As part of New Zealand Sign Language Week, taster classes are being held across the country to teach people basic words and provide a friendly atmosphere in which to ask questions about the deaf community.
Tory Frew, of Dunedin, taught an enthusiastic group of 12 people at the Queenstown Library on Monday.
A plaster-board fixer by trade, Mr Frew, who is not deaf, said he took time off work to teach 14 sessions across the region after being asked by Deaf Aotearoa.
He became involved with NZSL Week through his girlfriend, who works for the Dunedin branch of Deaf Aotearoa.
Mr Frew has been signing for 14 years, having been taught initially by one of his friend's brothers who was deaf.
With "over half" his friends being deaf, he said he aimed to become an interpreter, but the course was only available through the Auckland University of Technology.
"We want to get it in Dunedin, or even just the South Island would be good.
"Because it's an official language, that's why we do the taster classes. A lot of people will look for more."
Although there was a fair turnout in Queenstown, Mr Frew said only one person was present at the Balclutha session.
He said participation depended on advertising.
Something many participants were not aware of was that sign language differed from country to country, and New Zealand had "its own little twists".
"A lot of deaf people sign differently depending on how they have been taught."
A German woman asked if she would be able to use the language learnt here when in Germany. Mr Frew replied "probably not".
However, he did emphasise that because deaf people used their hands to communicate, they would probably be able to quickly learn a foreign sign language.
Robert Taylor, of Queenstown, said he attended the class "for a personal interest and to learn something new".
Bank of New Zealand Queenstown had two representatives in Niki Pickard and Jo Birtwistle.
Ms Pickard said she would keep the booklets of basic words under her desk at work because communication was important.
