Sign Language

I have wanted to learn sign language for so many years now but have never had the resources easily accessible so as to do it. The sign language society at Reading is easy to sign up to and the committee members are very nice. I feel comfortable approaching them with questions and just talking with them as equals. The society's Facebook page and emails keep us up to date with any and all events and room changes so this is very useful. There are two levels that are taught: beginners and intermediate. Each one is taught over the span of a term. The lessons are good value for money at only £12 for a term's worth of lessons, plus a complimentary sign language dictionary; the latter is useful for revising and learning new words out of lessons. The sessions have been such a nice weekly hour. I always find myself looking forward to attending after a full day of lectures. An issue I have is that sometimes the handouts they provide in lessons, have repeated words and the images are different to what the instructor teaches us. This is not helpful when looking back over them, though we can write over them with corrections, this is not optimal. Also, some words have multiple signs, depending on geographical region so we are taught different signs for different areas. Unfortunately, I was quite busy in the first term and so was unable to attend many of the socials though I heard they were quite good and fun. I have made quite a number of friends which I did not expect to do so this was quite nice surprise. I would say that it is easy to make friends in this society because the premise of it requires interaction between people and so you get to know those around you, week after week. I have enjoyed the first term immensely and will definitely be continuing into intermediate next term.