hide something from him, “keep a stone in your bosom.”

One hand grabs the other just above the elbow or just above the hand. This gesture shows the other person that you treat him with extreme hostility and are barely restraining yourself from hitting him.

Gestures of boredom

These are movements of your body that show a lack of interest in the words of your interlocutor, an unwillingness to take his ideas seriously.

Elbow on the table, chin resting firmly on the palm. It seems that the interlocutor practically fell asleep while listening to you.

Tapping your foot on the floor speaks of a person’s impatience to quickly wait for the end of your speech.

The interlocutor mechanically begins to draw something on paper- absent-mindedness, lack of interest.

Away look means that the person is currently thinking about something more interesting or pleasant than your report.

Gestures, the understanding of which is useful in business communication

Such gestures will greatly help you during business negotiations. By reading them, you can change the tactics of communicating with a person and adapt to his mood.

Rubbing the nose, rubbing the eyelid or eyebrow, coughing- the person is probably telling you a lie.

Rubbing glasses, biting temples- the person considers your words, takes a short time out for discussion.

Tapping fingers on the table speaks of the interlocutor’s nervousness and tension, his desire to change the topic of conversation.

Rubbing your earlobe- uncertainty.

Arms crossed on shoulders, legs wide apart, relaxed position in a chair- a person feels superior and considers himself the master of the situation.

Hands rest on sides- a person is firm in his decision, confident in his rightness, feels superior to you.

The interlocutor leaned back in his chair- you have almost achieved your goal, the decision will most likely be made in your favor, the negotiations are coming to a logical conclusion.

Calibration

Calibration is the process of studying the individual nonverbal signals of a particular interlocutor. Despite the descriptions of gestures listed above, individual human reactions can be much more varied and do not fit well into patterns.

For example, rubbing your nose during a conversation does not necessarily 100% indicate that a person is lying. It is quite possible that the interlocutor really has an itchy nose. In addition, each person has his own, unique gestures.

In order to correctly analyze a person’s nonverbal signals, you need to observe him for a certain time. Once you notice the gestures that are characteristic of this particular interlocutor, you will be able to interpret his reactions much more accurately than if you use only the templates described in various literature.

How to focus attention on yourself or your interlocutor?

When speaking or speaking in front of an audience, with the help of special gestures and words, we can attract attention to ourselves, create a good or, on the contrary, a bad impression about ourselves or another person.

You can start your speech with something completely abstract, say, talking about a movie you recently watched. At the same time, you need to weave the words you have chosen into your speech, while pointing at yourself in an obsessive and very natural manner.

As a result, the listeners’ subconscious will first have the idea that your story is very interesting and fascinating, and only then will they analyze your words. In the same way, you can place emphasis on any words: “stability”, “calmness”, “decency”, “justice”, etc.

The opposite also applies: if you talk about some negative phenomena and make gestures towards yourself, then at the subconscious level the audience will associate these very phenomena with you. And this is practically a disaster if you, for example, are an official giving a report on the problem of corruption.

This brings us to the conclusion that you need to control your gestures and try to use them to your advantage, otherwise your eloquence may turn against you.

Sign language is sometimes an even more informative way of communication than verbal communication. Nonverbal cues are perceived faster than words. In addition, gestures can confirm or refute your own words. Having learned to control them and use them to their advantage, a person can interact more effectively with interlocutors and achieve their goals faster.

As you know, learning a language always begins with theory. Therefore, in the first stages of learning the language of the deaf and mute, you will need to acquire self-instruction books. With their help you can study the necessary theoretical foundations, which are needed for language proficiency at a basic, that is, initial level. In the language of the deaf and dumb, the basics are the alphabet and the words themselves.

How to independently learn to speak the language of the deaf and mute?

If you want to learn to speak sign language, you need to have a minimum vocabulary. In the language of the deaf and dumb, almost any word can be expressed with a specific gesture. Learn the most common words people use in everyday life and learn how to pronounce simple phrases.

Special dictionaries are perfect for this purpose: the announcer shows the gesture corresponding to the word and the correct articulation. Similar dictionaries can be found on sites dedicated to learning sign language. But you can also use book-size dictionaries. True, there you will only see gestures on, and this is not such a visual way to learn words.

To speak the language of the deaf, you will also need to learn the fingerprint alphabet. It consists of 33 gestures, each of which corresponds to a specific letter of the alphabet. The dactylic alphabet is not often used in conversation, but you still need to know it: letter gestures are used when pronouncing new words for which there are no special gestures yet, as well as for proper names (first names, surnames, names of settlements, etc.).

Once you have mastered the theoretical part, that is, the deaf alphabet and the basic vocabulary, you will need to find a way to communicate with native speakers, with which you will train your speaking skills.

Where can you practice sign language?

It is important to understand that learning to speak the language of the deaf without practice is an impossible task. Only in the process of real communication can you master conversational skills at such a level that you can understand sign language well and be able to communicate in it.
So, where can you talk to native sign language speakers? First of all, these are all kinds of online resources: social media, thematic forums and specialized sites whose audience is hard of hearing or deaf people. Modern means connections will allow you to fully communicate with native speakers without leaving home.

You can take a more complex, but at the same time more effective path. Find out if your city has special schools for the deaf or any other communities for the hard of hearing and deaf people. Of course, a hearing person will not be able to become a full member of such an organization. But this is possible if you learn the language of the deaf and dumb not for pleasure, but to communicate in it with someone close to you. You can also sign up as a volunteer at a boarding school for deaf children. There you will be completely immersed in the language environment, as you will be able to truly communicate closely with native sign language speakers. And at the same time do good deeds - as a rule, volunteers are always needed in such institutions.