Hello by the way. How to master the language of the deaf and dumb: ways of learning and levels of knowledge. Teaching Russian Sign Language

• Silent language interpreters are state-certified professionals who have gone through years of training to become highly skilled sign language interpreters. In most countries, there are certain rules about who can be a sign language interpreter in the fields of law, medicine, education, sociology and psychology. The fact that you memorized the entire sign language dictionary does not give you the right to translate, for example, in such a situation, if you see an accident on the road and a deaf-mute person wants to say something to the police. Every law enforcement officer knows that when a deaf person is involved in an incident, a professional and certified sign language interpreter must be called.
• Hearing people acquire language skills through a pair of eyes and a pair of ears from an early age. Remember that many of your deaf and mute friends have never heard cues, which is a matter of course for a hearing person. Never assume that if a deaf-and-dumb person does not write so well, then this means that he or she is less intelligent than you. Know that when you communicate in sign language, you are also far from perfect.
• If you are studying a sign, do not assume that a deaf person should be ready to take a break from business and at any time begin to help you learn the language and hone your skills. If you want to meet a specific deaf person, be polite. Say hello if the situation allows it, but don't meddle in the person's personal circumstances.
• There are a huge number of systems for sign communication, for example, Sign Supported Speech (SSS), Seeing Essential English (SEE) and Signing Exact English (SEE2). They were created by people outside the culture in which they are used, i.e. by hearing people for the deaf and dumb. These are not natural languages ​​for full and effective communication.
• Deaf-mutes value their personal space as much as hearing people. If you are teaching signing, please do not stare at deaf-mute families or groups of people in restaurants or other public places. Even if you look with admiration at the use of language, it is still very unnerving.
• Never make up your own signs. American Language of the Deaf and Dumb is a universally recognized language, not a game of facial expressions. If you don't know a symbol, spell it out and have the deaf person translate it for you. These gestures were invented by the deaf and dumb community, and it would be very strange if a hearing person starts creating gestures.
• No dictionary in any language is exhaustive. For example, one of the links gives you only one translation of the word "abbreviate", a sign for shortening. And this common sign has another translation - “thicken” (two hands folded in the form of the letter C at chest level are clenched into fists). Remember that many different characters can match the same English word, and vice versa.

It is a paradox, but often posture and facial expressions say more about a person than words, and gestures make speech vivid and expressive. According to psychologists, the ability to read the gestures of the interlocutor and use them will not interfere with successful communication. Therefore, mastering the sign language will help any person both at home and at work.

What is sign language

In psychology, sign language (sign language) is a system of movements of the body and hands, which helps to better convey information, understand others, for people with hearing impairment is the main way of communication. Currently, sign language is popular among psychologists as an effective means of reading non-verbal cues.

For your information. Sign language (SL), naturally occurring, independently functioning, is a combination of gestures, facial expressions, and posture.

The history of the appearance of the deaf and dumb language

Although sign language has existed for many centuries, it began to be systematized in the 18th century, during the period of industrialization of European cities. There were concentrated groups of deaf people who needed to be trained. The first person who came up with the idea of ​​teaching deaf and dumb children with gestures was the Italian doctor J. Cardano. The languages ​​of the deaf and dumb, which have national characteristics, became the basis of education. They were the basis for creating a gesture interpretation.

Today, sign language is rapidly developing, transforming into a full-fledged communication system. With its help, people with hearing impairment are taught in schools and universities. An artificial international SL has been created - gestuno, which is used at international events.

For your information. Unlike Europe, where SL developed in a civilized manner, in the countries of Africa and North America it was actively used by the entire population, for example, during hunting or war.

The difference between sign language and spoken language

Experts clearly distinguish between sign and spoken languages. It is believed that the sound is too cumbersome: each letter is indicated by its own sound, that is, a phoneme, only then a word is formed. Unlike spoken language, gestures denote both letters and whole words, which is more convenient for presenting information. Therefore, sign language is considered more effective.

In real life, every person daily uses a non-verbal way of communication, and he, as a person, is characterized by his gaze, manner of speaking, and gesticulation. It turns out that the speech method of communication is not available to the deaf, and ordinary people easily use the language of the deaf and dumb.

For your information. ZL is actually a foreign language, which, if necessary, must be studied in accordance with all the requirements of a foreign language.

Where is sign language used?

It is a mistake to think that only the deaf and dumb use non-verbal. Any person intuitively uses gestures for expressive coloring of speech. ZhYa is necessary in many areas of activity: on television, a sign language interpreter transmits information for the hearing impaired, divers and astronauts use special signs due to the inability to talk in water or air. In the theatrical sphere, politics, medicine, the army, professional body movements are needed everywhere.

Differences in the language of the deaf and dumb

Sign languages ​​can differ geographically and nationally. Studies have shown that countries with a common sound language have different SLs, and, conversely, in places with a large number of dialects, a single sign language is used. A striking example of American SL, which is more similar to French and has nothing in common with British, although it is common to the population of these countries, is English.

In Europe, the situation is similar: the unified German language in Germany and Austria does not affect the Austrian SL and the German SL, which are not even similar.

According to experts, the main difficulty lies in the lack of a unified system in the language of the deaf and dumb, which is why it differs so much in different regions, which makes it difficult to assimilate.

How to quickly learn sign language in Russian

With Russian Sign Language (RSL) there is another problem. To study it, you need to know the features of the linguistic system, which differs from other SL lexically and grammatically. The main thing is that the grammar of Russian SL is different from the Russian colloquial one due to the complex morphological transformation of words.

In addition, most of the RSL gestures are taken from German, Austrian, French sign languages, so its vocabulary is close to international.

Despite such subtleties, there are many Russian words in RSL. The initial letters of these words are shown in finger alphabet (fingerprinting), for example, the days of the week.

For your information. It is important for RSL students to know that there are 33 letters in the Russian dactyl alphabet. They correspond to the letters of the Russian alphabet and are reproduced with the help of fingers and hand movements.

The structure of teaching the language of the deaf and dumb

Now you can learn any foreign language, including the language of the deaf and dumb. The main thing is to have the desire and desire to learn. Experts advise to start learning sign language from a selection of videos, memorizing signs on specially designed sites.

It is advisable to join groups that are created for learning sign language. It is now easy to find them on social networks and work out practical skills there. However, this method is effective when the basics of CL are studied. For faster mastering of the language of the deaf and dumb, you can use the self-instruction manual.

How to learn sign language on your own from scratch

There is no single theoretical and methodological basis for teaching sign language, mastering it on your own. For those who wish, printed dictionaries and online dictionaries have been developed: the deaf teacher demonstrates a gesture in accordance with the word and gives a clear articulation.

Important! When studying gestuno, the following feature is taken into account: dactylology is needed for proper names (cities, people) or for words that do not have a gesture.

How to start self-study

Study plan:

1. The main thing is to study the dactyl alphabet - 33 gestures corresponding to a certain letter of the alphabet. In reality, the alphabet is rarely used, but knowing it is useful when learning new words for which there are no special gestures, for proper names, when letter gestures are used.
2. As soon as the theory is mastered, the alphabet is learned, and a basic vocabulary is acquired, communication with native speakers is necessary to train conversational skills. This can be done on thematic forums, specialized sites, where the audience is hard of hearing and deaf people.

Important! It is impossible without practice to master the language of the deaf and dumb. Language skills are acquired only in the process of direct communication. Then it is possible to understand the sign language and the ability to explain it.

Introduction to fingerprinting

Getting acquainted with the sign language, one must understand that it is not universal for different countries. Each region has its own alphabet and vocabulary that do not coincide with others. This is the whole difficulty, since often in non-verbal communication a gesture means not a letter, but a word or even a whole phrase. Therefore, knowledge of dactylology is necessary - a peculiar form of speech, which includes the dactyl alphabet. In it, each letter has its own sign (dactylema), composed of fingers.

It is difficult for beginners to distinguish between sign language and the dactyl alphabet, while dactylemas spell words, and gestures - whole words.

Fingering technique

Dactylology is a manual alphabet, many gestures in it begin with a letter, for example, a teapot - the letter h. It is necessary to study the dactyl alphabet step by step, slowly, it is important to work out the technique of placing fingers well. At first, the hand will get tired, but with constant training, the fingers become more flexible. For beginners, wooden gestures are observed at first. Flexibility is gained through exercises to stretch the ligaments and develop the hands.

The following explanation serves as the principle of clarity in SL:

• fingers not involved in the configuration remain straight;
• in the configuration, each finger acts independently;
• there are no intermediate configurations between dactylems;
• fuzzy, blurry configurations are defects.

Sequence of study

The dactylology of ZL in each country is different, there is no single language of the deaf and dumb. Therefore, when studying on your own, you should adhere to certain rules:

• When mastering dactyl, you need to remember the basic words, names, names.
• It is advisable to immediately master the account, the simplest numbers. This will help to consolidate the YA.
• Then they study the language itself - about 2000 different designations.
• The study of gestures begins with simple words: thank you, please, hello.
• It is necessary to memorize words gradually, to learn several gestures in one lesson.

SL is an informative way of communication that is perceived better than verbal communication. By learning to control non-verbal signals, you can interact more effectively with your interlocutors.

Video

Few people have encountered the problem of communicating with deaf people. Even fewer people understand what such speech is based on. One of the misconceptions is that the sign language of the deaf and dumb was invented only by hearing people, and that it depends on ordinary speech. Actually it is not. The second misconception is that sign languages ​​include dactyling of letters, that is, the image of letters with hands.

Dactylology shows words one letter at a time, while sign signs show them in their entirety. There are more than 2000 such gesture words in dictionaries for the deaf. Some of them are quickly remembered and easily depicted.

The concept of "sign language"

The sign language of the deaf and dumb is an independent language that arose naturally or was created artificially. It consists of a combination of gestures that are made by hands and complemented by facial expressions, body position, and lip movement. It is used most often for the purpose of communication among deaf or hard of hearing people.

How did sign languages ​​originate?

Most of us tend to think that deaf sign language actually originated among people with hearing. They used gestures for silent communication. Be that as it may, people with a defect in speech and hearing use it.

An interesting fact is that only 1.5% of people in the world are completely deaf. The largest number of people with hearing impairments is found in Brazil, among the Urubu tribe. There is one deaf child for every 75 children born. This was the reason that all representatives of the Urubu are familiar with sign language.

At all times there was a question of how to learn the sign language of the deaf and dumb. Moreover, each region has its own. The problem of the emergence of a common language in large areas began to be considered from the middle of the 18th century. At this time, educational and educational centers for children with hearing problems began to appear in France and Germany.

The task of teachers was to teach children the written form of their native language. For explanations, the gestures used among the deaf and dumb were taken as a basis. On their basis, a gestural interpretation of French and German gradually arose. That is, gestural speech is largely artificially created. Everyone can understand and use such speech.

Teaching the language of the dumb in the past

The sign language of the deaf and dumb in each country is different. This is due to the fact that the gestures taken as a basis could be interpreted differently in different states. So, for example, teachers from France were invited to the USA to create their own school for the deaf. It was the teacher Laurent Clerc who developed this trend in America in the 18th century. But the UK did not take the ready-made language, adopting only the methods of deaf pedagogy. This is what caused the fact that American for the deaf is similar to French, and cannot have anything in common with English.

In Russia, things were even more complicated. The first school for the deaf appeared here at the very beginning of the 19th century. In Pavlovsk, the knowledge and practice of French teachers were used. And half a century later, an educational institution was opened in Moscow, which adopted the experience of German specialists. The struggle of these two schools can be traced in the country today.

Gesture speech is not verbal tracing paper. At the same time, its structure and history have not been studied by anyone for a long time. Only in the second half of the last century, scientists appeared who proved that the language for the deaf is a full-fledged linguistic system. And it has its own morphological and syntactic features.

Gesture communication

In order to understand the silent language, the gestures of which differ depending on the state, it is necessary to decide where it will be needed. In particular, Russian dactylology has 33 dactyl signs. The book by G. L. Zaitseva entitled “Sign speech. Dactylology” is suitable for studying the sign language of the deaf and dumb for Russia. Learning words will take time and will require a lot of practice.

For example, here are a few descriptions of gestures and their meanings:

• hands raised to the level of the chin and bent at the elbows, interconnected by the tips of the fingers, mean the word "house";
• circular rotations simultaneously with two hands in the thigh area mean "hello";
• the bend of the fingers of one hand, raised to the level of the chest and bent at the elbow, means "goodbye";
• the right hand folded into a fist, which touches the forehead, means "thank you";
• a handshake at chest level means "peace";
• smooth movements with two parallel palms, looking at each other from left to right, should be understood as an apology;
• touching the edge of the lips with three fingers and moving the hand to the side means "love."

To understand all the gestures, it is better to read the special literature or watch video tutorials. However, even here it is necessary to understand which language is better to learn.

Gestuno language

The problem of understanding among deaf people all over the world became very acute only in the last century. In 1951, after the emergence of the World Federation of the Deaf, it was decided to create a universal silent language, the gestures of which would be understood by the participants of all countries.

Work on this issue only came to fruition in 1973 in the form of the first dictionary of simplified sign language. Two years later, international sign speech was adopted. To create it, the languages ​​of England, America, Italy, and Russia were used. At the same time, the ways of communication among representatives of the African and Asian continents were not taken into account at all.

This has led to the fact that in addition to the official language, there is also an informal sign language in the world.

Alphabet dactyl

Gestures can show not only words, but also individual letters. It's not exactly deaf-mute sign language. Words are composed of individual gestures-letters, which makes communication difficult, making it longer. With the help of the dactyl alphabet, this is what a similar method is called, common nouns, scientific terms, prepositions and the like are indicated.

This alphabet has its differences in different sign languages. It is quite simple to study it, since it consists, as already mentioned, of 33 dactyl signs. Each of them corresponds to the image of the corresponding letter. To understand Russian speech, you should study the corresponding dactyl alphabet.

The language of the deaf and dumb is a hot topic for the deaf and dumb themselves and for their potential interpreters, that is, those who speak and hear well. And this is no wonder. In developed countries, there are three sign language interpreters for every deaf and dumb person. And if you calculate all over the world, there are only three translators per hundred people of the deaf and dumb. Therefore, it is quite natural that sign language is of interest.

Types of language for the deaf and dumb

The problem of communication of hearing-impaired people has been known to mankind for a long time. And this language also had its revolutions, ups and downs.

• In the 18th century, there was the Amsel. His weakness was that he was constantly changing. Acquired many "dialects". People hardly understood each other.
• By the middle of the last century, there was a need for an international language for the hearing impaired. He appeared. They called him a gesture. It includes hand gestures, body turns and facial expressions.

Language for the deaf and dumb and its types

It is important to distinguish the language of the hearing impaired from fingerprinting. The latter is the image of individual letters by hand. It is used for proper names, city names and specific words not yet included in the unified language.

Where can I go to learn the language of the deaf and dumb?

From the previous section it is clear: on the one hand, there is a fantastic need for sign language interpreters, on the other hand, no one is particularly eager for this profession. To answer the question why is too long and not too pleasant, so we immediately move on to the practical part - where to turn? The options are as follows.

• Groups and communities of the hard of hearing and deaf and dumb. The salvation of the drowning is the work of the drowning themselves. Russian realities make many people feel like Barons Munchausen. Of course, these services are free.
• Educational institutions of both higher and middle levels. Available to social workers and linguists - free of charge.
• If suddenly the sufferers did not find free courses, then there are paid ones. They are provided by research and methodological centers, as well as special schools for the hearing impaired and the deaf and dumb.

When you do not want to pay money (after all, this is not the most profitable investment), but there is a need for knowledge, then you should not despair. You need to turn to the great and mighty Internet, and he will tell you how to be.

How to learn the language of the deaf and dumb on your own?

In general, real education is self-education. The world is fast, highly efficient, so there is often no time to get a systematic education when a person needs specific skills. Consider options to learn a language for the deaf and dumb on your own.

• Sites. The Internet, as always, helps out. A huge number of groups, communities that will help a person in the theoretical and practical development of the language.
• Applications for phones. These are textbooks that do not take up much space and that can be opened at any time convenient for a person.
• Books. Despite technological progress and newfangled novelties, books are still popular among the population. What can I say, books and dogs are man's best friends. But books are not for lazy people. They need to be dealt with seriously and thoughtfully.
• Educational video. Plus, visibility. Minus - there is no mentor nearby who will help if something is wrong.

To understand whether a person speaks a language well or badly, practice is needed. Therefore, once the basics are mastered, it is necessary to find a community where you can test yourself. And don't be afraid. If a person is hard of hearing, then he will be welcome. If he does not have hearing problems, then he will be doubly welcome, because sign language interpreters are sorely lacking.

In our classes, we devoted more and more time to the history of the creation of writing. But this time I wanted something different, more unusual and modern. So the idea came up to tell children about other languages. Already in the plans are:

Sign language;
- the language of spies;
- programming languages;
- Braille cipher.

Gestuno is the language of people with hearing impairments.

Deaf people communicate using gestures - quick hand movements accompanied by a lively facial expression. These gestures, like any other language, need to be learned. They quickly convey information to the interlocutor. Where hearing people need many words, for example: Shall we go across the bridge?, one gesture is enough for deaf people.
This possibility is also used where it is impossible to hear: under water by divers or in space by astronauts working outside the spacecraft.
International alphabet of gestures. Each language has its own system of naming letters or sounds.

Sign languages ​​for the deaf and dumb vary from country to country. There are TV programs in which the text is "translated" for the deaf. Then, in the corner of the screen, you can see the announcer, who silently gesticulates, i.e. speaks in sign language.
There are more than 13 million deaf and hard of hearing people in Russia. The birth of a child with hearing impairment in the family is a difficult test both for parents and for the child himself, who needs special teaching aids and, most importantly, communication with peers and relatives. Fortunately, the Russian Society of the Deaf is actively working on this front. Thanks to the activities of its branches, people with hearing impairments unite and communicate with each other without feeling excluded from the social process.

There are also problems: the lack of educational institutions that accept people with hearing impairments, the lack of sign language interpreters and teaching aids that allow them to master sign language.
Russian Sign Language is an independent language unit used for communication by people with hearing impairments.

Sign language does not consist only of a static figure shown by hands - it also contains a dynamic component (the hands move in a certain way and are in a certain position relative to the face) and a mimic component (the speaker's facial expression illustrates the gesture). Also, during a conversation in gestuno, it is customary to "pronounce" words with your lips.

In addition to this, when communicating with people with hearing impairments, you should be extremely attentive to your posture and involuntary hand gestures - they can be misinterpreted.
The basis of sign language is the dactyl (finger) alphabet. Each letter of the Russian language corresponds to a certain gesture (see picture).

Knowing this alphabet will help at first to overcome the "language barrier" between you and a person with a hearing impairment. But Dactyling (spelling) is rarely used by the deaf in everyday speech. Its main purpose is to pronounce proper names, as well as terms for which their own gesture has not yet been formed.

For most words in Russian Sign Language, there is a gesture that denotes the whole word. At the same time, I want to note that almost all gestures are intuitive and very logical. For example:

"Writing" - we kind of take a pen and write on the palm of our hand. "Count" - we begin to bend our fingers. "Grandfather" - very reminiscent of a beard, right? Sometimes in gestures for complex concepts, you simply marvel at how accurately the essence of the subject is noticed.

The structure of sign language is not complicated at all. The word order corresponds to the usual sentences of the Russian language. For prepositions and conjunctions of one letter, their dactyl gesture (a letter from the alphabet) is used. Verbs are not conjugated or declined. To indicate time, it is enough to give a marker word (Yesterday, Tomorrow, 2 days ago) or put the gesture "was" before the verb.

Like any other language, Russian sign language is very lively, changes all the time and varies greatly from region to region. Manuals and training materials are updated at a snail's pace. Therefore, the recent publication of a primer for children with hearing impairments has become a real event.

The basic gestures with which you can communicate with deaf people are quite elementary:

The main difficulty is not even in mastering gestures, but in learning to "read" them from the hands. Gestures are complex - they consist of several positions of the brush, following one after another. And out of habit it is difficult to separate the end of one gesture and the beginning of another. Therefore, learning gestuno takes no less time than learning any foreign language, and maybe more.

We often see people with hearing impairments in the subway and on the street, in cafes. These are cheerful, shining people, completely ordinary, just having other ways of communicating. Deafness does not prevent them from being happy - having friends, a favorite job and a family. They can even sing in tin and dance - yes, yes, people with hearing impairments still hear music,