CLIC: Introduction to British Sign Language

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This course is designed for learners who have very limited or no previous knowledge of British Sign Language (BSL). The course aims to enable individuals to understand and use BSL effectively for purposes of practical communication with deaf or hard of hearing people, to develop understanding of the BSL sentence syntax and to learn more about a Deaf Culture.

Please note this course is not credit-bearing and so cannot be used as part of a Tripos.

• All staff and students from Cambridge University Engineering Department
• Further details regarding CLIC's eligibility criteria are available here

Number of sessions: 10

In this course, students will learn how to:

• Fingerspell and lip-read
• Meet and greet people
• Introduce yourself (name, age, where you live)
• Describe one’s family
• Talk about the weather, months of the year and the seasons
• Give directions and discuss transport
• Describe animals and pets
• Practise shopping for food and clothes

Students will also learn about:

• Basic BSL syntax and grammar rules
• Verbs
• Negative and positive face expressions and emotions
• Use of W-questions
• Prepositions
• Timelines

This course aims to enable learners to understand and use BSL effectively for purposes of practical communication with deaf or hard of hearing people, to develop understanding of the BSL sentence syntax and to learn more about a Deaf Culture.

Class work and individual study. This course will be classroom based at CUED (in person, face to face teaching).

Once per year

• British Sign Language: Beginner (Intensive)