Some moments are so wholesome that despite everything that’s going on in the world, you’re truly proud of humanity. Those moments remind you that despite any superficial differences between people, empathy can bridge those gaps. All you need is an open mind, some patience, and the willingness to be kind.

Redditor u/Successful_Unit8203 nearly brought the internet to tears after sharing an incredibly touching story. They revealed how they spent months learning their deaf coworker’s native sign language in secret to surprise them. Check out the full story below—it’s bound to make you smile! Bored Panda has reached out to the author to hear more about what happened, and we’ll update the article once we hear back from them.

There are hundreds of sign languages in the world, spoken by tens of millions of deaf or hard-of-hearing people

Image credits: msvyatkovska (not the actual image)

A bakery worker went viral after opening up about how she spent months learning a sign language to communicate with her colleague

Image credits: SHVETS production (not the actual image)

Image credits: benzoix (not the actual image)

Image credits: Successful_Unit8203

Learning one or more sign languages can help you communicate with millions of people around the world

According to data from the Center for Research on Disability from 2022, around 12 million Americans are either deaf or have serious difficulty hearing. This amounts to around 3.7% of the entire population of the United States of America.

However, Golden States ABA estimates that around 15% (or 37.5 million) of American adults report some trouble hearing. Globally, around 6.1% (466 million) of the world’s population are estimated to have hearing loss.

Only around a fifth of people who could benefit from hearing aids end up using one. Hearing loss is associated with anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, and social isolation. Hearing loss commonly occurs as we age. However, it can also happen due to noise exposure, genetic factors, trauma, or infections.

National Geographic reports that there are over 300 different sign languages in the world, used by more than 72 million deaf or hard-of-hearing people.

In the United States, it’s American Sign Language that has become the dominant sign language, used by over a million people. It’s theorized that ASL evolved from French Sign Language over 2 centuries ago.

Filipino Sign Language or Phillippine Sign Language (which the bakery employee learned for the sake of her coworker) is a unique language with its own grammar, syntax, and morphology.

FSL is not based on Filipino or English and doesn’t resemble these spoken languages. Due to the popularity and influence of ASL, some researchers fear that indigenous signs of FSL may be at risk of being lost.

Image credits: SHVETS production (not the actual image)

Learning any new language takes dedication, patience, and lots of discipline

The internet absolutely loved the OP’s story, just as we did. Many readers rushed to compliment the author on all of her efforts, as the story continued to go viral. It’s not every day that a story genuinely pulls at your heartstrings.

At the time of writing, the heartwarming post has 17k upvotes and counting. Furthermore, 22 internet users were so impressed that they gave the bakery worker an award.

What the bakery employee did was phenomenal. For one, they showed that with enough time and dedication, you can learn any skill. Anyone who’s tried learning the guitar, a new language, or a new sport knows how hard it can be at the beginning when you face setbacks.

Meanwhile, you require a lot of dedication to see things through despite getting discouraged or bored. You have to believe the end result is worth it while also enjoying the process itself.

On top of that, the author showed an unusually high emotional intelligence. They wanted to connect with their deaf coworker on a deeper level, so they put in months of effort to get there.

Hopefully, what follows is a lifelong friendship. There aren’t many people who would go to such lengths for someone they barely know.

What are your thoughts about this story, dear Pandas? Would you ever learn a new language to communicate with your coworkers better? Do you know any sign languages? What were the biggest challenges you had to overcome while learning them? We’d love to hear from you! Share your opinions and experiences in the comments.

Image credits: Polina Tankilevitch (not the actual image)

The internet loved the heartwarming story. Here’s what some readers said after hearing about the author’s efforts

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