Leaderboard

Hi, my name is Suzie and I am a primary school teacher. I am learning BSL because I feel it is a language skill more people should possess in the UK. I am using some of my time off for maternity leave and the lockdown to learn BSL. I only started my learning journey with sign language 2 weeks ago so it early days (be patient with me!) I am keen to practice and develop more as time goes on.

Hello! My name is Stacey and I currently teach dance at the Mary Hare School, in Newbury, England. In September, I will be starting my Teacher of the Deaf course, which is a 2 year qualification. Joining Mary Hare School, was my dream job and I feel like I am in my element teaching there. I have had an interest in sign language since 2012. At the auditions for the London Paralympic opening ceremony, there were a number of people who were deaf and everything was in reverse for me. All of a sudden, I could not communicate with a large number of people and I felt isolated. I tried to start learning for a short time back then, but ran into difficulties because my left hand is not fully formed and I only have a few fingers. However, since working at Mary Hare and picking up sign language, I have realised I can still do the signs and students can understand what I am saying. At Mary Hare, our ethos is to encourage our students to use their voice, to speak and lip read. However, BSL is used socially by the students. For my Teacher of the Deaf course, I have to pass Level 1 BSL and I thought I would start early!

Hello everyone my name is Joshua Kavanagh. I've been using sign language now for 5 years both BSL and ISL. i suffer from hearing loss myself (unilateral deafness)

Hi I'm Molly, I've been learning bsl for about a year and a half now through my universities Sign language society and wanted to learn through some more official channels and broaden my sign. Love to practice as much as i can and would love to work with deaf student in theatre one day :)

Hi everyone, I am teacher who has always wanted to learn BSL but have never had the time. I am so happy that I finally have the time to learn BSL as we have a few parents and children in our school who use it. I have just completed assessment number 3 and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Even though I have passed my assessments so far I know I will need to continually go over the signs. Its been lovely to read so many other people's journeys and reasons for doing this course. Sarah xx

I thought the quarantine would be a good opportunity to learn a new skill that i wouldn't usually find the time for. I am in training to become a teacher so it a massively valuable skill to have as an educator and gives me the opportunity to work with and help children with hearing or speech impairments