There are more than 20 million people living with a hearing impairment in China. In January, 2021, Tan Ting became the only person within this group to pass China’s unified qualification exam for legal professionals. She will become a full-fledged lawyer recently after a year's probation.

通过学习重返正常社会
加入律师事务所后重新开口

谭婷出生于四川凉山，8岁时，她因中耳炎治疗不当，失去了听力，也因此辍学5年。13岁那年，在父母的奔走下，谭婷入读特殊教育学校。“当时学习就像是我的救命稻草，也是我再次回到正常社会的唯一方式。”凭着认真刻苦的劲头，谭婷接连跳级两次。2013年，谭婷考上重庆师范大学特殊教育专业，成为当时全年级唯一考上本科学校的学生。

图源：央视新闻

Tan was born in the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China’s Sichuan province. When she was eight, Tan lost her hearing and soon thereafter she dropped out of school for a period of five years. After she regained confidence, Tan decided to continue her education by going to special schools. In 2013, she was admitted by the special education department to Chongqing Normal University based in Chongqing, a close neighbor of Sichuan.

大学里的谭婷原本想成为一名特殊教育学校的老师，但毕业找工作时，偶然看到的一则招聘信息改变了她的人生路径。当时，中国手语律师第一人唐帅在招收聋人做助理，被其事迹打动的谭婷决定去应聘，为聋人群体出一份力。

进入律师事务所后，唐帅给谭婷的任务是做好聋人委托人和健听人（听力健全人的简称）律师之间的桥梁。

然而，失去听力后就再没开口说过话的谭婷，声带也慢慢退化，这使得她每说一个字都要很用力，正确掌握发音也十分困难。一开始，谭婷的喉咙有些受不了，每次发声都像针扎一样刺痛，肿得喝水都疼。

但谭婷坚持通过手机将语音转换文字的软件练习发音。通常一个词要读上百遍、千遍，她才能看到语音转换出的准确的文字，光是“很高兴认识你”这句话，她就练习了3个月。可功夫不负有心人，经过这些年的练习，谭婷已经能和身边的律师流畅沟通。

图源：央视新闻

It has been difficult for Tan to speak a word since she lost her hearing. To make sure she could pronounce words correctly, Tan would read aloud a single word several hundreds of times. Gradually, her spoken words could be identified and properly translated by an app into a textual format, which allowed her to communicate better with clients. Now, Tan is capable of independently providing legal advice through the use of sign language, and assists lawyers in handling legal cases.

谭婷还发现，在工作中，不仅和健全人沟通存在着障碍，和聋人之间的交流也并非通畅。据谭婷介绍，在特殊学校学习时，老师教授的是标准的汉语手语，但真正在接待聋人当事人时，大家都用自然手语交流，很难看懂对方在说什么。

“汉语手语和自然手语之间有很大的区别。”谭婷解释说，汉语手语，严格遵守汉语语序，而自然手语是自然状态下聋人之间交际时用的手语，能够表现情绪，在聋人世界里广泛使用。

While providing legal assistance for hearing-impaired people, the biggest obstacle for her was the “language barrier.” The word order of the sign language Tan was taught at the special schools is consistent with spoken language, but most of her clients use a different sign language that is expressed through the use of hand gestures and facial expressions, and the grammar is also different.

比如“灭火”一词，按照汉语的语序，手语应先比“扑灭”、再比“火”。可实际上聋人听不到，主要依靠视觉，会先看到“火”，再看到“扑灭”，因而手语中应该比“火灭”。如果比健听人思维的“灭火”，可能会让聋人以为火又燃起来了。

因此，在实际工作中，谭婷需要一遍遍“沟通”和核实，才能为聋人提供帮助。通过不断练习，谭婷基本熟练掌握了“自然手语”。目前，她已经可以使用手语独立完成法律咨询工作，也可以协助听人律师向聋人当事人了解案情、配合诉讼工作。

图源：第1眼 CBG

“三战”司法考试
在母亲的鼓励下创造历史

在协助唐帅接待前来求助的聋人朋友时，谭婷意识到，聋人群体在面临法律问题时常处于“哑巴吃黄连，有苦说不出”的状态，她希望自己能成为既懂手语又懂法律的专业人才。

After graduation from the university, Tan became an assistant lawyer at a layer firm run by Tang Shuai, the country’s only sign language lawyer. After working for Tang for a period of time, Tan realized that she wanted to become a lawyer. “People with hearing impairment couldn’t express themselves properly when they were in need of legal assistance, which resulted in them being treated unfairly in some cases. Because of this, I told myself that I should learn hard.”

The exam had proven extremely difficult for Tan because the knowledge she had learnt under the framework of special education was very different from that offered through mainstream education. Without having learnt any legal knowledge, she had to start from scratch.

2017年，谭婷开始准备司法考试。谭婷请教身边的律师来准备考试资料，平时通过看授课视频、看书、练题来自学。因为听不见，她的学习进度很慢。一段30分钟的视频，谭婷要对着授课视频的字幕反复看，花3个小时才能看完。

司法考试难度极大，对于跨专业学法律的聋人考生谭婷来说，更是难上加难。与谭婷同期进入唐帅律师事务所并踏上考试征途的，还有其他4个聋人同学，但最终只有谭婷坚持下来了。

谭婷考了3年，2018年，差10分，2019年，差4分。学习上再苦再难，她都没有停下脚步，3年里唯一让她想放弃的时刻是听到母亲病重的消息。

图源：央视新闻

Tan had failed the exam twice before, once in 2018 and again in 2019, but she had never thought about giving up. However, before she was about to sit for the exam the third time, her mother was diagnosed with terminal stage cancer. “I had thought about giving up. I lost my father when I was 23, and when my mom fell ill, I really wanted to look after her.”

2020年第三次参加司法考试前的一周，母亲被诊断为癌症晚期，这个噩耗让谭婷一度崩溃。谭婷的父亲在2015年因为癌症离开了人世，母亲是她最重要的精神依靠。

“当时想放弃那次考试。但妈妈当时说，你一定要去参加考试，你不是为我而活，你是为这个社会而活，你应当去做一些对这个社会有益的事情。”

带着母亲的嘱托，谭婷走进了考场，含泪完成考试。最终，她通过了司法考试，成为全国首位通过司法考试的聋人，这个消息也让病床上的妈妈深感欣慰。

图源：央视新闻

With Tan’s mother continuing to provide encouragement, Tan didn’t give up in the end. In January, 2021, she finally passed the national unified qualification exam for legal professionals and became an interning lawyer.

录制手语普法短视频
让更多人关注聋人群体

今年，谭婷又多了一个身份——“宝妈”，这也让她体会到很多聋人父母的不易。谭婷的丈夫是她的大学同学，也是一位聋人，宝宝晚上哭闹时，由于他们二人都听不到声音，只能轮流值守换着睡，长期下来非常疲惫。“听障带来的不便和无奈，那种感觉我懂，所以我更要为他们出一份力。”

休产假时，谭婷也没有放下普法工作，她的短视频账号每周都会进行普法直播。谭婷的粉丝大部分都是聋人群体，对于他们在直播中提出的问题，大到法律纠纷，小到求职、人际交往，谭婷都会视频连线，用手语耐心解答。

谭婷还录制了很多手语普法短视频。在她看来，“手语普法视频能够让更多人看到聋人遇到的困境，也有助于聋人打破‘壁垒’融入社会。”让谭婷高兴的是，现在越来越多的健听人也开始关注她。

图源：快手@手语律师唐帅助理 谭婷

Tan, who also publicizes legal knowledge on online and offline platforms, said she is determined to do a good job so that people with hearing impairment can gain legal awareness, abide by the law, and become better able to protect their lawful rights.

“可能很多聋人都会觉得聋人不能做律师，我想用自己的行动告诉他们，我们聋人不是不行，只是不便，只要你努力也可以做到。”

"Many people think that it's impossible for a deaf person to become a lawyer," she said. "My success proves that we deaf people can do it if we put in a lot of effort."

谭婷用贴在办公桌上的便签写下对自己的期望：“我想用一双会说话的手，把正义的声音带到每个无声的角落。”

"I will use my hands to spread the voice of justice to hearing-impaired people who are in need of legal assistance.”

新闻来源：央视新闻，中国青年网，华西都市报，人民网，CHINADAILY