British sign language: teach yourself (John Murray Press)

This product contains a book and DVD. Is this the right product for me? Do you want to be able to understand and use British Sign Language confidently? All you need is this best-selling course. Learn everyday, useful BSL through real-life situations that make the grammar and vocabulary easy and memorable.

Hundreds of line illustrations throughout the book and constant references to video clips on the DVD make learning fast and fun. British Sign Language (BSL) is used in the United Kingdom. The number of Deaf people in the UK using BSL has been put at about 50,000; there are in addition many more hearing people who use BSL to communicate with Deaf users.

Sign languages are not related to spoken languages and BSL is completely different, for example, from American Sign Language. Sign language conveys meaning through the use of space and movement of the hands, body, face and head.

We know that many hearing people are keen to learn BSL (it is a very popular evening class course, for example). But there is a lack of good teaching materials written in English for hearing learners of BSL, which this course fills.Get Started in British Sign Language follows the BSL curricula taught currently in colleges (Council for the Advancement of Communication with Deaf People CACDP and Institute of BSL) and therefore will be able to be used as support material by learners, as well as providing a complete grounding in the structure and grammar of BSL.

Why is this the best course on the market? - It's Deaf-led (so often deaf people are not in charge) - It has Deaf authenticity (a bit like a Black person writing a book on Black Culture) - It has a Deaf illustrator (how many BSL books are illustrated żeby a Deaf person? Go on, check) - It has Deaf authors (Yes, go on and check!

Authors, not 'contributors'!) - It has a DVD which can be downloaded to a phone, computer, TV, notebook (the possibilities are endless) - It's fun (just like the other Teach Yourself books) - The format is clear - lots of hand holding (you never need to ask 'what does this mean?')- Only BSL experts who are deaf are used as authors and advisers (not hearing professors) Teach Yourself British Sign Language includes: Chapter 1: Starting out with BSL structure Chapter 2: More about Deaf people Chapter 3: BSL Structures Chapter 4: Deaf culture and BSL etiquette Chapter 5: Introduction to facial expressions Chapter 6: Asking 'wh-' questions Chapter 7: Asking 'yes'/'no' questions Chapter 8: More about questions Chapter 9: How to use facial expressions Chapter 10: BSL mouth patterns Chapter 11: Starting out with fingerspelling Chapter 12: Learning to fingerspell Chapter 13: Reading fingerspelling Chapter 14: Fingerspelling signs Chapter 15: Using fingerspelling in conversation Chapter 16: Other fingerspelt words: months Chapter 17: Starting out with placement Chapter 18: Describing a room Chapter 19: Introduction to referent handshapes Chapter 20: Understanding switching Chapter 21: Describing a room from memory Chapter 22: Understanding someone describing a scene from memory Chapter 23: Starting out with directions Chapter 24: Directions - describing localities Chapter 25: Complex directions: adding more information Chapter 26: Using directions with landmarks Chapter 27: Colours Chapter 28: What next?