Outdoors & weather
Rain, snow, sun, moon, trees and flowers — signs that draw the world in the air.
Focus
Degree lives in the movement
RAIN made hard and fast is a downpour; SNOW drifting slowly is a light dusting. You don't add a word for 'heavy' — you change the movement, with your face matching.
The horizon hand
DAY, NIGHT, MORNING and SUN all play against a flat base hand that is the horizon. Learn that one image and a whole cluster of time-and-sky signs falls into place.
Signs in this lesson
Open any sign for its full history, sources and minimal pairs.
Hold two claw hands above you, palms down, and drop them a couple of times.
Hold two open hands above you and let them drift down with the fingers wiggling.
Hold two claw hands up beside your head and circle them around each other, drifting sideways.
Hold a flat 'O' hand up beside your head and open it into a '5' — rays spreading.
Make a small 'C' with thumb and index (a baby C) and hold it up beside your eye.
Rest your elbow on the back of your other hand, forearm upright, and twist an open '5' hand — leaves in the wind.
Touch a flat 'O' hand to one side of your nose, then the other — smelling a bloom.
Hold an open hand up near your shoulder and pull it out and away, closing to a flat 'O', twice.
Hold two flat 'O' hands in front of you, fingertips down, and flick them forward twice.
Draw the thumb of an open '5' hand across your chin from one side to the other.
Hold two fists in front of you, shoulders hunched, and shake them as if shivering.
Watch out for
Pairs in this lesson that learners mix up — the drill will test exactly these.
- RAIN / SNOW — Both fall from above. RAIN drops in firm claw hands; SNOW drifts down with wiggling fingers.