British Sign Language (BSL) has often fallen to the side lines when conversations about languages and communication are brought up. Despite sign languages themselves having a deep history stretching back beyond the mediaeval period, and with an estimated 87,000 deaf sign language users in the UK alone, BSL remains an often-undisclosed form of communication.
BSL itself was only recognised in the UK as an official language in 2003, despite its frequent use by deaf communities in the years before this.
This is why we at the Cardiff University BSL Society believe that it is more important than ever to raise awareness surrounding deaf and hard-of-hearing communities and strive to protect and preserve BSL as the official language it is recognised as. Our society works to preserve this language and culture in a myriad of ways – we teach bi-monthly BSL lessons to our members, allowing them to learn and practice vocabulary, while also guiding them toward BSL resources. We also keep our members up to date on the latest BSL-related projects and news, as well as teach about the deep history of BSL as a language.
For anyone interested in learning more about BSL, we encourage people to come and see us in the Cardiff Students Union over the next couple of weeks to raise money for charities and causes that directly help deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
Also, keep a lookout on our socials for our upcoming pub quiz announcement! We are going to be hosting a raffle alongside the quiz to raise even more money for deaf charities, while also ending the academic year with a bang!
We teach bi-weekly BSL lessons to our members, allowing them to learn and paractive vocabulary.