A Sign Of Improvement

(I’m in an advanced American Sign Language class. My teacher is deaf, and the school provides an interpreter for her. One day, the usual interpreter is out sick. Her replacement is very inattentive, and neglects to interpret the morning announcements for my teacher. At some point in the class, my teacher signs something to her, and she starts to reply in very halting, awkward ASL, then stops and looks at me.)

Substitute: “How do you sign ‘student’?”

Me: “Um… like this.”

(It’s a very simple sign. I show her, then look at my teacher.)

Teacher: *signing* “Don’t worry, [Usual Interpreter] is coming back tomorrow. She’ll save us.”