SIGN LANGUAGE
Introduction
Sign Language means British Sign Language*.
I am Stephen Balmer, Sign Language Adviser.
I encourage u3a members to form Sign Language groups to learn Sign Language, aid new and existing groups and ease knowledge sharing.
Of all the things we can learn as u3a members, Sign Language might be useful.
SIGN LANGUAGE TASTER
I am leading an Introduction to Sign Language course at the u3a in Scotland Summer School in Stirling from Monday 24th to Wednesday 26th August 2026.
https://scotland.u3asite.uk/summer-school-2026/
Relax and be inspired to learn Sign Language and maybe form a practice group.
LOOKING FOR A GROUP?
In u3a there are two places to look for a Sign Language group.
At a local u3a for an in person or a local online group. Look at the Groups pages of the websites of your local and of nearby u3as. If there is a Sign Language group, contact them, typically via a contact form on your local u3a's website. If your local u3a has no existing group, you could contact their committee, again typically via a contact form on your local u3a's website. Your local u3a may decide to seek someone to lead a group.
At u3a Interest Groups Online for a national online group. There are three steps. First step, join u3a Interest Groups Online. Here's the web page:
https://www.u3a.org.uk/learning/interest-groups-online/interest-groups-online-groups
Second step, via the link in the welcome email, make a login to access the Members Portal with the list of groups. Third step, click to join the Potential Sign Language group. When there are enough members, the Potential group will seek a group leader(s) from among themselves.
Group leader
First and foremost, far from be an expert in Sign Language, you do not need to know any Sign Language. You can learn Sign Language along with your group, as described below in the Group model section.
Second, you do not need to prepare study material for the group. You can study ready-made material along with the group, as described below in the Group model section.
What you do need are the qualities that every interest group leader needs: enthusiasm, commitment and a modicum of administrative ability.
Advantages of being the Group leader
You influence the group's format. For example, the day and time of the meeting have to suit you.
You attend every meeting, so you get continuous practice.
You are motivated to learn Sign Language thoroughly, because you aim never to lead a meeting without having studied that session's material.
You cannot decide not to go to a meeting because you do not feel like it.
Group model
The following Group model works, in that this is how I lead two online Learn Sign Language groups in u3a Interest Groups Online. This Group model is an option. Myriad adaptations of this model or other models would work too, no doubt.
- Either: you have your group in your local u3a, face to face or online, with members of your local u3a. Contact your local u3a about what to do do, getting contact information from their website. This route is independent of u3a Interest Groups Online, i.e. no need to join u3a Interest Groups Online. Or: you have your group in u3a Interest Groups Online with members from throughout Britain. You and your group members need to be members of u3a Interest Groups Online, whether or not you are members of a local u3a, and the subscription costs the same for everyone.
- Pick two days a month for meetings, a start time and a length. Both of my groups are on the second and fourth Fridays of the month, in the morning, for forty minutes each time. I advise against long sessions. It's better to end a session feeling enthused and refreshed rather than overloaded and exhausted.
- Find sixteen or so u3a members who think that they want to learn Sign Language in an interest group. Six to ten members is a fine number, but it is essential to start with sixteen or so, because half of that number will discover that learning Sign Language is not for them and leave, while once you have embarked on a course of study, you cannot admit new members because they would be too far behind.
- Everyone enrols on an online self-study course. There is no u3a one. Here's the online self-study course that I use, which is independent of u3a:
https://www.british-sign.co.uk
- Before the first session, send an email to everyone advising them how to learn; see below in the Learning section.
- Before the first and after each session, send an email to everyone with what you'll do next time.
- Go slowly. For example, divide the alphabet into three, and build up to the whole alphabet over your first three meetings.
- At each meeting, focus on the new material but always draw on all material.
Learning
It's hard to learn as an older person. It's easy to understand Sign Language signs when you see them in the online course with labels in English, partly because many signs resemble what they signify. It's another matter to remember all the signs later on. Many members get a shock in their first few sessions; you may be one of them.
Our brains like repetition on different days, partly because our brains store fragments of new information overnight; this is shown by oodles of research. So, don't study for two hours the day before the session. Instead, study for five minutes each day throughout the week before the session. And look at the older material frequently. This is what I do, and it never gets any easier.
Other languages
Notice that the Group model could be used to learn other languages.
*British Sign Language is almost certainly what you'll encounter in u3a interest groups, although there are other sign languages and other languages that use signs. British Sign Language has been recognised as a language in Britain since 2003.