日本手話 Japanese Sign Language

Japanese Language
#1

I almost asked the forum if y’all could help me find this, but I managed to find it on my own, yay!

Here is a NHK program for learning 日本手話(にほんしゅわ) (Japanese Sign Language).

I’ve seen a couple of episodes of it while channel surfing and it was really cool to watch. I think it’s also useful because they are teaching the basics using spoken Japanese and subtitles, so it’s good for Japanese listening and reading practice.

Is anyone else interested in learning JSL?

A coworker who knows JSL taught me to count to 10. Do you know any JSL?

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#2

I don’t know any JSL but I learnt some British and German sign language a while back. It’s fascinating how many different systems of fingerspelling there are!

I’m curious about the 50音 signs in JSL. Is there actually a difference between signs like し, しゃ,しゅ,しょ? In the pictures on this website it seems like they’re sliiightly differently angled, but that seems hard to tell apart in conversation. Or is it all about mouthing?

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#3

No, but I caught a TV show about a school for the deaf one time when I was in Japan. I was vaguely amused that the kids would always dry their palms on their trousers before they started signing. Like, it was an unconscious reflex action, but all of them had it.

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#4

I can try asking, but usually that coworker and I don’t have overlapping shifts. That’s a great question though!

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#5

That sounds a lot like when speakers clear their throat or swallow before speaking. I haven’t seen people who sign ASL do that, so I wonder if it’s a common habit in Japan or just a thing at that school :thinking: