You know sign language

That‘s right. You would be surprised to know how many common everyday gestures are part of the American Sign Language. In fact, you might unknowingly say entire sign language sentences from time to time (although probably not what you meant to say). Whether it‘s pointing someone, giving the thumbs up or hushing someone to silence, we will explore together what you can re-use to effectively learn another useful way of speech. For each sign, I will link the great handspeak.com website to show you how it looks visually. Remember that facial expressions should and will help get your message across. This will be a short, but hopefully useful post. Let‘s begin.

What you already know

Hello

https://www.handspeak.com/word/1015/

That was easy: it‘s a standard wave!

Yes

https://www.handspeak.com/word/2443/

Ever knocked on a door (please don‘t say no)? Well, just do that in the air. Focus on moving the wrist.

Thank you

https://www.handspeak.com/word/2186/

Remember the cliche of blowing a kiss away with your hand? Exactly that.

What

https://www.handspeak.com/word/2383/

Here, the ASL adopted the universal sign for confusion. Wave both your open pals left and right. A frowned expression should be included (and probably will be anyway).

Where

https://www.handspeak.com/word/2391/

For this one, think about a mother reprimanding her child. You need to wave your index finger at your audience.

The next step

At this point, you already made surprising progress without actually learning anything. But we can scrape some more words with - slightly - more complex signs. They still are useful and intuitive enough.

No

https://www.handspeak.com/word/1496/

Here, we start with the index, middle finger and thumb open. Close them together.

Ok

https://www.handspeak.com/word/1545/

Start with a closed fist. Then, open the middle and index fingers. Put the thumb ON the midpoint of the middle finger.

Please

https://www.handspeak.com/word/1658/

Put your open hand on your chest. Make clockwise circles with it.

Sorry

https://www.handspeak.com/word/2027/

The same as please, but with a closed fist instead.

How

https://www.handspeak.com/word/1067/

Take both your fists closed and with the thumbs sticking out. Start with them close to the chest and with the thumbs pointing toward you. Then twist both fists in opposing directions.

Who

https://www.handspeak.com/word/2398/

This one is easy. Point with your index (with the middle finger also open). Then, contract/extend the index a couple of times.

Well, that was easy

At this point, I hope you realize that learning American Sign Language is accessible to anyone. In just a few minutes, you learned enough basic expressions to get your way around. Of course, a bit more study on your part would allow you to weave more complex sentences. Rest assured that this would require only a few more signs. You definitely don‘t need to know all 10 000 signs of the ASL. Like any other language, just a few common expressions suffice. Take this as a great opportunity to expand your communication skills. It is cheap and, who knows, you might be grateful to know it in the future.

See you tomorrow.