"I really like to help volunteers who are eager to learn some basic skills to communicate with the disabled," says Chang.

She realized her dream of learning sign language when she met volunteers from the Hongyan Sign Language Service Union from Beijing Union University, three years ago. The volunteers came to her house to teach her twice a week.

With the help of the BOCOG and the media, she has a teacher from the China Disabled Person's Federation to correct her gestures. "The language is simple, but to express it accurately is very hard," says Chang.

Chang always carries a small notebook carrying detailed descriptions of the gestures to be used for different words, to review. "Sometimes, I can't help practicing these when I am on the bus, and this has led to many people thinking I am speech-and-hearing impaired," she says.

Chang is proud that she knows all the expressions in Daily Sign Language Dialogue in China and in Sign Language for the Beijing Paralympics. She continues to teach volunteers in 30 information kiosks in Xicheng district. She also helps train university students who will be working as volunteers at the Paralympics.

Many foreign journalists are impressed by Chang and her team's work and have expressed their appreciation for the devotion shown by the volunteers. Mary Windishar, an American journalist, told Chang "you are wonderful" in the sign language she has learnt recently.

By Chen Xiaorong