British Sign Language For Dummies

by John Wiley & Sons

Learn British Sign Language quickly and easily with this essential guide and CD-Rom This lively guide introduces the key hand shapes and gestures you need to communicate in British Sign Language. The illustrations depict both the actions and facial expressions used to sign accurately, while the companion CD-Rom features real-life BSL conversations in action to further your understanding. With these practical tools, you’ll become an expert signer in no time! British Sign Language For Dummies Starting to sign – learn about Deaf communication and practise simple signs to get you going Learning everyday BSL – develop the grammar and vocabulary skills that are the building blocks to using British Sign Language Getting out and about – sign with confidence in a wide range of real-life situations, from travelling to dating Looking into Deaf life – learn about the history of the Deaf Community and how they’ve adapted their technology and lifestyles to suit their needs The Kindle edition of this book does not include any CDs or DVDs.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference

547 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Manny]

The most politically incorrect title I've found this year. But I'm sure someone will soon top it...

[Harriet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful for the culture and history it provides. Less helpful for the actual signs - as they vary a lot by region many of the signs shown in this book were different to ones I'm learning in Scotland. My teacher (a BSL user herself) didn't think much of it!

[Yue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it with the help of the website and app https://www.signbsl.com (SL needs to be learned with videos.. only images and text is not enough)

[Simon Purdy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay but the pictures in the book didn't help me much. You are better off taking a course.

[Chloe McDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super helpful

[Courtney Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Putting aside the unfortunate provenance of the word "dummy", this book was good, but not brilliant. It was recommended by my level 1 BSL tutor as the book we should refer to, since BSL classes don't really allow for the taking of notes (though plenty of people in my class still do). It's definitely not a level 1 textbook though; while there is a lot of overlap, there are some signs here that aren't part of that course and some level 1 signs that are left out of this book.

I found the sections relating to Deaf culture most helpful, and some of the signs are the same as the ones I've been learning. However, due to regional variations, many of them weren't. Also, the images are not particularly clear, making it hard to learn from them (and I don't seem to have the companion CD-ROM to look at that). One thing I did like is the emphasis on the correct BSL word order (e.g. NAME YOU WHAT rather than "what is your name?"). Another helpful feature was the end of chapter exercises, which I used to test myself.

I would recommend this book to someone who wanted to figure out whether they'd be interested in learning BSL, as well as anyone who wanted a refresher between lessons. However, due to regional variations and the quality of the images, I wouldn't recommend it as a primary resource. I personally find online dictionaries with videos a lot more helpful, as well as having the MobileSign 2 app on my iPod. I'm also grateful to be learning BSL at a centre that is much, much cheaper than City Lit!

[AJW · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed in this Dummies textbook. It could have been a contender for best intro to BSL, but I cannot wholeheartedly recommend it.

GOOD POINTS
Includes a CD-ROM with videos of short BSL exchanges. Videos are much better than pictures for showing BSL vocab.
The videos are translated in strict BSL order which is helpful it seeing how BSL grammar is different from English.
Gives useful information on Deaf culture and history.
Phrases are clearly shown in BSL order, not English. And the equivalent English phrase is given as well, allowing students to compare.

BAD POINTS
I thought the illustrations were too basic and lacked clarity.
I spotted a few errors: For example, a direction sign the wrong way round, & the word 'camping' was drawn differently from how it was signed on the CD-ROM.