I am writing a story in which one of the main characters is Deaf, and therefore communicates with other leads using sign language. Not being a native speaker of English, I am having trouble with coming up the appropriate way to remind the reader that the characters are communicating using sign language. Here are a few examples I have thought of:
"How was your school today?" Anna signed to Emily. "What did you learn?"
"I can draw a butterfly now." Emily signed back with enthusiasm.
"We will go to the park tomorrow and chase a lot of butterflies." Anna signed Emily.
Is it correct to use Anna signed to Emily
, Emily signed back
and Anna signed Emily
? Are there better ways to phrase this?
Also, once the plot is set and the readers made aware that these two characters always use sign language to communicate, I am thinking of dropping the reference to sign language, and maybe mention it once in a while to remind the reader.
I would like to hear what native speakers think about this approach. Any tips/suggestions are very much welcome.