Carol Smith a New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) tutor in Mid Canterbury is excited to have been able to present two taster sessions of sign language this week as part of NZSL.
On Monday Smith held a session of te reo Maori sign language at the Ashburton Library. Yesterday was a taster of some basic sign language, also at the library.
The Ministry of Ethnic Communities reports English is the most common spoken language in Aotearoa New Zealand, while Maori and New Zealand Sign Language have special status under the law as official languages.
The passing of the New Zealand Sign Language Bill through Parliament in 2006 brought recognition of the language.
‘‘It was so amazing when it was accepted as an official language. I remember it so well, it was a celebration and a great honour for our language to be official,’’ Smith said.
She began teaching sign language in 2005.
Since then she has taught thousands of students.
Two groups of students under the tutorship of Smith have graduated in the last six months with a level one certificate of completion in sign language.
This week 10 students several from her beginner courses start their level two course.
‘‘It’s exciting as I’ve just started learning level 2 and they are all learning. The students are so keen to learn more of our beautiful language’’ Smith said.
Smith received a grant from the Advance Ashburton Community Fund to enable her to complete level two in training.
Samantha Collins on of the students said the level one course covered nine units.
‘‘The topics we covered included meeting and greeting, small talk, family and friends, everyday activities,’’ Collins said.
‘‘The students on the course were learning sign language for a range of reasons including for their work, for their personal needs, and to communicate with friends and family who sign,’’ Collins said.
The theme of NZSL week which runs till Monday is ‘‘An Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere’’.
Smith said NZSL can be signed anywhere which means so much to her as a deaf person.
‘‘You can be down at your car saying goodbye to your children as you go off to work you can sign I Love you. Signing in lots of different places is wonderful as you don’t need to speak-you can express signs of intensity with facial expressions,’’ Smith said.
In 1868 Dorcas Mitchell began teaching sign language to deaf children in Charteris Bay, Lyttelton Harbour.
Ten years later the first school for the deaf, Sumner Deaf and Dumb Institution, opened in Christchurch. Gerrit Van Asch becomes the principal and enforced an oralonly policy.
Over a 100 years later the oral-only policy at the Sumner School for the Deaf was officially abandoned.
In 1980 the school changed its name to van Asch College.
In the 1980’s NZSL began to be used more openly within the deaf community and in educational settings.
In the 2018 census data it was reported the 23,000 people recorded they used NZSL.
