Did you know something about sign language（手语）? Sign language is the main way for deaf people to communicate. Since they can't hear, talking to hearing people can be hard. Luckily, sign language interpreters（译员） are there to help.
Hao Shuxin, 24, sees sign language as her mother language, because her parents are deaf. "I picked up sign language before I could even talk," she said. In2018, she became a sign language interpreter in Chongqing. Her work takes her to places like courts（法庭）, where she interprets for deaf people in legal（法律上的） cases.
Since sign language has fewer words, Hao often meets difficult words without direct match. In such situations, she carefully breaks down the meaning for deaf people. There are also grammatical differences between Chinese and sign language. "For example, the words 'put out a fire' are signed as 'a fire put out' in sign language, as deaf people describe what they see first," Hao explained.
Hao feels stressed at work because being correct is important in interpretations. Her worry also comes from the fact that sign language has "dialects". The same word can be expressed with different hand gestures（手势） depending on where a deaf person is from. "For example, people in Shanxi and Chongqing use different gestures for the word 'true'," Hao explained. Having traveled to over 30 cities in China, she has learned about the special ways for deaf people across the country to use sign language.
In her spare time, Hao reads many law books and talks with lawyers and her deaf workmates to improve her ability. "My parents are deaf, so I understand the difficulties faced by the deaf community. I want to do everything I can to help them, and I hope more people will join us," Hao said.
