Learning British Sign Language

Hi All,  My name is Sam Murphy and I work in the Holidays and Volunteering team at Sense. I just wanted to get in touch to share an opportunity for any members of this forum to get involved and practice their BSL skills on the way. Sense Holidays are for groups of disabled children, young people and adults who are deafblind, have multi-sensory impairments or other complex communication needs. Each holiday experience is unique as they are planned around the needs and interests of the holidaymakers. Sense Holidays take place throughout England and this year there are volunteering opportunities from July until November Sense Holidays couldn’t happen without our fantastic volunteers! As a volunteer you will be supporting a child, young person or adult as they try new things, make new connections, create memories and have fun! You’ll be part of a team making sure each break is the very best experience it can be for everyone involved. Each break is different, and could include swimming, drumming, visits to local attractions, canoeing, dry slope skiing, meals out, or nights in the pub! Volunteering on a Sense Holiday is completely free of charge and all your accommodation, food and activity expenses will be covered. If you’d be interested in volunteering on our 2019 Holidays then please complete our application form by clicking Apply Now.  Here you can let us know which weeks you’re available, what kind of age group you’d like to work with and what you’d like to get out of volunteering. For our summer holidays, we will invite you to a Preparation Day on May 18th at Touchbase Pears in Selly Oak, Birmingham. It is vital that you can attend this day if you want to volunteer on a summer holiday. We can reimburse travel for this day. As a Sense Holidays volunteer you will - - Develop existing skills or learn new ones.
- Learn about complex communication needs
- Have an amazing experience supporting a child, young person or adult as they create great memories!
- Plus it’s free – full training and support is provided Volunteering on a Sense Holiday is a great way to meet people, try new challenges, explore new ways of communicating and visit new places, all while experiencing a huge sense of achievement. As a Sense volunteer you are valued  for your time and energy, and for the unique contribution you bring.

Hi, my name's Lynn. I did BSL Level 1 many years ago so very very rusty, if you don't use it you lose it lol. My friend is stone deaf, was brought up oral but is now learning BSL so in order to communicate even better, I'm brushing off my skills. At the snail pace at the mo but hope to improve. Any help much appreciated. I'm also moderately deaf and my hearing is deteriorating as each yearly audio test goes by, so I really need to do BSL in order to communicate, just need to encourage my family and friends to join me lol. 

Hey my names Phoenix and I’m new here. I’m just starting to learn bsl and I’m really exited for this course 

Anyone wishing to practise BSL level 1 please join

Hi.. I am currently studying BSL level 1 and would like someone to practice with. Please message if interested 😁

Hi Tals, I am also looking for someone to practice with, I have recently started BSL level 2 and have realised I really need to practice my receptive skills! Let me know if you want to set something up.

Hey there,  Anyone looking to practice on here? If so happy to make a time and day to come practice 😊

Hello All ... I am hearing but have been BSL Signing for about 6 years now but only get to use it a few times in the week or once a month at DeafVibes, Newcastle-under-Lyme where I volunteer. My call name is either ‘Tiger Lady’ or ‘Diva’. I am 53, I am Disabled, I work, I am a  Lesbian married to a woman, we have 3 dogs & 2 cats. i joined the group as I need to practice BSL signing more. Hope to sign with you soon and might do a. Video soon 👍🏽💋

The deafness resource centre in St. Helens do a happy hands on Wednesday afternoon and also coffee mornings you can meet with deaf people and practice 

I’m also a newbie and it’s a work in progress but: A and U are easy as first and last. E: i’m righthanded so the “letters” are on my left hand. If you look at your left hand the three middle fingers look like an E on its back, so the index finger is the top of the letter E. I: the longest middle finger. Also - random fact that reminds me: i used to live in Italy where I was startled to find that certain letters are not used except in foreign words: letters j, k, y, and a few others were not even included in the Italian alphabet. There isn’t a natural sound that means J, they call it “Long I” because it’s like an I with a tail. The same is true in Sign: J is drawing along the middle finger and round to the thumb. So I is like short J! And as for O, that one’s easy: it’s the finger with my wedding ring on, which is a nice visual mnemonic. Though if anyone comes up with better ones, please tell! Those are just what I’ve come up with so far. FWIW I’m also practicing with the Twinklefingers Fingerspelling app which is good for attempting to get my brain up to speed in those idle ten minutes on the bus...