My heart simply broke when the commenter said how hurt she was by her family not wanting to speak to her in ASL. I think Ryan's response was perfect and uplifting.

I need more sign duo in my life

Two times in one week. I feel like it is Christmas. It’s so good to see the videos being posted.

We definitely need more Sign Duo content, the genuine and positive vibes that you guys bring in every video is hard to find nowadays on KZfaq!😌✨🙌🏼

At first this answer was the opposite of what I expected, but then I realized that I've learned the most from Deaf creators just talking about things they love and from looking up vocabulary that's relevant to the day-to-day. I imagine it also helps take some emotional pressure off. Always so happy to see y'all post 🥰

So glad you're posting again😊

This is a very good video. I'm learning ASL on my own because I don't know any deaf people. I study online with a very good program. I have watched a few of your videos and it helps me a lot. (I adjust the playback speed to a level where I can distinguish the signs you are using). Today I understood quite a bit without reading the captions. Thank you both for making these videos.

I had recently lost all of my hearing an now I'm profoundly deaf as the doctors put it i don't know much asl and in my town nobody seems to care it's like go away i never really realized how deaf people felt until I'm became one i now stand proud an never let people try to cast me aside when my audiologist heard about what i was doing she was extremely proud an passing on the word we all deserve to be heard not silenced. Been watching you guys for a bit now I'm so proud of you and thankful i guess how you guys shine light on very important things to silly little fun playing around just living life. So thank you

Another good way to encourage people is because you can have "secret" conversations in public places, like at a restaurant or on the subway. It's unlikely anyone around will understand you, so you don't have to worry about eavesdroppers.

Wow that was such an interesting Q&A - I am a mom and it’s hard to imagine not being able to communicate with my kids suddenly… our house is a bilingual household and when my son was little, he didn’t use that many spoken words and was hard to understand (sometimes we couldn’t tell which language he was using 😅) and would get really upset, so I taught him a lot of signs and that helped so much! I stopped using them once he could talk but I have another baby now and he remembers some of the signs 😮 and I am learning more ASL now and want to continue using it with them.

I LOVE THIS COUPLE SO MUCHHH

I’m glad you two are living a good life and don’t post because probably just enjoying it. But it also sucks you guys don’t post and we miss out on ya. 😂

Thank you for making keeping up with my signing so much fun! When I was young we learned it to talk back and forth without our parents knowing what we were saying. Then with young children to keep adult conversations separate.

I just enjoy watching your videos so much, I'm glad you started posting more regularly ❤

So nice to see you both, you was missed. I hear in some schools here in Britain they are starting to teach sign in the curriculum, which I think is a good thing , and been a long time coming. Sending you both much love from Liverpool England♥♥♥

Awesome video! I'm so happy you two are sharing your thoughts and experiences with us. I've been trying to learn ASL both on my own and from Deaf instructors but my disabilities make it challenging. I've even tried taking a class intended for people like me and it's still so difficult. I feel like I'll never be able to learn ASL. But I won't give up!

this girl has such a beautiful voice, it's a shame he can't hear it. such a lovely couple none the less!

GUYS! I'm starting my first year of high school this week. There are lots of student lead clubs. There was going to be an ASL course, but the teacher left. So, I'm going to start an ASL club this year. I'M SO EXCITED ANY TIPS ARE APPRECIATED

Yay so glad your back 🎉 im on my 3rd ASL class now and i was able to understand way more of your video without captions then i could before. I still have a long way to go but i see a huge improvement. I have a hard time learning languages and this is so encouraging. Thank you ❤

Again, thanks for the post. I thoroughly enjoy your videos and learning more about deaf culture. (I am a hearing/hard of hearing teacher, after 20 years working in a hearing school, many of those years working with English Langauge Learners, recently working at a school for the deaf, langauge of instruction is ASL.)

My fiancé is deaf and I’m hearing. We love watching your videos together… helps me improve my signing comprehension (bc he’s more oral from a hearing family that only a few people minimally sign in so sometimes he prefers SimCom) but when I have my asl classes those weeks he’s amazing about reminding me VOICE OFF and we sign ASL together. Great video! Thanks or sharing. PS: it would be cool to meet you guys someday. You are a huge encouragement to the two of us since a lot of people always only think about the negative and assume we haven’t discussed the realities of the additional difficulties we could/will face as being hearing and deaf and married/parents (eventually) together.

So glad u guys are uploading 🥹💖💖

Hey!!! Happy to see you!!! Thanks for sharing. I'm in a similar situation. I dont have kids and a husband, but Im also learning sign language. My hearing got worse so I felt that I need a new tool for having better comunication and not relying completely in reading lips (Im good at it but its exhausting sometimes). My dad is learning with me but my family, including my dad, communicates with me in the way that we always communicated: oral speaking. Even when I dont have my hearing aid, they just speak and assume that I will read their lips and everything will be fine. Im good at reading lips and I know how to talk. My mom told me one day that: Why learning signing if I can read lips and talk? I dont blame them for thinking like that. Its just the way we did things and I also adapting to the feeling that oral conversation doesnt feel really comfortable to me, I can try it but It feels hard. I always spoke and hear and read lips but Now its harded. I would prefer that someone talks and sign at the sametime because, that way, I can see what they say. This video helps me. I want to try what Ryan suggested. Maybe that way my family will start signing more a little bit. Maybe they could see that can be fun and not a chore. I will try. But also I will be open to the possibility of them just passing and not wanting to use any sign. Whatever. Thank you for sharing!!! Lots love and have a good day!

Love seeing your videos again! Also I hope Ellen will make some more videos where she’s voice-off. You sign very differently with your voice off. :)

I don’t know if you two will see this comment, but I would absolutely love if you two would make a few ASL essentials videos❤ I am 15 years old, and I am so so passionate about language learning and ASL. I want to be a nurse with additional degrees in ASL and my other languages so I can communicate with all sorts of people❤ Also you two are so inspirational to me and I love watching your videos 😊 You never know whose life you’ll change

I missed you guys so much! I started learning ASL because of you and still doing it slowly and casually. Every time you post a new video I realize that I can rely a bit less on the cc and pay more attention to your signing. It inspires so much. Thank you for being there for us ❤

I would be hurt too if my partner and children didn't care enough about me to learn to communicate with me, i would have a hard time forgiving that. i feel for that lady.

This KZfaq channel is highly underrated and I am glad videos are coming out again. Please guys, you have a fan base! Don’t give up!

This video was actually great, you both are so intelligent psychologically 🤗

This was very interesting to me, not only the situation but the answer. I’m in a somewhat similar situation in that I have muscle tension dysphonia and have lost my voice. If it is really quiet, I can be heard, but it hurts to talk a lot and there is very little volume that I can produce. I’m lucky in that I’m already proficient in ASL, but my husband knows no ASL. He has said that if my situation doesn’t improve he will take the time to learn ASL, but I don’t know if that will really happen. Like this woman, I can “still talk”…but really not well and not for long. Or if we’re in the car. Or a store. Or if the tv is on. Or if we’re outside and a car drives by…you get the drift. My youngest daughter is learning the way you’ve suggested (her receptive skills are pretty good!) and my oldest has started learning on her own (she is an adult and decided when I learned this may be permanent that she needed to learn to talk to me ❤). I think I’ll take this advice and try to help my husband learn in this way. It has been 8 1/2 months of no voice now. Like I said: it may not return. Thanks for the great advice, guys!!

I'm trying to learn some sign and I find that your videos are very useful for getting used to different styles of sign. Ex: In class it's very clear and very perfect signs while I notice that many fluent signers sign a bit more naturally and flowy. Can't wait for your next video! ❤

Okay yes I agree with the others as well my heart literally broke just reading that the family didn’t want to learn. I wish the best for her seriously! You got this♥️ if you’re reading the comment section we are rooting for you!

To the lady that sent in the question i would suggest if your kids are old enough sit them down and explain that you are scared. It is okay to be scared and it is okay for them to know that you. Tell them you want to learn sign language so that you will still have a way to share your thoughts with them. Tell them you are doing it for them. (In part you are doing it for you but you really are doing it for your family) And ask your kids to help you study. I have a box of flashcards that i use to memorize signs. It is great. As you study they will gradually learn along with you. Kids learn things a whole lost faster than we do. You gave such great advice! I was thinking that making a 'secret' language that only she and the kids share. I know from my experience with my husband he refuses to learn signs. I think he has learned 'medicine' and 'water'. But my 4 girls love to sign behind his back. He cant hear anything anyway (not deaf... yet! but getting older every day and thinks a hearing aid will make him look "old". Sorry.. too many years of loud music). It is fun to get to talk with the girls even in our own pigeon sign. I would love some suggestions on how to get my husband to learn to sign as he is quickly losing his hearing and I frequently lose my voice (old cheerleading injury??? :) No idea why but a bad combination when i cannot yell loud enough for him to hear me)

Learning sign language, or another new language, through a natural process is outstanding. The given suggestions are very helpful and appropriate.

I want to thank Ellen for talking as she signs. I am trying to learn ASL and hearing her talk as she signs slow help me so much. Thanks for taking the time to share with us. I enjoy watching your your videos. :)

What a great response. I love that you two answered her question. I'm looking forward to more interesting questions. I wish I had one, I'll try to think of one in the mean time.

Perhaps Holly could explore with her family why they are reluctant to learn sign language. Losing her hearing is a huge upheaval in her life and also her family's life. Maybe they are afraid to acknowledge this permanent change to their life and feel that by learning sign language it makes it final, perhaps they feel that people will look at them oddly in public. If Holly is unable to convince them of the importance of learning sign language maybe some family counseling could help.

Awsome! Thanks for the upload. Any chance we can get another signing only video? Really enjoyed that ❤

Missing Java moments. ❤ Love your videos! Thank you for sharing and posting.

oh im so happy to see you two again! i was an avid viewer a few years back and am so excited to be watching you guys again :)

I'm a Late Deaf just like the woman that is asked the question. A disease took my Hearing as well. The way my friends started learning ASL for me is by using this app called Marco Polo. I told them instead of texting let's do video "texting". With Marco Polo (MP), you send video messages to the person. A lot of my friends downloaded the app and enjoy how we "text" each other through using sign language videos. Their signing has greatly improved from using MP :D I agree with Ryan about using your voice. Once you start using your voice, people in general are going to communicate with you through spoken language. Many Hearing people associate Deafness or Deaf people with being Mute or not being verbal. I go through majority of my life not speaking unless I need to and it's AMAZING! I absolutely enjoy not using my voice and only ASL and Black ASL to communicate.

Hes such a great communicator and uses his words well

The the question from Holly Bailey, , I can only try to imagine how frightening her illness and hearing loss have been. I would imagine she has experienced a sense of loss and upheaval of the kind of life she knew. The way she is dealing with it, her willingness to move forward and say “Okay, this is my life now, how can I make it the best it can possibly be?” are extraordinary. I feel so bad for her experiencing by what feels like a rejection and disrespect of her, a devaluing of her. I wonder though if there may be other emotional factors to her husband and kids’ current resistance to learning to sign. They, especially the kids, may still be struggling emotionally with what happened to her. I would think there would be almost a kind of grief, fear and denial. The fear I don’t think would be of her, but of the shockingly quick nature of the illness and hearing loss. That kind of sudden, massive change of any kind in life, certainly of health or ability, can leave people, especially children, feeling very insecure of the safety, the surety of their lives. With any kind of loss,people go through grief, anger and denial, not necessarily in that order, before they can reach acceptance. Even with acceptance, there can be times of resurgence of the earlier steps in the process. Her family may be acting from denial of the new reality, perhaps a subconsciously held hope that if they don’t accept it, things could go back the way they were. Without realizing it, they may be acting from the fear that by learning to sign, they would be banishing hope of her hearing returning. I totally get how this could feel like a rejection of her, how much that hurts, and coming after everything else, can feel like someone beating on a bruise. It could help to know that the rejection is likely not of her, but of the new reality. That stage of rejection doesn’t have to be permanent. It’s very possible that patience, just keeping calmly on with learning to adapt and improve her situation, will help her family come to the point where they are able to join her in moving forward. I have so much respect and hope for this lady. Ellen and Ryan, your advice is so good!

Yall spending an entire video answering 1 question is so deaf culture coded I love it

My heart broke when she said her family does not want to learn sign. My daughter is hard of hearing and we decided to learn ASL for her and we have loved it. I loved Ryan’s suggestion and explanation of how to start teaching the family though as that’s how we have been teaching our family some basic signs

I just watched the video where you guys addressed concerns that people assumed you broke up and that's why you were gone for so long. Assuming you guys broke up was a totally normal assumption. I understand that people want to take a break from social media but you guys were gaining momentum and just dropping everything out of the blue without notification was very concerning. I don't mind people taking a break, we're all human and social media is a hungry beast. But please post a comment or something. I literally unsubscribed from the channel coz I was so heartbroken checking the account over and over again. I'm glad you're back and I'm subscribed again, but please don't just drop stuff like that if you want to take a break.

This was a really good video. Do you ever plan on teaching sign language in video format? You’d be a good teacher. Also, I believe she just taught me,”Hurt”. 👉🏾💥👈🏾 haha something like that.

Omg Welcome Back. I been praying for you and Java I know prepare wedding is overwhelm but you can do it. I prepare my too. I dating hearing man too he picks up signing from me…. I miss you guys so much and Java.. I hope Java well. Keep up and hoping see you again by the way Happy Father day tmw to Ryan .. 🙏 ❤❤❤

4:08 kids like the idea of talking underwater so that's one too. I've seen some hearing kids have learned some basic sign language for the summer to play

Here before the video blows up🎉

I'm deaf in left ear and hearing in right ear. I lost the hearing suddenly when I was about 18 back in early 80's. I didn't start learning sign language until '97. I've done what Ryan said to do w my husband-I will sign and talk. So he knows a few words. The problem I have w him is he doesn't normally look at me when I talking- so not always seeing the signs.

Welcome back… and good to see you both!

❤ 🤟Really enjoy watching you both sign! thankful for your channel!

Can you do a video about how deaf people learn to read? I have always been curious, for example, if you see the word "cat," obviously you can memorize the meaning, but how do you learn that the letter C sounds like /k/?

Would love to hear about Ryan's family and how they learned to sign when he was born (I'm assuming they did).

I lost my sign abilities during your hiatus! Shame shame, i know. But I'm already picking back up again with "tree" and "story" lol thanks! Hope you guys stick around love your videos.

I know filming/editing is time consuming, but wish you could post everyday💗💗

I have a question for Ryan: I love watching you and Ellen on KZfaq. I not only learn so much here but I am entertained too! Do you watch KZfaq and if so who do you find fun to watch? Do you watch other people who are hard of hearing or deaf too on the platform? I would love to be able to find other people here to learn more about asl and the deaf community but I find it very hard. But I also think that what someone watches on KZfaq says a lot about them like their hobbies and interests and I'd love to hear about yours even if you don't watch other creators who teach about asl and the community who communicate with it! ❤❤❤

I'm deaf I need to learn more asl from sign duo ❤

I am a late deafened adult. My husband and family have learned sign with me. I became deaf when our kids were in middle school. We simply told them they needed to learn so they could communicate with Mom. BUT I continued to voice. That was not a good idea. I think that impeded my acquisition of ASL and my husband and family don’t have good receptive skills.

YAY NEW POST !!

Glad to see you guys posting again! I don't know if you remember me Ellen, but we were classmates at UCI :) I've been learning a lot more ASL because my roommate is HOH, and I have a question for you guys: since lots of signs use both hands, how would someone sign if they could only use one hand? Would an amputee or someone who broke a bone and had one arm in a sling just have to fingerspell a lot of words? Or are there one-handed versions of two-handed signs?

So many reasons besides deafness to sign. My personal reason is frequent muteness due to throat issues. Although I also think it’s a great language for communication at a distance, or in really noisy (or quiet!) environments. Which means that when I meet someone who needs to use it, I’ve been practicing. FWIW my family have learned the alphabet (one knows AUSLAN, one ASL LOL). But they generally haven’t learned many words so I often have to spell things. Doesn’t help that when I need it most, I’m unwell. I should use it more with family when I have the energy to explain more.

Thank you, Sign Duo, and God bless you on your recent marriage. I'm watching this today and also thinking about a girl or woman that I like. Her name is Diana. Diana Bennet. Just remember I saw her first, and we met on Quora May 13th, 2024, after Mother's Day. She is my woman, the love of my life, my soul or rib mate, my girlfriend, and my future wife. Aside from that, I'm not sure what race or nationality she is, but I'm sure that she's half Asian, half Filipino🙂👍✝️🤟💒👦👩♥️.

missed your content, good to see a new post

From deaf bf to dead fiancé :,) u both are the cutest cant wait for deaf husband seriously. U both deserve all the happiness :)

Love your stuff so much! Have you all ever studied other sign languages or other languages in general? Japanese/JSL?

This was so interesting, sign language is awesome I wanna learn it now.

Thank-you!

That’s positive challenge to teach basic skills and long process sign 😂🔥🤟🏻

It is so unfortunate but most hearing families usually won't learn sign language for their Deaf family members. I hope she can encourage her family to learn like you two said. Maybe they can take some Deaf culture classes at a community college or even pick up a book and read about the importance of language deprivation in the Deaf community and in their homes. Like Ryan said the relationships will turn superficial if they do not learn, it'll be - how are u? Thumbs up? OK? GOOD! bye. I've seen it first hand and it sucks!

Do you guys go out a lot in your city and do things or do you guys mostly stay home and mostly go out for groceries and necessities?

sign duo appreciate you videos

Miss u guys so baddd 😢

Thank you ❤

I thought I should make this a separate post. I have a question for Ryan. There are so many vastly different accents among English speakers. These different accents mean people’s mouths move differently to say the same words, which I assume makes lip reading more difficult. Ryan have you experienced this? If you have, how have you handled it?

Suggestion. Can you translate it verbally when he is signing? I'm a slow reader, and it sucks to miss out on facial and other actions and even the signs when having to try to read while someone is signing. Seeing it while it's being done also helps pick up on the actual signs. Thx.

You two are awesome!

I tried to learn to sign and still learning because because whenever I get sick I lose my voice & being able to sign helps

Did you hear about Opal Sandy? Would you try one for one ear if you had the same deafness as her?

Hi, I am about to start a BSL course and I was wondering if BSL and ASL are the same? Is it a universal language or do different countries use different signs?

I am about 60% deaf and it is getting progressively worse. I may lose it in 10-15 years. Do you recommend my wife and I both start learning ASL, or should I just try to rely on captioning tools in our conversation. I’d asked this of another deaf-hearing couple, and he (the hearing half) said it may be too late to learn ASL proficiently and there are good apps and captioning tools now. What would your advice be for my situation? I appreciate any response.😊😊

Thank you 8:46

Sorry, weird question: If you have something gross on your hands like dog poop, are the signs you can use more limited until your hands are clean? It seems a significant portion of sign is touching or nearly touching yourself.

Hi Ryan! this question is for you, even though you are not of hearing since birth, I was wondering, do you feel vibrations like when Ellen speaks... and if you do feel the vibrations does it help you to know the other person is saying something?

Kia ora, been a while since I seen y'all's vids

Question: Do u guys know any fun ways that I can practice and continue to learn sign language besides watching KZfaq videos and deaf events? Do u guys know any fun, unique, creative out of the box ways that I can continue to teach myself more sign language? Thx much appreciated! ♥️

What do you two recommend as the best way for adults to start learning ASL? My husband and I are both hearing, but have talked a few times about wanting to learn ASL together. I’m just not sure where to start, what resources to use, etc.

I love U both

Hi guys!! Long time no see!! ❤

A thought they was married

She likes to learn ASL with him so right he can understand and chat with her she is hard to communicate with him she is y hearing How you feeling both. Are you right? You and him teach. Sign language kids are that good. He is deaf. You will explain talk to kids deaf him😊😊😊😊

Who else learned how to sign (eggs) today? H🙋🏻‍♀️😂🍳

Quite another question: What happened with your dog? Is just not with you when you record?

I miss you guys.

🥰🥰🥰

Ryan and Ellen is your signs in same region as here in the Midwest or some be different?

When would you have baby

Hi Ellen and Ryan 😅

may I know whats your mbti 🥺