Interview with Sabine Flohr

I don't want to emphasize the fact that there are sign names. There is nothing special about our names being signed. It is quite normal in the deaf culture and community. These are our names.

That varies greatly from person to person. It depends on how hard the learner works and how much respect they have for sign language. Of course, the amount of time invested in learning and practicing also has a big influence. The more you practice, the faster you will see results.

Sign language does not have a sign system. It is a fully-fledged language with its own structure and grammar. The biggest difference clearly lies in the language modality: sign language is a visual language that is perceived with the eyes. Spoken language, on the other hand, is an auditory language that is perceived with the ears.

Of course! Even though sign languages vary greatly from country to country, we pick it up quite quickly.

Yes, I learned German at school. For me, German is a foreign language, which I had to learn painstakingly and with a lot of work via the written form. As German sign language and German have different grammar and sentence structure, I learned German like a foreign language.

It would be a nightmare if my husband started talking to me audibly in my dreams.

Not at all, because I don't know the hearing perspective.

What I want most of all is for sign language to be respected and appreciated. That people approach deaf people openly and with fewer inhibitions.

We are now tired of having to emphasize and present our concerns over and over again. For decades, we have been fighting for equal rights and accessibility, for recognition, and also simply to be noticed. This should now be a matter of course, just as it is in other countries.

So there are big obstacles at the station, for example. Depending on the station, you don't always find modern, digital display boards. When I'm standing on the platform, I can't always be sure whether the train is coming or not, as this information is communicated via loudspeaker announcements, which of course I can't hear. I have a similar experience on the train if it doesn't leave at the actual departure time. On the train, the latest information about changes to journeys is announced over the loudspeaker and I don't hear it.
That's a big barrier. And if I then go to the information desk to ask, communication is very difficult and hardly possible. That is difficult.

So if I could dream of one suggestion for improvement, it would be that everyone could simply sign. No matter where I go or where I have an appointment, I can easily communicate in sign language. Or if I went to a lecture and everything was simply done in sign language. That would of course make me feel very comfortable and at ease.

I can recommend the movie "Coda". If you want to find out more about the movie plot and are interested in this topic, you should definitely watch it. A book that I can also recommend is called "Handbuch Deutsche Gebärdensprache". You can also find a lot of information on the Internet, for example on the website"Taubenschlag".

As just mentioned, there are now many offers on the internet where you can watch and learn sign language. However, if you really want to get to grips with sign language, you are better off taking a classroom course on site. Because: there are dialects in sign language and people sign differently everywhere. That's why, due to ignorance and inexperience, it can happen that you learn Bavarian sign language even though you live in Saxony. This cannot happen on a face-to-face course.