Let's Handspeak English

Manel is the Founder of Let’s Handspeak English, an initiative providing English language education using Tunisian Sign Language to deaf and hard of hearing people in Tunisia. Her academic research comparing American Sign Language and English from a generative approach proved instrumental in leading her to found her initiative. Manel has created learning materials for Let’s Handspeak English from scratch, designing a pedagogy to teach the deaf and hard of hearing community in Tunisia with a book in 2017. She has since developed an additional six books, for a total of seven. In 2018, she created the Let’s Learn English through Signs app to reach a bigger audience.

Manel attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022, where she was inspired by her fellow Delegates. Since then, Manel has been an advocate for young Tunisian leaders to join the One Young World Community, encouraging them to apply for the Summit.

Let’s Handspeak English has taught English in sign language to 40 deaf and hard of hearing people. The organisation initially used in-person lessons, but has since moved online following the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing Manel to reach more students in different parts of Tunisia. Students currently take a level of English for two and a half months with a class size of six people. Manel also created Let’s Handspeak English weekend studies, a three-day business-oriented class where she provides hearing and deaf students with lessons on soft skills for business development in English. The Let’s Handspeak English app has been downloaded over 12,000 times, and Manel is currently developing a new version that will be more interactive for students.

“For me attending the Summit was a privilege, and a successful achievement. It gave me the chance to meet a lot of people, enlarged my network and it showed me there are different opportunities I can learn and get support from.”