Sigh Language 手語ABC

For deaf people, sign language is a handy tool of communication

對於聽障人士而言，手語是「垂手而得」的溝通的工具

Communication is part of what makes us human. We all have a basic need to communicate our ideas to others. We also want to comprehend what others are trying to say to us. Most of the time, people use a spoken language to communicate. But for deaf people, communication presents special challenges. Since most deaf people cannot easily use a spoken language, they use a visual form of communication – sign language. Contrary to popular belief, sign language is not a universal language. Deaf people in different countries “speak” different sign languages.

American Sign Language (ASL) is the preferred form of sign language among deaf people in the U.S. It has a grammar and word order that are very different from Standard English. Some American universities even teach ASL as a foreign language.

Other forms of sign language try to represent English more precisely. They use English word order and sign every word in the sentence. One thing these systems have in common is “fingerspelling.” Every letter in English has its own unique sign.

deaf àcannot hear

comprehendàunderstand completely

visualàbe able to see

preferredàchoose most often

preciselyàexactly

【Grammar on the go】

Communication is part of what makes us human.

something is part of what makes someone/something + adjective.

Cooking food over an open fire is part of what makes camping fun.

Living in a dorm is part of what makes college life unique.

【Chat room】

spoken language

verbal言辭的、口頭的

a verbal contract口頭上的協議

a verbal promise口頭上的承諾

a verbal report 口頭報告

oral 幾乎等同verbal

但不同的地方是 oral牽涉到嘴巴

oral report

如果一個東西是用講的，但不是經由人的嘴巴，就不能就oral

像一些汽車上的GPS會指示路要怎麼走，是用verbal instruction

oral口服的

an oral vaccine口服的疫苗

大多的藥，都要take orally口服

【Key word】

comprehend了解，理解，領悟

The dialect the tribal people speak is hard to comprehend.

這個部落居民所說的方言很難聽得懂

I can’t comprehend why he used such harsh words.

我不能理解為什麼他要說這麼尖銳的話

visual 視覺的

The visual effects of the movie are stunning.

這部電影的視覺效果很驚人

Some students need visual aids to help them memorize.

有些學生需要視覺上的輔助幫助他們記憶

preferred偏好的，更受喜愛的

prefer偏好

Taking a train ride would be my preferred option, but it’s very time-consuming.

當火車是我比較喜歡的選項，但比較花時間

Working from home is the preferred choice of many working moms.

在家工作是許多上班族媽媽更喜歡的選擇