Jen Dodds: 5 tips for making your own BSL video for Limping Chicken! (BSL)

So you’re thinking of sending a BSL video to Limping Chicken, but you’re not feeling very confident, or aren’t sure how to do it?

We at Limping Chicken would love to have more articles in BSL. So, we’ve put together a few tips to hopefully encourage you to send one in!

To watch this article in BSL, click play below: 

1. The first thing to remember? It’s easy! You probably have the equipment that you need already… maybe you’ve got a laptop with a webcam, or a mobile phone that you can make videos with? That would be perfectly OK. (Or, maybe you’ve got a big, expensive top-notch video camera? Lucky old you!)

2. Don’t worry about your signing. Just be yourself!

3. Likewise, don’t worry about your English skills. We can translate your BSL video into English for you; either a full translation or a summary; we’ll send the English version to you first, so that you can check that you’re happy with it before we use it.

4. If you prefer, you could type your article in English first and then translate yourself to BSL. You can download free autocue software, which might come in handy, unless you have a HUGE and BRILLIANT memory, and can memorise a whole article at once! Personally, I prefer to sign my articles first, then translate them into English, but that’s just me…

5. If you can, try to keep your video short, simple and to the point (we Deaf people are known for going off the point, aren’t we? I’m actually starting to waffle now!). You can also add numerical or text inserts (like in the video above) if you want to break it up, or because it’s easier for you to film in short bursts.

So why not make a video, upload it to YouTube and email the link to us at thelimpingchicken@gmail.com? If you like, you can do a practice video and ask us for feedback or technical support. We’ll help you if we can.

Good luck! You can do it!

Jen Dodds is a Contributing Editor for The Limping Chicken. When she’s not looking after chickens or children, Jen can be found translating, proofreading and editing stuff over at Team HaDo Ltd (teamhado.com). On Twitter, Jen is @deafpower.

The Limping Chicken is the UK’s deaf blogs and news website, and is the world’s most popular deaf blog. 

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