Where can my son and I learn sign language?

[Flairmaine]

He's made friends with a boy who speaks through sign language. They're both in nursery. They're attached at the hip. My son is desperate to learn sign language and I think it would be great for him to start whilst he is super interested. Where do I start?!

thats so lovely, sign language (like any language) is such a great skill. I don’t actually know of where to learn but maybe Google some local colleges or check some British deaf associations?

Thanks! I just wasn't sure if there was a certain type of sign language that was best, or a specific place that's best to learn, aka private tutor or BSL school. Like a fish out of water!

At nursery age they often use makaton, if you look on CBeebies, there's that Justin guy who does makaton sign all the way through his shows. Otherwise you can find loads of good basic BsL videos on YouTube. My DD is doing BSL at afterschool club in primary and they use YouTube.

Here you go Mr Tumble www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kd0k

Weirdly my son is really scared of me tumble. Never been able to work out why 🤣

Signature website for accredited sign language courses. Else Remark! in London

lots of resources here www.british-sign.co.uk

And here makaton.org

You need to find out whether it is Makaton or BSL because some of the signs are completely different even for basic vocabulary. Singing Hands on CBeebies is BSL.

Hi 😅

Im hearing but qualified upto level 6 in BSL (never qualified for a job, just loved BSL and went the whole way!), i found my classes through signature website.. you pop in a postcode and they give you a list of qualified teachers and places you can go for classes, it does cost a pretty penny as through signature you are working for the qualifications but if you want to learn without the qualifications have a google of deaf centres near you, i know loads closed during covid but i learnt more from deaf centres/deaf clubs than i did the classes as it’s so rewarding to use BSL in day to day life, i have had nothing but positive experiences and the deaf community would love to help anybody learn even the basics of BSL 🙂

There is a lot online and you can buy books which explain the structure behind how the sentences are different from English but it is an amazing skill to have and it’s amazing to be able to communicate with the deaf community as they tend to struggle daily with communicating, im currently expecting our first and i will incorporate BSL into her life 🙂

Main thing is learning from deaf people! Remark is good and someone called jazzy on YouTube also.

sidenote: makaton and Bsl are not the same. Makaton is a signed system often used for people with learning difficulties whilst Bsl is a full language.

Such a great idea, best of luck with it!

My son is really good friends with a child at his school who communicates through signing and his teacher told me that singing hands is a good website to learn makaton, hope this helps xx

Oh and some young people do use makaton, i have a friend who i met through deaf club and she came from a deaf family so used BSL from the beginning yet another friend was taught makaton by his parents when he was young as his parents were hearing 🙂

Tiny Talk does British sign language and teach it through songs and signing. We go to an in person class but there are some online classes too.

@FatAgainItsLettuceTime please don't share this information that really isn't correct. Makaton is used for children with additional needs, it is NOT used for Deaf children. We use BSL from birth in the same we we speak to babies who are hearing, it is a complete language with its own grammar.

OP look for a registered course, either iBSL or signature. Good luck!

Thanks everyone! His friend doesn't have additional needs so I suspect it is BSL. We are going on a playdate for the first time next week so I will definitely pick his mum's brains. She told me a lot of the other kids avoid him which is really sad as they get frustrated that they can't communicate. For some reason my son and hers adore each other, to the extent that they fall asleep together at nursery cuddling each other! I'd love them to remain friends after nursery and we've applied for the sake pre school. I'll also ask if she fancies helping me :)

There's a coffee morning with the deaf community where I live but annoyingly it's on a weekday morning so won't be able to attend. Bummer!

I have worked with lots of deaf people and learned a bit of BSL. Please learn it from a deaf tutor if possible. Your son will probably pick it up really quickly as he is young, how lovely that he wants to be friends with this child.

Singing hands on YouTube is a lovely place to pick up some signing for little ones.

Also find out which structure the child uses, yes probably BSL, but a lot of children are taught SSE (sign supported English) where each word is signed unlike BSL.
But tbh just learning the basics will be fine at his age.
My adult son is Deaf and inherited his Deafness off my Dad's side of the family.
I am fluent in BSL and used to be an interpreter. I started off working in nurseries with Deaf children and peripateticly for Deaf pre schoolers. It is a beautiful language.

As someone with a deaf family member I was about to say the same thing! If they use signs due to hearing impairment I suspect it will be BSL. I think it's so lovely that your son wants to learn OP x

I used to attend sign language classes with my daughter called Tiny Talk.

They do toddler classes too, but I went when my daughter was a baby.

They taught sign language through song and play.

I'd definitely recommend Tiny Talk if you have it in your area, it's BSL signs and is great.