Teaching sign language on TikTok, not necessarily a nice gesture – Liberation

On social networks, many accounts try to popularize sign language. An initiative that has its limits, point out the professionals: these non-deaf influencers often convey an erroneous use of signs or make a mistake in translation.

Sheena Lyles mimes gently patting little heads: this is the translation of “children”, children in American Sign Language. In an article from washington post released Tuesday, May 8, the American content creator, deaf and hard of hearing, denounces the poor teaching of this language by non-deaf influencers. Like Scott Berends. By wanting to translate the word “child”, the tiktokeur with millions of subscribers rather gives the impression, according to critics, of playing the bongo…

In France too, the popularization of sign language has its drifts, although it was recognized as a language in its own right in 2005. “We see horrors every day”, is offended Ronit Laquerrière-Leven. This deaf and hearing-impaired teacher at the French Sign Language Academy (LSF) deplores the fact that some “improvise” experts on social networks to teach the language to the non-deaf and non-hard of hearing, but convey an erroneous version of certain signs. “Language is not just a roughly reproduced sign. The translation of a word is done according to the exact orientation of the hand, the posture of the body, the positioning of the gaze, the expressions of the face and the labialisation (movement of the lips)», explains the teacher via a chat. So when the creator “Ames en signe”, followed by more than 5,000 people on I