Communication with no sound. (Sign Language)

Member Name: jammaker49

Product:	Sign Language
Date:	24/12/01 (225 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ability to communicate, Sharpens observational skills

Disadvantages: Takes time and practice

My father taught me the alphabet used by deaf people when I was a little girl. It was something I never forgot, but never really had occasion to use. I always promised myself that one day I would learn how to "speak" to deaf people, but it was one of those things I never ever got round to. Until now.

Two things prompted me to get off my backside and actually do something about finally learning at least the basics of BSL (British Sign Language).

Firstly, I teach special needs children in a mainstream primary school. Thus far, we have not had any deaf children come through the school, but with the emphasis these days on inclusion, the chances are that before I retire I will at some point have a deaf child passing through my hands. I can think of nothing worse than being unable to communicate with the child should this occur, so decided that the time was right to improve my communication skills.

The second reason, a more personal one, was as a result of communication on-line. A chat area I used to frequent became more than just that. A whole crowd of us became real friends. One of our dearest friends had been profoundly deaf all his life, and had grown up with BSL as his first language. Of course, on-line this was not apparent. He used to say that he always felt part of the group in a way that was different from his "real" life. In essence he felt no different from the rest of us. Sadly, we lost our friend to cancer just over a year ago at the age of 33. When we found out how sick he was, I vowed then and there to learn BSL in his memory, and I am currently doing just that.

Our group is a small one, just four of us, which means that the hour and a half per week we attend class is very intense. In a larger group, your "turn" comes round less frequently, but in our small group, you cannot relax or switch off at all, as before you know it your turn is upon you again. On the plus side, we are getting through

the course at a speedy pace, and are becoming more confident simply because we have to practice that much more often.

Our instructor, John, has a deaf son, and is a signing communicator in a primary school. Much of the lesson is spent in total silence, which can be disconcerting at first, but becomes perfectly logical after a time.

The course began simply: the finger alphabet, and vocabulary regarding greetings (hello, how are you etc). We then worked on vocabulary to help us with family words, including relatives, friends, pets etc. Easy, I began to think!

Once we had mastered basic vocabulary, we began to put together simple sentences. This is where the concentration needs to be high. In BSL, the whole sentence structure is changed. Where we would say, "Hello, what is your name?" in BSL it would translate as "Hello, name what?" The subject comes first, followed by the question.

Facial expression and degrees of actions also pay a great part in BSL. In fact, it positively helps if you are a frustrated actor! The sign for rain, for example, can be exaggerated to varying degrees, telling you if it is drizzling, simply raining, or bucketing down! And from your body language, the listener should be able to tell whether you are slightly angry or positively foaming at the mouth!

Practice is vitally important when learning any language, and this is no different with BSL. Many a playtime duty is spent looking at various children, and quietly finger spelling their names. Then trying to speed up, as it is easy to fall into the trap of deliberately emphasising each letter rather than the name as a whole. Fine with Sam, but not so easy with Bartholemew!

As a group, we have also made a couple of theatre visits, to see performances being signed to the audience. To date, I have seen Joseph, and the Return to the Forbidden Planet, both musicals, and both very enjoyable.

From this comes the de
bate:
what is the point of deaf people attending a musical? They can't hear the music! No, they can't hear it with their ears. But they feel the vibration, and the rhythm. They aren't blind! They can see what is going on on the stage. And with a communicator signing a translation of what is being said and sung, they can enjoy it every bit as much as a hearing person. There is absolutely no reason at all for people who cannot hear not to enjoy a musical. Or any other play for that matter.

My aim at the moment is to become confident enough to take Level 1 BSL, and I am determined to do it. In class, I am confident enough, but as yet have not practiced my skills on anyone outside.

I have, however, begun to introduce various signs to the children in school. I think it is important for children to learn communication skills, other than speaking or writing, and BSL combined with drama can do that quite nicely. This Christmas, the whole school learned how to say "Happy Christmas" in BSL: simple enough in itself, but think how delighted a child would be to actually communicate this greeting to one who cannot hear the words. The younger children especially are showing a lot of interest in learning more.

Also, I had about 15 minutes to fill with a Year6 class a couple of weeks ago. They were given the task of "talking" to each other, but they were not allowed to use voice or written word. I was amazed at the ingenuity of some of their communication skills. In just 15 minutes, there were 34 10 and 11 year olds, almost creating their own, recognisable sign language!

Learning BSL is not easy. It is enjoyable, but intense, and I think you really have to have a motive for doing it in order to achieve your goal. It would be too easy to miss one week's lesson, and simply not go back, thinking that you would never catch up the work you had missed. Some cold wet Monday nights, after a full day's work, it
would be t
oo easy to curl up in front of the TV instead of going to class. But I made my vow, and I am determined to honour my promise. If ever I had met Cuey, I would have wanted to communicate to the best of my ability.

I WILL succeed

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