The adorable moment a bilingual toddler tells a family friend all about her day at the zoo in British sign language has gone viral online.
Footage shared on Facebook shows Kate Sinclair, two, from Holywood, near Belfast, chatting to an unnamed woman about her fun day out before switching in to British Sign Language (BSL).
Kate’s father is deaf and she picked up sign language to communicate.
The video quickly went viral online, with thousands like the post and one commenting: ‘Wow, she’s so clever what a sweet little girl.’
Her father Anthony, who is deaf, told FEMAIL she picked the language up on her own and never had any education on it, adding: ‘I never taught her sign language as such, she acquired it naturally by communicating with me and my family.’
The adorable moment a bilingual toddler Kate Sinclair, two, from Holywood, near Belfast, tells a family friend all about her day at the zoo in British sign language has gone viral online
In the video, the woman, who is a friend of her parents, asked Kate who joined her at the zoo, and she immediately signed: ‘Me and mummy and Patrick and Charlie.’
When asked if her father was there, she knew exactly what was being asked and replied using BSL saying: ‘Yes and me too.’
Kate then began to tell her about the animals she saw, but explained the group didn’t manage to catch the elephants.
She added: ‘We didn’t do the elephants yet. There were two elephants in the zoo. There was a boy and a girl.’
Kate then began to tell her about the animals she saw, but explained the group didn’t manage to catch the elephants
Without hesitating, the little girl switches from signing to English and chats about what other animals she saw.
The friend asked: ‘And did you see some gorillas? How many gorillas’, as the young girl replies ‘yes’.
Kate then says she saw five of the apes, adding that there were both big and small ones at the zoo.
Showing her playful side, she then begins doing her best gorilla impression and makes noises and larks about.
The little girl said: ‘My favourite animal is a tall tall tall giraffe and a tall tall tall elephant.’
The tot began to use British Sign Language (BSL) her day while sitting on the woman’s knee, and chatted about who went to the zoo with her
Kate was brought up in a bilingual home since birth, speaking sign language and English, and is fluent in both languages.
Speaking to Femail, Anthony said: ‘I’m deaf and my first language is BSL and my wife is hearing but signs fluently. Kate is amazing and communicates so effectively in both languages.
‘My mission is to create a more inclusive and aware society by giving everyone the tools to know “enough” sign language to communicate with the deaf community!’
Other users were amazed by the little girl’s ability to sign, with one writing: ‘Fantastic! Highlights the power of BSL to empower her communication and incredible how fluent she is in both languages.’
Kate was brought up in a bilingual home since birth, speaking sign language and English, and is fluent in both languages and chats away to her mother using the gestures
Another wrote: ‘Cute is an understatement with this little one.’
BSL is the preferred language of over 87,000 Deaf people in the UK, and for many of these people English may be a second or third language.
It is reported that there are 151,000 individuals in the UK who can use this language who may use it to communicate with family.
BSL is a visual-gestural language with a distinctive grammar using handshapes, facial expressions and gestures to convey meaning.
Other users were amazed by the little girl’s ability to sign, with one writing: ‘Fantastic! Highlights the power of BSL to empower her communication and incredible how fluent she is in both languages’
HOW DOES ENGLISH SIGN LANGUAGE VARY GLOBALLY? BRITISH USERS COMMUNICATE WITH BOTH HANDS WHILE AMERICANS ONLY USE ONE
There are about 37.5 million deaf or hard-of-hearing people in the US and American Sign Language (ASL) is the third most used language in the country.
ASL is a complete language that uses signs made by moving the hands combined with facial expressions and body postures.
It is the primary language of many North Americans who are deaf and is one of many communications options for people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
British Sign Language (BSL) is used in place of ASL in the UK.
BSL users utilize both hands for the alphabet while ASL users only utilize one.
ASL communicators and verbal English speakers rely on the same neural skills to chat, a report says (file photo)