Living in two worlds
Our voluntary service here at HLID has now come to an end, and we have learnt so much. Naturally, this includes a great deal about the customs within the deaf community, and I would like to take this opportunity to share our experiences and what we have learnt with you.
Over the past year, we have essentially lived in two cultures: the hearing and the deaf cultures of Jordan. This often led to awkward situations in the hearing culture – that is, in public – when we automatically tried to sign with people instead of speaking.
But let’s start with names. As well as their normal first names, deaf people also have name signs. Children of deaf parents receive theirs soon after birth or in early childhood. Children who have no exposure to sign language in their family home only receive their name later from other deaf people. At our institute, for example, this is done by teachers or educators. The name sign describes, for instance, a distinctive physical feature, a behaviour or a preference of a person. In my case, it was my curls that gave me my name sign after just a few days at the institute. However, it can also be derived from a birthmark or a person’s style of dress.
It is similar with country signs. For instance, the sign for Germany is derived from the spiked helmet and that for Italy from pizza.
There are, of course, many distinctive features when it comes to communication. As sign language is a visual language, other means of communication are also designed to appeal to the sense of sight. One example is making eye contact. There are various ways to do this. If, for instance, you are sitting at a table with several people, you can draw attention to yourself by waving or tapping on the table. You can also tap the shoulder of someone sitting next to you to get their attention. If you want to make eye contact from a greater distance, you can also make yourself noticed by waving. However, depending on the distance, this can be difficult if the person is looking in a different direction. But once you have established eye contact, it is easier to communicate over long distances in sign language.
When indoors, it is somewhat easier, as you can simply flick the light switch to get everyone’s attention in the room. Here at the institute, we naturally make good use of this to draw the children’s attention, for example when saying grace before a meal or when the children need to start tidying up.
Another difference from hearing culture is the use of bells. These do not, of course, ring, but instead use lights. For this purpose, most rooms have extra lamps fitted that can be operated from outside using the bell.
To create a good environment for conversation, in deaf groups care is taken to ensure, for example, that the centre of the table is not decorated with large bouquets of flowers or candles, as otherwise you cannot see the person opposite you properly. It is also more comfortable to sit facing each other rather than side by side.
Houses can also be designed in a way that makes communication easier for deaf people. Open-plan rooms or mirrors are helpful here, as communication via closed doors does not work in sign language.
Of course, communication has become easier since mobile phones came along. This makes it easy to make video calls or use the Notes app to write to people who do not understand sign language.
Perhaps you’re also interested in what it’s like to learn sign language. I found that it was quite easy to learn the basics, as a lot of it is quite intuitive. But of course, with sign languages too, you reach a point where progress isn’t quite so easy. For example, I found it difficult to memorise vocabulary, as you can’t simply write it down. I often tried to come up with mnemonics.
Of course, it can also be useful to learn the finger alphabet. We did that too, of course. However, we learnt both the English and the Arabic finger alphabets. This way, for example, you can spell out your name or the place you come from.
That was actually my last blog post. Thank you so much for following the blog! I hope I was able to take you along on my journey through my time in Jordan and that you perhaps learnt something too.
Thank you very much for reading!
This text was automatically translated using an AI-powered translation system.
