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British Sign Language | ||
Tags: Sign Language | United Kingdom (UK) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| lareine Newbie United Kingdom Joined 6956 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch, Mandarin | Message 1 of 8 10 December 2006 at 10:09am | IP Logged | ||
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I am interested in learning British Sign Language (BSL). I'm not deaf, and don't know anybody who signs, but it's something I'd love to understand and be able to use (at least a little).
Night classes are a last resort for me - I much prefer to learn languages online or from books and CDs. In this case, I can also learn from watching signed translations of TV programmes, and from watching deaf people talk to each other on my bus to work or walking around the town. Can anyone recommend where I might start with BSL? I already have the book "Signs Make Sense" by Cath Smith, which is what got me interested in this, but I don't have anything else. Thanks! - Jenny 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Katie Diglot Senior Member Australia Joined 6717 days ago 495 posts - 599 votes  Speaks: English*, Hungarian Studies: French, German | Message 2 of 8 10 December 2006 at 2:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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Take a look in your local library. I also have the Signs Make Sense book - I bought it before getting the AusLan Dictionary. In my local library, then had made videos to help you learn AusLan. They were extremely useful and that is where I picked up most of my signing.
Otherwise, I am sure if you contact the Deaf Society, they can point you in a direction to good resources! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| nickbos Newbie United Kingdom Joined 7164 days ago 29 posts - 29 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Italian | Message 3 of 8 15 December 2006 at 9:53am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi Jenny,
I did BSL 1 at the City Lit in London around four years ago. BSL is an interesting language but I think you will struggle if you try and learn it alone, as you don't have the luxury of just being able to put on a tape or CD and listen as a means of practice. True, there are programmes on the TV with BSL signed by an interpreter but I think you will need to be at quite a good level to take advantage of these - unlike spoken languages, I found, along with others, I needed to concentrate much harder when watching people sign than I have to when listening to conversation (afterall body language and expression become far more important aspects of communicating when it's all visual). I did make a start on BSL 2 via evening classes, but dropped out. I'm afraid to say I don't believe it's possible to advance too far beyond the basics in any language via evening classes alone, and unless you're working in an environment where BSL is in constant use it soon becomes a serious struggle - expecially keeping up with others who do. I had no daily contact with BSL users and came to the view that I was pursuing an unachievable goal (progressing to Level 2 and beyond). Now I study German and Italian and travel to those countries several times a year to practice - which is a lot more pleasant and interesting than sitting in an aging, draughty community centre in Newham (that hosted a local Deaf club) with half a dozen other well meaning but struggling students looking to improve their BSL skills. BSL is one language where I would suggest beginning with a class in order to get off the blocks. There is a book available from the BBC or Deaf Society (?) that comes with a CD-ROM having short video clips that show the signs for words and phrases. I think it's called "Start to Sign" and it costs about STG29.00. You may find this helpful as a self-teach reference. Best of luck with it. Nick Bos UK. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| lareine Newbie United Kingdom Joined 6956 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch, Mandarin | Message 4 of 8 15 December 2006 at 10:13am | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks Katie and Nick for the helpful responses. I might see if I can join a class in January or whenever nightclasses pick up again after Christmas. I don't expect to ever be anything close to competent in BSL (as you say, it's totally different from spoken languages), but I'd like to know a little bit anyway.
I was reading something earlier today about people in the Deaf community often having very poor written English skills, because the concept of a language structured in that way is just alien to somebody who uses sign language. That was a surprise to me - I'd always assumed that if I had to communicate with a deaf person, we could just write notes to each other if all else failed. Now I'm questioning whether that is true or not... Anyway, bit of a tangent there, sorry! Again, thanks for the responses. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| nickbos Newbie United Kingdom Joined 7164 days ago 29 posts - 29 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Italian | Message 5 of 8 15 December 2006 at 10:56am | IP Logged | ||
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Written skills ? I think it depends . . . Some people
lose their hearing after they have learned the basics of the written language - meningitis and Ushers syndrome are common causes of permanent loss of hearing. For others, who are born profoundly deaf, they learn to recognise words and associate them with things rather than associating letters with sounds and then using them in combination to form words (that are then associated to things). I've never met any Deaf person who struggled with literacy issues - in effect, most Deaf people are bilingual in BSL and the local native language, and some have the ability to communicate using different sign languages. BSL requires both hands with all the digits, whereas some languages can have the alphabet spelt out on one hand only. I did ask my tutor what would happen if a BSL user was unlucky enough to lose some fingers - the answer was also signed . . . . shrugged shoulders ! Cheers. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Torbyrne Super Polyglot Senior Member Macedonia SpeakingFluently.com Joined 6094 days ago 126 posts - 721 votes Speaks: French, English*, German, Spanish, Dutch, Macedonian, Portuguese, Italian, Swedish, Czech, Catalan, Welsh, Serbo-Croatian Studies: Sign Language, Toki Pona, Albanian, Polish, Bulgarian, TurkishA1, Esperanto, Romanian, Danish, Mandarin, Icelandic, Modern Hebrew, Greek, Latvian, Estonian | Message 6 of 8 07 November 2009 at 7:27pm | IP Logged | ||
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Evening classes are the best way to start with BSL because you need the practice from Day 1. Look out for your local deaf club to meet other people who use the language too.
For signed news, stories, baby sign and more: http://www.signpostbsl.com For English/BSL dictionary: http://www.deafstation.org Finally, a really impressive chap on YouTube, signing popular songs in BSL: http://www.youtube.com/user/lovesbth Hope anyone learning BSL finds these link useful. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Talairan Tetraglot Senior Member Spain Joined 6591 days ago 194 posts - 258 votes Speaks: Afrikaans, English*, Gypsy/Romani, Dutch Studies: Spanish, Flemish, Galician, Aramaic | Message 7 of 8 16 November 2009 at 3:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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Have a look at http://www.forestbooks.com/catalogue/1/books/sign-language.h tml for books and DVD's on learning sign-language.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5555 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 8 of 8 09 June 2010 at 4:21pm | IP Logged | ||
Now here's something I've never seen before...this passionate young fella is trying to make songs more accessible for the deaf community via BSL...absolutely brilliant! :) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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