I'll try and keep this as up to date as possible. It's mostly filled with sites and resources that I find interesting.
If you're not happy with the description attached to your blog please leave me a comment and I'll change it.
If you want a description and you haven't got one, that's because I'm not sure how to sum up your blog. Give me a suggestion and I'll add it!
BSL websites
Deafstation - Brilliant resource for those at level 2 and above. Provides daily news in BSL (in term time) so is great for improving your receptive and voiceover skills.
Signstation - Great for level 1 and level 2 learners. It's got a dictionary, and a -z of sign, a free online BSL teaching course and loads more.
BSLBT - The British Sign Language Broadcasting Trust. They make tv programmes in BSL, usually with subtitles included.
See Hear - The TV magazine for Ddeaf people, focusing on Ddeaf issues. Broadcasts at odd times so catch up with it on the i-player!
Deaf Bananaman - These are videos on facebook. Very very funny stories about a Deaf bananaman!
Signature - The accrediting body for sign language learners. Visit Signature to find BSL courses near you.
Deafchurch - Info on the Deaf church including the first BSL Bible translation.
Spread the Sign - providing vocabulary from mnay different sign languages from all over the world, including BSL.
BSL Corpus project - Collecting stories from deaf people and culture/time/place specific signs.
Science signs
Engineering Signs
Christian Signs
Jeff's vlog - BSL blog
Art signs
Deaf Church
Blogs
The Regency - A blog focusing on the
RNID (now Action on Hearing Loss) and how they fail to help Deaf people. British.
At the Rim - Linked to The Regency
Deaf Japan news - Does what it says
Deafread: Best of Deaf blogs - a round up of the best Ddeaf blogs, worldwide
Grumpy Old Deafies - Deaf musings, usually written from the UK
I Look So I Can Hear - Written by a deaf person in London, this blog looks at issues surrounding hearing loss and provides links to deaf accessible events and resources.
SPEAK UP LIBRARIAN - a hard of hearing librarian attempting to find her way in the world as a late deafened adult.
The Rebuttal - An independent website and
ezine concerning Deaf and hearing impaired issues. Australian.
DeafRead - Link blog of lots of Deaf sites, worldwide.
BSL interpreted songs on YouTube
Specific YouTube users doing this as follows:
Lees BSL Songs He's bloody fabulous!
zombiecoterie Does a brilliant Eleanor
Rigby, Dancing in the Street and C
ountry House.
AlisharahUK Islamic prayers and greetings on Youtube
My silly little things
My posts done as part of
Learn to Sign week.
My posts on superhero
sign names.
My twitter list of people and organisations with some link to Ddeafness and BSL.
My youtube channel - all posts in an apporximation of BSL, b/c really, when I review them they look awful. But some folk might find them of use.
A note about books -
Forest books is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to read about anything linked to Ddeafness and sign languages. It has academic stuff, fiction books, things for children, DVDs to help you with all levels of sign class, stuff for health professionals and social workers and much much more.
Non fiction books!
Excellent for anyone who wants to learn more about BSL. Refreshingly jargon free and you don't need to know anything about linguistics to understand it. I read this while doing my level 2 and it was a great help in sorting out the grammar.
Easy Way Guide to Signing - From the website: "This pocket book includes 1,700 if the most popular used signs in a convenient sized format. It has an easy to understand structure, together with signs mostly used in their logical place rather than in strict alphabetical order.
The individual pages are border indexed making it easier and quicker to locate a specific subject sign. There is a more comprehensive index to the rear of the book. This sign language book has been created, graphically drawn, planned and produced on its entirety, by three born profoundly deaf young men"
I have found this book very useful for looking up vocabulary. It is easy to use and the illustrations are simple to understand.
Revision on Multi-channel signs - Although not all the signs in here are strictly multi-channel signs, this book was incredibly useful to me when doing my level 2. There's 53 signs in here and when you have to memorise 3 to put into your conversation or story this is a great book to pick the signs from.
Communication Link - This is a ring bound dictionary of signs, arranged in alphabetical order by English word, and was also incredibly useful when I was doing my level 1 and level 2.
Dictionary of British Sign Language - ye gods this is a big book. It's like a doorstop. It gives a complex breakdown of signs and is something for use at home or in the classroom. It is not portable. From the description:
"This comprehensive BSL/English dictionary contains over 1,800 photographed Sign entries ordered by handshape and linguistic principles. Each entry is accompanied by a clear description of how to produce the sign. A cross-referenced guide to the meaning or meanings of each sign is provided in English in the second section. This dictionary is therefore unique as an equally valuable reference for hearing people learning BSL at an intermediate to advanced level, and for Deaf people studying English as a second language."
Given it's size you'd think there would be more signs included, alas no. I have probably used this less than the other mini dictionaries, but it definitely has it's use.
Deaf people in Hitler's Europe - This is just incredibly interesting and a great history book. It taught me loads about Deaf people's lives in the second world war and and about Nazism, the Holocaust and the mass sterilisation carried out by the Nazis on those they deemed sub human.
Deaf in Japan: Signing and the Politics of Identity - Interesting book examining Japanese culture, Japanese Japanese Deaf culture and Japanese sign language. It's very different to BSL and the UK Deaf community.
Double Whammy: Deaf Women and World History - From the website:
"A talented archivist, the author here outlines a long story of pride and resilience in the face of what many see as the double discrimination of being Deaf and female. By putting local history in the context of world events he firmly brings it out of the ghetto and, incidentally, provides a literary tonic to help to prevent Deaf women feeling sorry for themselves."
Interesting book, not the most readable of tomes, but worth persevering with. My main complaint was the small font used.
Fiction Books!
The Raging Quiet by Sherryl Jordan From the Forest Books (deaf bookshop) synopsis:
"Forced into marriage to an older man to save her family from eviction, Marnie is soon widowed by a freak accident. She is befriended by Raven who she discovers is not mad but deaf. They form a friendship through sign language. But this brings accusation of witchcraft by the villagers.."
This is an utterly readable and utterly gripping book. This would be good for young adults.
An Equal Music - Vikram Seth
A young woman is deafened and continues to play the cello. This book covers how she manages (hides) her d
eafness and other's attitudes to it. Not the most readable thing, I quite dislike Seth's writing style, but the book is interesting for it's insights into deafness.
Deafening - Frances Itani
Brilliant. Set in Canada around the time of the first world war. This is a love story between a Deaf woman and a hearing man. Shortly after they marry he is sent to the trenches.
Let me know if you think anything else should be added!
