If you are a long time reader of my blog you may well remember a post I did some time ago regarding an elderly friend I met through the course of my job.
Dennis is profoundly deaf and so was his lovely wife Denise.
Fingerspelling Dennis
They would both come into the station where I worked and I would make phone calls or contact the gas board with their meter readings etc.
I hated the face that I couldn’t communicate and started a 10 week introduction to BSL sign language so I was at least able to communicate a little with them.
Sadly I had to go to work at a different station, which was initially for 3 months but ended up being 18 months and Dennis stopped coming into my original station.
Denise sadly passed away a couple of years ago and Dennis was moved into Sheltered accommodation.
I had lost contact with him as there was no new address for his accommodation. But I continued with my classes.
One day around six months ago I was driving down my regular route into work and to my surprise, walking along the road was Dennis!
I hastily stopped the car and got out to talk to him. I explained I was now back at my original station and he told me his new address.
I started visiting him at his sheltered accommodation and soon found out that all the other residents having their hearing and no-one else there knows sign language. I was shocked and dismayed.
Me! Tanya!
From then I started to take him out for lunch or breakfast at a local cafe and every two or three weeks would would spend a couple of hours with him teaching me some more signs.
Then in January of this year I was accepted onto a work run course in BSL. From January to May we would learn level one BSL and then May to July we would tackle Level two.
Level three would start in September if we were lucky enough to pass the first two levels. No pressure then!
Class takes place every Wednesday for a full day of learning and signing.
In the past few weeks we have been advised of what our signing exams will entail.
Split into three parts there is a DVD recognition exam which is made up of multiple choice questions. We get to watch the video all the way through once, and then it is split into three parts and we get each part again. Once.
The second part of the exam is a presentation. You are given a choice of four topic of which you must choose one. You have to give a presentation to the examiner that must last between four and six minutes. Which is a lot longer than you think.
Exam
The last part of the exam is a Conversation with your examiner and this must last between 5 and 8 minutes. Again a topic is decided in advance and you must be able to answer and ask your own questions on the chosen topic.
We started learning our presentation a few weeks ago and had an attempt at doing it in front of the class. My first attempt was 4 minutes 1 second. I had made it by the skin of my teeth, but I was gutted as it felt like it was so much longer.
I then practiced and practiced. I managed to do my presentation again and this time it was over ten minutes!!
Epic Failure.
Me… Nervous!
So far have managed to whittle it down and get it done in just over 5 and a quarter minutes.
Unfortunately I am not there the day of the first exam so I have to do two in the one day; the DVD and the presentation. The Conversation takes place one week later.
The results get sent away for invigilation and we find out if we have passed around 28 days after that.
I just have to not mess it up on the day!
Wish me luck?!?
Sign Language
Till next time,
Tx