One of the other things to remember while learning sign language is that several separate meanings are conveyed simultaneously through variations in speed, location, distance of hand movement, head position and facial expressions. It’s akin to a person who can hear being able to decipher separate meanings from the words themselves along with how words are used, except there are more things to look for.
Deaf people can pick up all that information visually and completely naturally- it’s automatic. Most sign language learners look just at the hands, then maybe at the face, but if they’re not taught to look for all the other things that also carry meaning, they miss a lot.
Example: With just my hands, I could sign “I fly-towards California,” which can be translated to, “I flew to California.” But… with only changes in speed and distance and no changes to the basic sign, the meaning could easily change to:
I flew to California in a hurry, reluctantly.
I flew to California quickly in a short notice, and was excited about it.
The flight to California was short and uneventful.
I took a long, winding, boring flight to California.
The flight to California was full of turbulence and scary. (I can think of 15 more possible translations from speed/distance changes)
When you learn signs, be sure to pay attention for all those—if you can acquire the knowledge of those markers early, it will make things much easier later.