Chinese Community Church of South Bay Offering Free Sign Language Class as part of its Community Service Program
Sign language is not only used by the deaf, it is also used by people who can hear, but cannot physically speak. Estimates are that anywhere from 500,000 to 2 million people in the United States use American Sign Language as their primary language. Are you interested in learning sign language so that you can communicate with them?
Chinese Community Church of South Bay is offering a free American Sign Language class as part of its community service program starting January 19th 2015. The class will meet every Monday from 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm for 5 weeks. It is a beginner class so no previous experience in sign language is expected. This class is team taught by John Silva, a recent graduate of the El Camino Sign Language Interpreter Training Program and Mon Yee, a deaf person who’s native language is sign language, and who regularly attends Chinese Community Church of South Bay. John also regularly volunteer interprets for members of the Deaf Community. So you would have the opportunity to practice your newly learned sign language skill with someone who actually uses sign language on a continuous basis. This class is very interactive and the pace is easy going. The teacher usually spends a little bit of time reviewing the previous week’s material, then introduces new concepts. Students will pair up to practice what they learn at the end of the class. The book “Sign Language Made Simple: A Complete Introduction to American Sign Language Paperback – August 18, 1997” by Karen Lewis, et al will be used for this class but you are not required to buy it. Although there are no homework assignments for this class, students are encouraged to practice at home so that they can make faster progress.
This sign language class will be conducted at Chinese Community Church of South Bay (25420 Narbonne Avenue, Lomita, CA 90717). Everyone, from 12 years of age and up, is welcome to join us for this class – you don’t need to be a regular goer of our church to register. Please contact Chinese Community Church of South Bay at (310) 326-7905 and ask for Hsiping Chu if you are interested.
Click here to see other Community Service projects at CCCSB.
