fudgefactorfive
New Member
According to the CACDP, about 80% of the people that take their Level 1 exam in British Sign Language are women. This is actually less than my own experience, which is around 90% - I'm on my third year of learning (2.5 hours per week): in both the previous years, I was one of two men who started the courses and the only one to finish them, in classes that started off with about another 15 women in. (I've also noticed that of the men who do it, a lot of them are gay, though it's a very poor sample that I'm working with 
).
I've just picked up some voluntary work in a Deaf Access community project, they were very keen for me to start, just because I'm a bloke, and all their current volunteers are women. Deaf people like to be represented by people of their own gender when they're being spoken on behalf of. I can understand this - I used to know a deaf guy who would phone me using TypeTalk, who also seem to be staffed entirely by women. It was strangely disorientating.
The same is true for interpreters - there's a current shortage of men. Islington Council, one of the only councils in the country to have its own in-house team of sign language interpreters as opposed to booking them via agencies, is staffed entirely by women (or was, as of mid 2006).
You can pick up a cheap sign language course at the start of the academic year (not great timing for this post, then) in some local council colleges - Lambeth and Southwark colleges for example - these are the cheapest at around the £120 mark. If you're on the dole or other benefits, you can get 'em for a pittance - I paid £20 for this year's course, and that includes the Level 2 exam. A few colleges do also run calendar year courses beginning in January I believe. They are heavily subscribed - turn up as early as you can on the very first day of enrolment. I really recommend a CACDP-approved course - this is the most widely recognised qualification in BSL. The British Deaf Association are also supposed to be coming up with their own courses (amidst much politics).
Aside from that, you can get courses from independent bodies and private tutors, but these tend to be more expensive, often around the £500 mark. The advantage with these is that they tend to be more intensive, which really suits some people more. I imagine it's a lot harder, but you don't spend ages doing it. If you don't have the cash and you're doing a job which involves contact with the public, why not sound out your employer about sending you on one?
).I've just picked up some voluntary work in a Deaf Access community project, they were very keen for me to start, just because I'm a bloke, and all their current volunteers are women. Deaf people like to be represented by people of their own gender when they're being spoken on behalf of. I can understand this - I used to know a deaf guy who would phone me using TypeTalk, who also seem to be staffed entirely by women. It was strangely disorientating.
The same is true for interpreters - there's a current shortage of men. Islington Council, one of the only councils in the country to have its own in-house team of sign language interpreters as opposed to booking them via agencies, is staffed entirely by women (or was, as of mid 2006).
You can pick up a cheap sign language course at the start of the academic year (not great timing for this post, then) in some local council colleges - Lambeth and Southwark colleges for example - these are the cheapest at around the £120 mark. If you're on the dole or other benefits, you can get 'em for a pittance - I paid £20 for this year's course, and that includes the Level 2 exam. A few colleges do also run calendar year courses beginning in January I believe. They are heavily subscribed - turn up as early as you can on the very first day of enrolment. I really recommend a CACDP-approved course - this is the most widely recognised qualification in BSL. The British Deaf Association are also supposed to be coming up with their own courses (amidst much politics).
Aside from that, you can get courses from independent bodies and private tutors, but these tend to be more expensive, often around the £500 mark. The advantage with these is that they tend to be more intensive, which really suits some people more. I imagine it's a lot harder, but you don't spend ages doing it. If you don't have the cash and you're doing a job which involves contact with the public, why not sound out your employer about sending you on one?
i was thinking about doing a bsl course (i'm female btw), but i might actually encourage the bf to give it a go.
he's not keen on going into management, so this might be ideal.
