WARWICK SMITH/Stuff
Freyberg High School sign language teacher Mike Alley speaks to his class in New Zealand Sign Language.
A New Zealand Sign Language teacher hopes to one day see the language taught in all schools across the country.
Mike Alley is a teacher at Freyberg High School in Palmerston North, which offers sign language up to year 13, and as part of New Zealand Sign Language Week the school invited Stuff to visit.
New Zealand Sign Language is the language of the Deaf community and more than 24,000 New Zealanders use it every day.
Principal Peter Brooks said Freyberg was the only mainstream secondary school in New Zealand teaching sign language, which is something Alley would like to see everywhere, but there needed to be more people able to teach it.
READ MORE:
* Palmerston North school promotes teaching New Zealand Sign Language
* Deaf children need better access to New Zealand Sign Language to close the education gap
* St Theresa’s School sets example for NZSL friendly schools
STUFF
Sejin Bae discusses some of the benefits of learning NZSL.
“Learning the language is a way to build up a skill and to be able to connect with people,” Alley said. “That’s the exciting part of it, knowing a different way of communication and being able to join in on sign language.
“That makes a huge impact for the Deaf community to see their sign out there.”
He was excited to be raising the level of sign language use.
He said it would benefit the Deaf community if more people knew the language. One example was if a deaf person went to hospital, it made it easier if they had someone they could communicate with in sign language.
Learning sign language had other benefits, including better memory, helping with brain growth and multitasking, and opening doors to careers like being an interpreter, he said.
WARWICK SMITH/Stuff
Freyberg High School teacher Mike Alley’s sign language conversation is interpreted by Shirley Thompson.
All year 9 students took sign language at Freyberg, which Alley believed was a good taster before they got …….
Source: https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/300584990/improving-sign-language-skills-helps-build-connections