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Hi everyone. My name is Darryl and I work and live in Bangor, Northern Ireland. Although i had a deaf friend during my teenager years, he was a fantastic lip reader, so we rarely had to sign and the signs he did show me, were generally curse signs. Forward to the present day and nearly twenty old years later and i have always wanted to learn BSL and now have the means and financial ability to do so. My background is Mental health and Learning disability services but two years ago, i 'retired' and went into self employment as a Hypnotherapist / Counsellor as well as a Hypnobirthing practitioner . I also teach hypnotherapy in a local university for a national teaching organisation. So by learning BSL, as well as personal achievement, it may also help me in my working life as I have supported couples during pregnancy that have hearing difficulties. Thanks for reading.

Dear All, I am a bit of a (hearing) tech geek and have a personal friend who is Deaf, therefore I understand a fair amount about the difficulties of not being included in everything. I have recently identified a revolutionary new Digital Communication Channel that has been approved and endorsed by RDA (which will come free of charge to Deaf and Hard of Hearing & friends and family) and I am reaching out to the community for support in turning this into reality. I am in the process of setting up a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter, news to follow soon, however as part of my Kickstarter Application I would like to add a 'signed' video to demonstrate and verify my working proof of concept and looking for a volunteer. My plan is to develop an intelligent Lifestyle & communication Mobile Application including an ewallet with some really exciting and innovative features, eg augmented reality (think Pokemon Go but not as a game rather as an identifier), Gamification, loyalty etc to name only a few. For example, you're on a train/tube and suddenly it comes to a stop, no station in sight and there is no apparent reason for this stop. Hearing people get frustrated when there are no Tannoy announcements as to why they may have come to a stop, or how long they might be stuck in the situation or in fact just any news about what might be going on. Deaf and hard of hearing people don't have a choice, they just have to tolerate this or if confident enough ask someone nearby what is going on. Sitting in a Doctors' waiting room, Hospital A&E waiting for your name to be called is somewhat useless to Deaf and Hard of hearing individuals. A hearing person might be in a shopping mall when an emergency announcement is being made about a potential threat, this kind of announcement goes by without recognition from a Deaf person (unless they are being accompanied). A hearing person is able to hear public announcements in trains stations and airports about changes to schedules, delays and even boarding calls, however these announcements go totally unheard by Deaf and a lot of Hard of Hearing individuals, again unless accompanied. In light of the Manchester Bombings it has become even more apparent to me that there is a definite need for this form of Digital Infrastructure and Communication. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Please feel free to get in touch directly or on [email protected]. This is a personal venture!

Hi, I have just completed level one and want to practice before getting stuck into level two! I noticed that there were soooo many beginners who wanted to practice. This website seems to provide a space for video chat now! Shall we get organised??? Maybe on Sunday evenings at 6pm BST we could meet in the online video chat rooms to practice. Anyone up for it? Thanks and hope to sign with you soon! Hope