British Sign Language for Beginners – Course 2

British Sign Language (BSL) is the primary language used by the Deaf community in the UK, and is used by over 150,000 people. Recognised as an official language in 2003, instead of sound, it is produced via movement of the hands, face and body.

My name is Tom and I am an undergraduate studying English Language and Linguistics. I am also currently completing my level 3 qualification in British Sign Language. Though I am not fluent – meaning I am not at an interpreter’s level – I am proficient enough to teach you the topics included on this course.

In this class, I will take you through some of the important fundamentals of BSL. We will cover:

• Regional variations – we discuss why many words in BSL have different variations depending on where you are in the UK.

• The numbers – we go through how to produce every number between 1 and 100.

• Dates of the year – this includes the months and seasons of the year, how to sign specific dates (e.g. 1st January), days of the week and more vocabulary such as yesterday and next week.

• Numbers in different contexts – we discuss how to use our number signs in various scenarios, such as telling the time and using money.

This course is aimed at complete beginners who have completed course 1. However, please note that this course is only suitable for those interested in learning the sign language that is used in the UK. It is not suitable for those interested in learning other sign languages, such as American Sign Language (ASL) or Irish Sign Language (ISL), as these are vastly different.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the class!

Who this course is for:

• Complete beginners who are interested in learning a new language.