Hearing with Your Eyes

Pippa was puzzled. "Why are you waving your hands in the air, Emil?" she asked.

Emil looked up from the computer screen. "Hi, Pippa," he said. "I'm trying to learn to sign."

"To what?" she asked.

"I'm trying to learn sign language," he explained. "It's a way for people who can't hear to talk with other people."

"Is it hard to learn?" Pippa inquired.

"I think," Emil replied, "It's about like learning any other language. You learn the sign for a word and how to put the signs together in the right way. I'm learning Signing Exact English, because that's the kind of sign language people use here."

"Is it as hard to learn as Hebrew?" Pippa wanted to know. "Charlotte told me yesterday that she is learning Hebrew, because she wants to know what the prayers mean when she's in the synagogue (SIN-ah-gog). That's where she goes to worship."

"I know," Emil replied, "and Mariah is learning Arabic, so she can understand the prayers she says in the mosque (MOSK). They told me about it. They showed me what they were learning."

"I thought it looked like fun," Emil added, "so I decided to learn a language, too."

Pippa climbed onto Emil's chair, so she could see better.

"I think sign language might be easier," Emil said after Pippa was settled next to him, "because Charlotte and Mariah have to learn new ways to read and write. I think that must be harder."

"So what are you doing with the computer?" Pippa asked.

"I'll show you," Emil said. 

"Now," Emil began, "when very important people have something very important to say, they get someone who knows sign language to listen to what they say and then make the signs for what they are saying, so people who can't hear can understand. I have the sound turned off. I'm watching and seeing if I can understand what the person who is signing is saying. Then I see if I can do the ones I don't already know." 

He showed Pippa the computer screen, so she could see.

Emil pointed to the man who was moving his arms, hands and mouth. "That's the person who is using sign language," he explained. "They use their faces, too," he added. "I think that's mostly to show the emotion."

The two dolls watched the man moving his hands and face, and thought about what it must be like to be able to use your face to show emotions.

"Please teach me to say something in sign language," Pippa begged then. "I want to be able to say and understand something, too!"

"Sure," Emil agreed. "Let's start with hello!" He put his hand up by his head.

Then Emil moved his hand out to the side, as if he were waving to someone across the street.

"That's how you say hello," he said.

Pippa tried it.

The dolls said hello to each other.

"How do you say my name?" she asked then.

"I can't say Pippa," Emil said. "I would need to move my fingers to spell it out, and they don't move." 

Then Emil had an idea. "I know what!" he exclaimed. "I'll show you pictures of how to make the letters. We don't need many letters for your name."

Emil changed the computer screen. "This is a P," he said.

Then he changed the screen again to a different photo. "This is the letter I," he said.

Again Emil changed the screen. "This is the letter A. Now you have all the letters you need."

 "Next you put them all together," Emil explained. He showed the photos one after the other like this.

"It's too bad you can't say my name," Pippa said sadly. "I would like you to be able to say, 'Hello, Pippa.'"

"There's a way I can, Pippa," Emil countered. "We just need to give you a sign that means Pippa. People who sign use their fingers to spell their names to others when they first meet, but they will have a sign just for them that says something about them. That's what they use with their friends." He thought for a moment. Then he said "Hello" and made the sign for it.

After that, Emil moved his hand from his mouth to his chin and said, "Pippa." (He would have curled his fingers down after he reached his chin, but, as you know, his fingers don't move, so this would have to do.)

"What does that sign mean besides Pippa?" Pippa asked. She was pretty sure he didn't just make it up; it must mean something in sign language.

"Sweet," Emil replied.

Pippa decided she liked her new Sign Language name.

Cast--
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

Pippa: Götz Little Kidz Lotta

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Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook and Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

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