Interpreting services for the deaf and hard of hearing is becoming increasingly visible on many high profile shows such as The Great British Bake off, Strictly Come Dancing, and also recently, Eurovison. This year’s Eurovision coverage went viral when the interpreter joined in with the performance!
Footage of the presenter, Adrian Bailey, signing to Finland’s entry, “Cha Cha Cha”, subsequently circulated on Twitter, with viewers praising his enthusiastic interpretation of the music. You can see Adrian’s fabulous performance here!
Strictly… Bake Off… and more!
Any Strictly Come Dancing fans will be sure to remember Rose Ayling-Ellis’ amazing 2021 performance, including an extremely emotional waltz between her and her partner Giovanni Pernice. More recently, The Great British Bake Off engaged a BSL interpreter to support contestant Tasha Stones.
What are Interpreting Services for the Deaf? And What is BSL?
The acronym BSL stands for “British Sign Language.” It is the most common and preferred sign language for the deaf community in the UK. As per disabled-world.com, It is the first language of approx. 150,000 deaf people in the British Isles.
The British Sign Language is itself a separate language. According to british-sign.co.uk, “After a big campaign, BSL was finally recognised by the UK government as an official minority language in 2003.” Like any other language, it has its own vocabulary, syntax and grammatical structure.
Different Types of Interpreting
There are a number of other interpreting services for the deaf and hard of hearing, including:
- Lip-speaking
- Deaf blind interpreting
- Speech-to-text reporters (also known as palantypists)
- Notetakers
These services are invaluable for every day scenarios such as doctor’s appointments or important key events such as interviews or court proceedings.
Booking interpreting services for the deaf and hard of hearing
It doesn’t need to be a challenge to find the correct interpreter, you can engage a language services provider to do it for you! Whatever your requirements, whether it be BSL, lip speaking or deaf blind interpreting, we can help.
Please click here if you would like more information about Knockhundred’s interpreting services for the deaf and hard of hearing.
More info on BSL interpreting at Eurovision here.
