What would it be like to experience a fully Deaf world? On Saturday 28 September, NZSL students had the opportunity find out at Deaf Deaf World, an immersive NZSL event that took place at Bethlehem Hall, Tauranga.
This event was held during the International Week of Deaf People, from September 23rd to 29th, as well as the Festival of Adult Learning Events 2024. These coinciding events provided Merge NZ with an excellent opportunity to celebrate New Zealand’s beautiful sign language, NZSL.
Deaf Deaf World is a popular event across Aotearoa, enabling students to mingle enjoy refreshments, and engage in 'pretend' shopping while communicating with Deaf individuals in a relaxed atmosphere. It is usually organised by NZSL teachers, who encourage NZSL students of all levels to attend.
Our Tauranga event attracted approximately 30 attendees, who practiced their signing skills with Deaf merchants. Each simulated store required attendees to draw on different vocab and conversational skills relevant to each context.
Deaf Deaf World was a fun way to practice breaking down communication barriers and promote interaction between NZSL learners and Deaf merchants without using spoken language. It also gave students a glimpse into the experience of Deaf people communicating in a hearing world.
"I was asked as a NZSL student to take part in a Deaf, Deaf World at Bethlehem, Tauranga... It was a great experience and lots of fun. It helped me to think about how I sign things, sentence structure, and using sign in everyday experiences. My son and daughter in law came along, as well as my granddaughter who is deaf in her left ear... It gave them so much practice using their signing skills and it brought me joy watching their smiling faces as they thoroughly engaged and had a great time. I would definitely recommend this event and look forward to the next one." Jane Cross, NZSL Student and Volunteer
Merge NZ would like to express deep appreciation to Adult and Community Education (ACE) Aotearoa for funding the event and to the Tauranga Deaf Society committee for organising it.
A big thank you also goes out to the volunteers for contributing their goods and services to make the 'pretend' shopping experience a fun and enjoyable event.
If you are based in the Bay of Plenty area and would like to begin your NZSL journey, registrations are now open for our Omokoroa Crash Course.
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