A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE TO LEARN

A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE TO LEARN

Think of the languages that are taught at your school. You are learning English and on top of that you are probably learning another language such as French, German or Spanish. Some schools offer languages like Chinese, Greek or Arabic. A school in Bosnia and Herzegovina offered another language to a class of students: sign language. In 2003, the country adopted a law that guarantees equal access to education for all students and they do their best to really do that. When the first grade teacher found out that she had a student who couldn’t speak or hear in your class, she knew that she had to do something. “It was difficult at first,” she said. Even the little boy, Zeyd, couldn’t use sign language properly, so I had to teach him as well.

She started studying and learning sign language through books and Youtube. “I had to repeat every word every day,” she said. The teacher said that learning the sign language was not any different than learning any other foreign language. It required a lot of practice and perseverance. Every day when she learnt a new word, she would teach that word to her students too. She said that students were mastering the language better than she did because they had more chance to practice with each other and their deaf and mute friend.

Zejd’s parents were very happy that their son was in that class. His mother said that in the past Zejd had refused to learn the sign language himself and he preferred using gestures to communicate with his parents. But after seeing how much his teacher and classmates had tried, he got motivated and happier.

Other parents of the students in their class was happy that their children were learning how to use the sign language too. They said that they believed their children would benefit from knowing sign language in the future. Many parents said that they encouraged their children to teach them the new words they learnt at school.

Sign language is now offered as an elective course at many schools around the world. There are more people who are eager to learn ways to communicate with people who can’t hear or speak. There are even Youtube channels and audio stories aiming deaf people.