Welcome to level 2 of my online Auslan course for beginners. If you have made it this far, and can remember most of the vocab from level 1, then you are acing out and can probably already have some pretty good conversations with Deaf people. The signs you learn here will fill in some gaps and help bring your signing up a notch. If you haven’t studied level 1 yet, head there to start learning Auslan and to find out answers to frequently asked questions such as which hand to use when signing. Please remember that the signs I’m teaching you are the signs I used in Melbourne, Australia. Signs vary a lot around Australia, so people will be sure to tell you that some of the signs I’ve shown you are ‘wrong’. But my aim here is to help you communicate effectively with Deaf people, and if you use a sign from another state, or a sign they don’t usually use, chances are they’ll still understand you. You’ll notice a dramatic change in the videos for Level 2. You asked me to sign slower (I hope I did that!) and to repeat my signs. I’ve signed each word twice, so you can watch the first time, and do it with me the second time. I hope that makes it easier for you. If they are still too quick, watch the video on YouTube and use the settings cog to change the speed to 0.25. The other big change in the videos is how amazingly professional they look. This is thanks to Joanne Donahoe-Beckwith, who kindly volunteered to film the videos for me. She’s a pro, as you can see, and even created a studio set up with beautiful lighting to make the videos the best they can be. She also subtitled and formatted all the videos for me, saving heaps of time. Many, many thanks to Joanne for her generosity. Now.. let’s get started. Here are some signs that will be useful in conversation: alive live (e.g. to live in a house) dead sick cuddle/hug important true shh quiet sit stand trouble This video is part of my free online Auslan course. To access the entire course, and additional lessons that are not taught via video, please visit my website, https://helloasphyxia.wordpress.com/ To learn more about what it is really like to be Deaf, details about the Deaf community and how Auslan is used by Deaf people, read my book, Future Girl, https://tinyurl.com/yd27a39k