Since time immemorial, people who are deaf and mute have always found ways to convey their message to their peers who can speak and hear. Over the years, the standardization of sign language has been developed to cater to educational needs and to ensure that this group can function well and seamlessly in society.
Nowadays, it has become more convenient and accessible for both the hearing-impaired and hearing people to learn sign language. You can enroll in sign language classes online and equip yourself with the knowledge to communicate with diverse groups of human beings.
Knowing how to use sign language doesn’t just improve your personal relationships. It can also open up new opportunities for you professionally.
Here are the ways that learning sign language can boost your career:
1. Additional Bankable Skill
Communication is essential to any professional relationship, whether you’re dealing with clients or workmates. The primary advantage of knowing how to communicate in sign language for people in the business world is that it sets you apart from your colleagues with the same experience and technical skills as you.
Business policies and practices are more inclusive nowadays, and people who have difficulty hearing can run their companies or apply for job roles like any other applicant. If you know how to talk to them, you can contribute greatly to your organization, especially if you’re in the sales and marketing department.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a job, this skill can easily bring you favor when your recruiter has a hearing impairment. You can talk to them with ease, without having to resort to using a translator or writing down your answers, thus increasing the likelihood that you’ll be hired.
2. Widespread Use
Sign languages are not mutually intelligible, which means that there isn’t a universal version and various forms have differing gestures. However, learning the sign language alphabet of one country can help you understand a different version more readily due to some similarities in the motions.
A significant portion of the world’s population relies on sign language to express their thoughts. In learning this communication form, you can make connections with people in this group and broaden your professional horizon.
3. More Career Options
Aside from enhancing your chances for promotion, learning this additional skill can give you more opportunities to switch career paths. With this, you can apply for other jobs where sign language is used, even if it’s vastly different from your current industry.
These are the professions that involve sign language in some form or another:
- Special Education Teacher – As someone who specializes in educating people with disabilities, learning sign language is a necessary skill to have. You should equip yourself with this knowledge so that you can help others pursue their dreams.
- Interpreter or Translator – If you’re aspiring to be an interpreter or translator, you need to have advanced sign language skills to ensure that you can deliver the speaker’s message accurately.
- Emergency Medical Technician – As an EMT, you have no clue of the person whom you’ll encounter. Knowing sign language will be handy when you have to rescue a person with hearing difficulty from an emergency.
- Nurse or Doctor – Similarly, having this skill can be of immense help when you have a patient who is deaf or mute. You can communicate with them and provide support during their health crisis.
4. Cognition and Motor Skills Boost
Learning a new skill, especially one that involves communication and gesticulation, can help give your cognition and muscles a boost. Not only can you learn how to communicate in another language, but you’ll also hone your fine motor skills.
Because sign language also refines your muscles, one bonus result you may witness is that you become more comfortable with your body. This can make you aware of your non-verbal communication, which has a considerable impact on how others receive and interpret your message.
5. Expand Your Vocabulary Retention
Another benefit of studying how to do sign language is that it helps you build your vocabulary and retrieve the information when you need it. The combination of hearing and seeing the word through gestures can reinforce learning and help you remember the term in the future.
Conclusion
Learning sign language can boost your career by adding a bankable skill to your professional arsenal and broadening the job options available to you. You also get to know how to communicate with this group of people. Moreover, acquiring this skill helps improve your brain and body by enhancing your ability to learn new words, as well as refining your motor skills.