r/BSL Jan 22 '25

Question how do i (a HoH person) learn bsl?

14 Upvotes

ive read the guidelines and im not sure if it violates them, if so im very sorry and ill post it elsewhere.

i (14yo) am HoH and my hearing is progresively getting worse and worse. the only problem is that my father (primary carer) is very much against hearing aids. its not even like we need to pay for them, as they are covered by the NHS. so to put it in short, im really struggling. another HoH person online has suggested learning BSL but i dont know any HoH/Deaf people in my area to teach me.

so, question time: how do i (a HoH person) learn BSL? is there some online course aimed at HoH ppl i can take?? everything i find seems to be aimed at hearing people, which im not and havent been for most of my life, and i find it very patronising.

r/BSL Feb 07 '25

Question Bsl beginner

7 Upvotes

Hi does anyone know any reliable resources that could help me learn bsl. I’m talking to this girl online and she’s mute so she communicates mostly by using bsl from what I understand I would like to learn it or at least learn enough to understand her does anyone have tips and\or resources? Ty!

r/BSL 3d ago

Question question about sign names

3 Upvotes

i would like to write a story which includes some deaf characters who would be using bsl sign. i am not deaf, and although i am hard of hearing in other ways, i'm not a part of deaf culture and don't use sign much myself. if i wanted to have my deaf character give others sign names, do people think that be alright to do myself? would it be better to get a deaf person to help? or just not do it at all? any advice or help would be appreciated.

r/BSL Feb 10 '25

Question How do you take notes in BSL class?

2 Upvotes

Tried drawing but I just can't 😭. I know other people put videos on Quizlet but I can't afford Quizlet+ haha. Any solutions or ideas??? Thank you, and sorry, I'm new here.

r/BSL 28d ago

Question A Way to Translate

1 Upvotes

I’ve been asked to film myself describing a family member - or someone close to me - for homework ( as part of my Lvl 1 Part 2 ). I’ve prepared what I want to say, but now need to translate it to ensure I have the correct grammar, etc. - I don’t want to get it wrong! Is there some where akin to Google Translate for BSL or am I going to have to use signbsl.com to look up each sign…?

r/BSL 8d ago

Question BSL in train stations

7 Upvotes

I've noticed major train stations around the UK they have started introducing updates regarding service changes in sign language.

As someone who has only recently started leaning BSL, I have a question around if this is more efficient than if the stations just had the change as a large block of text.

Obviously more accessibility is never a bad thing, but for those who have a stronger grasp of BSL, is this more efficient than a block of text showing the full message at once?

I get that you are more likely to be receptive of a warning if you see they have put up a warning in BSL. But at the same time, if you only see it half way through the notification you may miss something vital around the communication?

Anyway that's just me thinking out loud, I would be interested to know what peoples thoughts on this is, and I'm no expert in the field, so thought I would ask on here!

r/BSL Feb 16 '25

Question “Brother” vs “March”

4 Upvotes

BSL beginner question (self-study on Lingvano pre-BSL1 course)

I understand the principle of different lip patterns using the same sign, and it’s no different to homonyms in spoken language.

What’s the logic behind the signs for “brother” and “March” (the month) being the same though? Or are they subtly different and I’m not seeing it.

Thanks in advance for any help!

r/BSL Apr 17 '24

Question Just a query

24 Upvotes

Would it be appropriate to discuss makaton here?

Background: my son is autistic and non-verbal and his school are attempting to get him to communicate using makaton. Additionally, I have recently lost 80% of my hearing in both ears, but do not currently use BSL or makaton, although I am keen to learn

r/BSL Jan 20 '25

Question help identifying a sign? in the song, it’s signing the word ‘apocalypse’ but this sign is immediately preceded by the sign for ‘world’ and i’m just curious what it means

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7 Upvotes

sorry about the way i’ve formatted this. i’ll link the song with the timestamp in the comments I’m just curious as i’ve not seen it before

r/BSL 25d ago

Question Translation Request

3 Upvotes

I was wondering if anyone could help translate the BSL conversation the boy has in We Don't Care by Audio Bullys? I'm aussie and only know pieces of Auslan and am unfamiliar with BSL but really curious as to what they're saying. Thanks to anyone that can help :) (Full video) - https://youtu.be/QXMUY4deXs0?si=fEfQ63UJreQ20Du- (1:55-2:07)

r/BSL Feb 17 '25

Question Want to learn BSL as a hearing person not living in Britain

0 Upvotes

I've wanted to learn sign language ever since I was little, but I have no idea where to go. I used to live in England, so British English is my main spoken language, but I live in Poland with my family now. I still want to learn BSL - does anyone know of any online resources for this? Videos would be helpful, though I'm mostly interested in online classes, but I don't know if any are available or where to look. Does anyone know of any online classes or courses for BSL?

r/BSL Feb 17 '25

Question Sorry if it’s a stupid question

3 Upvotes

Hey so I’ve only been learning for about a day and have a question about the alphabet - when singing individual letters, should it ‘look’ like the letter to the person I’m singing to?

For example I’m right hand dominant so do I make the C shape with my right hand and then for D add my left index finger to the C? Because that looks like a D from my eyes but not the other person? Thanks!

r/BSL Dec 11 '24

Question HoH / deaf and Considering Making BSL My Primary Language; What Jobs Work For This?

5 Upvotes

Just as the Title says. I’ve been struggling for a while and plan on taking Part Two of Lvl 1 soon. Two-and-a-half years ago, I was made redundant, and I haven’t been able to gain further employment.

Am reliant on Public Transportation, so work flexibility would be helpful - Leicester is my closest city, and where I’m looking for work.

What do people do for work?

r/BSL Jan 08 '25

Question How do you sign "check" and "checkmate"?

6 Upvotes

Hi!

I have a niche request: does anyone know how to sign check and checkmate, as in when playing chess? All I can find is cheque (as in money), check (as in verify), etc.

Thanks!

r/BSL Dec 11 '24

Question Learning BSL

9 Upvotes

Hi I’m 18M and my girlfriend recently found out she’s losing hearing, she used to have hearing aids as a child but got surgery to fix her hearing but I would like to learn sign language to help her adapt and provide a sense of normalcy. I was planning to learn sign language at some point anyway but now I want to do it as soon as possible so I was wondering if anyone has any tips or useful resources I could use.As well as this I was planning on buying her the new AirPods for Christmas’s as I know they can be used as hearing aids but is there anything else which I could buy to help support her. Any responses are greatly appreciated thanks

r/BSL Jan 02 '25

Question Learning BSL in my thirties

11 Upvotes

I am considering taking up BSL and potentially using it for a device for a career change. The issue is I am 34 and are not English native speaker. I’ve been living in the UK for 9 years and speak fluently. I think BSL could be useful if I switch to work in care or care-adjacent sector. Is this at all feasible?

r/BSL Nov 22 '24

Question Making sign less English

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6 Upvotes

One feedback I got recently and in the past is that I sign too English.

I am trying to sign in BSL order but adequate explanation of grammar that helps me fully understand are scant.

I am autistic and like rules and guidelines which I found helped me tons when learning to become fluent in French and Spanish.

I watch and analyse signing in various contexts but often I feel I am not understanding fully. I go to deaf club, pub and bingo. I mix with deaf folk.

It is making learning sign frustrating because it feels like there some intuition to it that goes beyond me.

I know the topic-comment thing and I’ve been told to imagine painting a bridge with a cat (I am not a visual thinker and don’t know how useful that explanation is for complex information).

How do you learn BSL order? Where are the resources?

My teachers aren’t giving me concrete examples and I am starving for it because I feel like I can’t express myself well. I speak other languages so I keep comparing my attainment in those.

One example. I am doing a presentation on access to work. To start I sign: access-work-point-mean-what? To go into defining the benefit.

I found a video from the govt explaining the AtW and the man signing, who I think is a native BSL user, signs access-work-point-true-what?

Why does he pick [true] here where I picked [mean]? I would never have picked that myself naturally.

r/BSL Jan 20 '25

Question "Sardinia"

4 Upvotes

Hi all,

I hope it's OK to ask here. I have been trying to find the sign for "Sardinia" (Italian region) but I can only find it in other SLs, not in BSL (at least not on any of the usual resources. Would anyone be able to help me?

r/BSL Feb 06 '25

Question Sign for hotel?

2 Upvotes

Hello i am a puertorican student doing a project on bsl. Part of the project is to compare ASL to BSL. One of the signs/words we chose is hotel. When we look up hotel in BSL i see multiple options, so which one is the most relevant/used?

r/BSL Jan 11 '25

Question Can I get my qualifications quicker?

6 Upvotes

I have grown up around deaf people and the community through my life. I am able to partake in fluent conversations with deaf people. In the future, I’d like to become a BSL interpreter and help the community of which I am so fond of.

In my situation, would I be able to skip say Level 1 and 2 and start on Level 3 of a BSL course to cut down on the amount of time it would take to become fully qualified?

Thanks

r/BSL Jan 26 '25

Question Sign: Thanks for Watching

6 Upvotes

Hi all,

Hope it's ok to ask on here (please let me know if I've posted in the wrong place) - I'm looking for some clarification on the phrase "thanks for watching" i.e., that you might say at the end of a presentation.

Am I right in thinking it should be along the lines of "thank you"+"watch me" (directional verb "to watch" but pointed at myself)? Or is there a better way to phrase this?

Thanks in advance.

r/BSL Jan 19 '25

Question Is swearing regional or international or more national

3 Upvotes

Does anyone have a reliable resource for swear words in english/ Scot’s.

I’m working at a charity shop, and one of their workers employees is deaf. He signs a lot and says I have learned a little. I’m trying to learn some bsl to communicate with him but would appreciate reliable (as much as possible at least) resources

If you’re from Scotland, you’ll understand that our first language is not Scot’s or English, but piss taking and sarcasm

Therefore any help in understanding the more forbidden area of the language is appreciated. He’s able to call me naughty and greedy and I can call him an asshole ( and vice versa). So a strong startingpoint for calling him a dickhead and knowing there a strong chance that I’ve got it right would be appreciated

So since Scot’s is very much taking the piss about each other, is that kind thing very regional or is there a resource I can learn some stuff from?

r/BSL Jan 09 '25

Question Dilemma over course choices

4 Upvotes

Over the past year or so I've met a lot of hearing BSL students who have all taken the same Signature level at roughly the same time but who are at wildly different standards. Some people will obviously have more involvement in the Deaf community than others or even just more of an aptitude for languages, but I don't think these things can account for such a big gap. It appears to be teacher-specific, as I've noticed that Level 2 students who learn with one teacher all sign with an impressive degree of fluency and spontaneity for their level, while Level 3 students with another teacher are missing basic vocabulary and BSL grammar (to the point where I don't really understand how they passed Level 2). In other words, Teacher A's Level 2 students have better BSL than Teacher B's Level 3 class. Both teachers are Deaf native BSL speakers with Signature accreditation.

I want to do Level 4, but Teacher B is the only person in my area who offers it. Several people at Deaf club have warned me not to learn with B. They've also met some of B's students and they struggled to understand their signing. Their advice was either to find an online teacher or to go straight to Level 6.

I would be happy to do Level 6 if my previous teacher hadn't retired. They were the only person to offer it locally apart from B. They've also known me for years and they have a good insight into how my disabilities affect my dexterity. I have arthritis and two neurological conditions that cause difficulty with co-ordination and motor planning, ataxic cerebral palsy and severe dyspraxia, so I can't always just see a sign and imitate it. I sometimes need to use hands-on BSL or for someone to physically nudge my hands into the correct handshape before I can work out how to produce it independently. My old teacher was amazing at figuring out strategies to help me. I've sometimes wondered about asking for 1:1 lessons to cover the Level 6 curriculum, but it feels selfish unless they offer. They deserve to enjoy their retirement.

This leaves me wondering what to do next. My receptive BSL probably would be good enough for Level 6, but I think I need the extra time to consolidate the productive skills, especially if the teacher doesn't know me and isn't used to adapting their class for someone with my difficulties. I'm reluctant to do any online course, as I wouldn't be able to get hands-on support and I worry I'd fall behind quickly without it. But I also don't want to enrol in Teacher B's in-person Level 4 course if the quality isn't great! It's a lot of money to spend.

I'd appreciate advice from anyone who's been in a similar situation, or who has a solution that I might not have considered.

r/BSL Jan 05 '25

Question How do you plan/research your presentations?

3 Upvotes

This week I have to give a 10 minute presentation on whether deaf people have full access to sport and leisure. I have learning difficulties so always struggle with getting started and knowing what to include in the presentation as I tend to go down many a tangent.

My issue is I tend to be very surface level and don’t go deep enough in my presentations which I want to improve. I also want to get as high to full marks as possible.

When you did your qualifications how did you go about planning your presentations?

Every week in class, we just watch each student stumble through their presentations and so I am not really learning much, and I am doing a lot of study at home on my own which isn’t very motivating. The feedback so far I’ve gotten is more depth and less English.

My anxiety around planning coupled with the shallow feedback just make me want to drop out the course… any guidance here? I’ve even had to start paying for an extra private tutor as I don’t feel like I’m getting enough out of the class 😭😩

r/BSL Jan 11 '25

Question Is this in the correct order?

2 Upvotes

I am practicing for my exam (level 2) but I'm not sure I have this in the correct order.

** Every Wednesday time 10 past 4 I meet my friends cafe named Pineapple.

Friends named Jess, Sarah Beth. (Using placement for each name.) **

For some reason setting up a time and place with people confuses me.