Agnes Latif tells us about life as a multilingual Deaf Polish woman (BSL)

Hello, my name is Agnieszka, although I am known as Agnes. I am a multilingual Deaf Polish woman, living in Derby. My first language is not Polish Sign Language but a home sign language. Currently, my main language is, of course, British Sign Language.

I was born deaf, so my mother created her own sign language to communicate with me and strengthen the bond between her and her daughter. It was a beautiful beginning of my journey with sign language. Thanks to this invented language, I could communicate not only with my mother but also with my grandmother and teenage uncles when I lived with them.

However, when I started spending time among deaf children, starting from preschool through elementary school and high school, we unconsciously used a signed language, different from Polish Sign Language (PJM) – Polski Język Migowy), although outside of school, we used PJM.

The deaf Polish community realised that Signed Supported Polish (SJM – System Językowo-Migowy) is not a language but a tool to facilitate communication with people. This realisation took place at the first Deaf Polish conference at the first Deaf Polish school in Warsaw called ‘Deaf Have a Voice’. It initiated the promotion of Deaf awareness and Polish Sign Language. This happened in 2008.

Returning to the use of British Sign Language. I had some exposure to it before I emigrated to England. The first time I encountered elements of BSL was in 2006 when I participated in a nationwide English language competition for deaf and hard of hearing students from vocational and high schools.

There was some free time before the competition, and a hearing British teacher, invited to teach at the school for the deaf (I don’t remember her exact role), led a session for participants. She taught us the British fingerspelling alphabet. I found it challenging at the time. I didn’t understand why we had to point to each finger on the opposite hand.

I thought my journey with BSL ended there because, at that time, communication in American Sign Language (ASL) or International Sign (IS) was popular among Deaf people using technology. In our free time, we gathered on an application called Camfrog, a chat room with many screens for Deaf people. We waved to specific people we wanted to talk to, either individually or in groups. And that’s where my adventure with foreign sign languages began. To this day, I can communicate in ASL and IS, but not as much as I used to. I prioritise BSL.

I wonder what difficulties I faced with BSL when I moved to England. I don’t remember facing significant challenges. I’m really grateful to the BSL user community because, in a way, they made it easier for me to learn BSL, even if I wasn’t consciously aware of it.

How is that possible? Well, before I settled in England for good, I already had a good grasp of the English language, and BSL users signed and mouthed while communicating. Thanks to my ability to lip-read (though not to a great extent) and understand English, I could comprehend and communicate with them.

If a sign was new to me, I didn’t ask what it meant; I just waited until the sentence made sense, and then I could continue the conversation. To this day, I only struggle with reading fast fingerspelling. Sign language is natural to me; I was born with it. It’s my identity, just as the teacher for the Deaf, a CODA, who spoke at that conference, said that sign language will always exist as long as two people communicate in it.

Agnes Latif is a multilingual Deaf individual, born and raised by the seaside in Poland, currently residing in the UK for over 8 years. A jack of all trades, she is a lover of languages, appreciates high-quality food, adores books, and is passionate about Deaf issues. She finds joy in being in nature and enjoys exploring the world with an open heart and a curious mind.