jillio

Kind of late getting back to you, AB. Apologies. Others have come up with great ideas, though. The best thing I can tell you is to paint a picture with your signs. If you are painting a picture, you don't stop and think, "Now I am painting a tree, now I am painting a house." You simply paint the concept of the tree or the house on the canvas. Its the same way with sign. It takes time, but you will eventually get the hang of it.

And having conversations without trying to interpret everything will help, too. I can have an entire conversation in sign and never once think in an English word, but I've been signing for 20 years. Likewise, I can feel myself slip into a visual part of my brain when I'm signing. I'm not an intepreter, nor would I make a very good interpreter, because it takes me too long to switch between languages. I have to consciously make myself put English words to ASL signs. You just reach a point where you think differerntly when communicating in sign that when communicating in spoken English. But having conversations with signers without voice will help you practice understanding without having to assign words to everything. You just have to learn to think in concept.