A big welcome to all our members for this academic year! The committee is very excited to interact with you all, be it through the BSL sessions, social media, fundraising / speaking events, and any socials we have.
The main reason many of you have joined is to have the opportunity to learn BSL, so consider this a small guide for beginners that should help you navigate the language and provide resources to educate you on d/Deaf culture and awareness.
Linguistics
Like any language, British Sign Language has a specific linguistic structure. Being aware of this not only helps us form sentences in BSL, but also teaches us more about the d/Deaf and hard of hearing culture.
In any sentence, there is a subject, object, and a verb. You will notice that, when learning BSL, the word order is very different to the one we use in English. In English, the structure is as follows:
S V O
I play football.
However, in BSL:
O S V
Football I play.
You will also notice that many words will have several signs. A lot of this is due to the differing dialects, and our session co-ordinators will tell you which sign is more widely used.
It’s important to note that sign language is not universal across all English-speaking countries. Being familiar with American Sign Language (ASL) can make the process of learning BSL much smoother, but there is only a 30% similarity between the two.
Being Culturally Sensitive
Our weekly sessions will be a relaxed, safe space to learn BSL. These won’t be formal lessons, and our session co-ordinators will include games and quizzes to make them as interactive as possible.
However, it is crucial to be respectful of the d/Deaf language and culture. In particular, the trend of Sign Songs has come into question in the d/Deaf community. You can watch an in-depth discussion of this topic here:
To become more d/Deaf aware, why not follow some influencers who produce content to teach people BSL and educate on d/Deaf issues and culture?
Jazzy | Jessica Kellgren-Fozard | Luke Christian | Commanding Hands | Liam O'Dell | Being Hermon Heroda | Charlie Raine | @sarahtessax | @deafimmy | @beckyyhelen | @emmakeanee | @queen_viper475 | @matiisigns | Limping Chicken
As well as online influencers, there are many charities and organisations that focus on d/Deaf awareness:
Deaf Schools in the UK | Find Your Nearest Local Group | Groups for People with Hearing Loss | Deaf Awareness Tips | Get Deaf Aware
Practice!
Practising any language is the best way to grow in confidence, and for BSL this is best done with other people. Maybe you’ve decided to start learning with some friends? If not, then this is what we hope our BSL sessions can do: we want our members to meet lots of new people and provide a space where we can practice together.
If you want to continue learning new signs outside of the weekly sessions, then our ‘Sign of the Day’ series on Facebook could be really helpful. Committee members will be posting short clips of themselves signing a word or phrase each day. Over the year, this will add up to over 200 signs!
There are plenty of BSL dictionaries out there if you can’t remember a particular sign or are curious to learn more:
Watching people speak BSL can be a really good way to get familiar with the language, become more informed about d/Deaf culture, and show you the importance of facial expressions.
We hope the BSL Society is everything you hoped it would be! For any feedback, advice, or concerns you want to pass onto our committee, just click on the ‘Feedback’ tab on this website.
Next week, look out for a blog written by our newest member, Eleanor!
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