Meet the woman keeping Hawaii Sign Language alive
This story is part of As Equals, CNN's ongoing series on gender inequality. For information about how the series is funded and more, check out our FAQs.
Honolulu, Hawaii Linda Yuen Lambrecht stands in front of a webcam, with the space from her head to her hips -- her signing space -- perfectly centered in the frame; a white plumeria fastened above her left ear. On screen, three women look back at her. "No American Sign Language [ASL]," Lambrecht reminds them with her hands, as the virtual class begins."This is Hawaii Sign Language [HSL]." More than 100 students have received the same reminder from Lambrecht. Since 2018, she's offered HSL classes to the public; first in-person and, since the Covid-19 pandemic began, on Zoom. Read More Lambrecht isn't just teaching.
09:41Lambrecht was born profoundly deaf in 1944 to a family of Chinese laborers in Honolulu. She was exposed to HSL from birth through two older deaf brothers, who had learned to sign from their deaf classmates. This was rare at the time. Most deaf children were born to hearing parents and had no access to any language, let alone HSL, until they started school. Lambrecht and her brothers attended what is today called the Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind .
Linda Yuen Lambrecht signs the legend of Maui in HSL 03:21Read more from the As Equals series window.addEventListener { var hdrx=document.getElementsByClassName; ifhdrx[0].innerHTML="Editors Note: CNN is committed to covering gender inequality wherever it occurs in the world. This story is part of As Equals, an ongoing series.
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