Want to know an interesting fact about Lady GaGa, Miley Cyrus and David Beckham? They can all fingerspell!
And this October the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) is giving you the chance to learn how too in their 2011 Fingerspellathon.
Fingerspelling is a way to chat to your mates without speaking, using your fingers to spell out words and names in the British Sign Language alphabet. In fact over 70,000 people in the UK use it and it’s recognised as an official language just like English or Spanish.
It’s also really important because there are 45,000 deaf kids in the UK and nearly all of them go to schools just like yours. So if you have a classmate or someone at school who’s deaf, this is a great way to get to know them!
The Fingerspellathon will take place in October and will raise money to help support deaf children and their families.
All you need to do is get your school to sign up at www.ndcs.org.uk/fingerspell, and start practising!
To help you learn, your teachers can download a Fingerspellathon pack with a range of fun activities, including pictures of all the different signs, word games and more once they register for the challenge.
So if you want to do something fun this October and learn an entirely new way of speaking with just your hands, then get your school involved at www.ndcs.org.uk/fingerspell
Have fun!