I want to spend a few moments if I may about what led me to develop the online course to Learn Sign Language in 7 Easy Steps and the journey along the way!

I have always wanted to sign since I starting my training as a Nursery Nurse back in 1988...it all started when I undertook a 2 week placement at a local hearing impaired unit in Northamptonshire. This was the first time that I had encountered sign language in education and I found it absolutely amazing!

Following on from that I didn't really know how to continue this ambition and so therefore I continued with my training and subsequently qualified with my NNEB status.

In 1992 I was lucky enough to be offered a position as a Nursery Nurse in a local nursery and this was where my sign language career began. A deaf child enrolled in this nursery who had basic sign language skills and so I decided that I wanted to be able to communicate with him. I started my Stage 1 (as it was called then) in 1992 and found learning sign language completely addictive...

Having completed this level in 1 year I then went onto learning stage 2 which was a 2 year course....this of course took more time and dedication which was well worth it.

In 1995 I had passed my level 2 and got a job as a Communication Support Worker working with the same child that I had met at Nursery... This was extremely rewarding and it enabled me to continue my sign language training to a higher level. I decided at this point that I wanted to keep going to the highest level and subsequently studied for Stage 3 (now called NVQ Level 3). This took a lot more dedication and I needed to collate various evidence to show my skill in signing with various deaf people in a variety of settings and so again was well worth it.

I continued working in education for some time but it was at this time that I decided that I wanted to really continue with my career and develop my skills even further. I decided to enrol in a part time degree course BA Hons BSL/English Interpreting whilst also studying for my Level 4 in BSL at the same time. This course was at Wolverhampton University.

During this time I still worked at the school as a Communication Support Worker but I wanted to extend my skills and start teaching sign language to other people.

I was lucky enough to be able to teach both Level 1 and Level 2 in sign language at 2 local colleges whilst also teaching staff members at a large supermarket to improve their customer service.

In 2000 I qualified as a fully qualified interpreter and joined the member of the Register of Sign Language Interpreters (MRSLI) as I had graduated with my Interpreting Degree and had also completed the NVQ Level 4 in BSL/English Interpreting.....

This gave me the opportunity to work with a variety of Deaf and hearing people in different settings and extend my working knowledge.

During the course of my work I decided to set up an Interpreting agency BSL Communication Ltd in 2002 which is now able to offer Interpreters and other Language Service professionals to a nationwide audience and is growing year on year.

Quite often whilst I was in contact with various hearing people in the course of my work I was often asked about learning sign language and how to 'do it' etc. Most people would attend a college to learn the various Levels available in sign language but of course this is only practical to a few people......what about the people who want to study at home or who wanted to learn at their own pace and be able to 'see again and again' how to produce the signs etc...

After a lot of research I discovered that there really was not much out there with regards to the practical help and guidance for the people who wanted to learn sign language online....which was why I decided to create 'Learn Sign Language in 7 easy Steps!.

I have basically put the whole content of a full 1 years course into the programme which will enable you to look and learn at your own leisure.

Well I hope that has explained how I travelled through this journey and I do hope you enjoy your next few weeks and years in learning this beautiful language.

Regards

Sonia