Unusual help request

[taimatsu]

In a couple of weeks I am doing a Level 1 BSL (British Sign Language) examination. There are various parts to the exam. There's one what I need to work on.


You get given a set of four pictures which make up a story. (Damn, I don't think I have any in my folder to scan. ) You then have to tell that story, elaborating as appropriate, in under a minute.

As an example, the last one I did was about a boy, a woman and a dog. Pic 1: boy presses nose against toyshop window, looking at toy sailboat. Woman is walking past with dog. Pic 2. Dog runs i front of car, boy chases it, woman looks horrified. Pic 3. woman hugs dog, hands boy paper money, boy smiling. Pic 4, boy walks out of toyshop beaming, holding toy sailboat half the size of himself.

To tell that story, you can add in emotions, names, little details about their clothes, where they are, what they are saying, things like that. I don't have a supply of such stories to practise from., so I'm asking for help.

If you can think of a short scenario like that above, which can be divided into a few short sections, and descrived in simple sentences plus information about the appearance/expressons of the characters, I would be immensely grateful if you'd add it i comments below. Good subjects would be anecdotes about pets, funny incidents, things happening around the house involving families, or losing things. I also have vocab about employment, shops and services, and directions, amongst many other things.

If you post something, and are someone I see IRL, I will tell you your story in BSL next time I see you (if you like) and maybe even buy you a drink or somehing if it was particularly useful/interesting.

Thank you!

Comments

[diffrentcolours]

Can I think of scenarios that involve bisexual pizza parties?

[taimatsu]

Sure, if they also involve other vocab I can actually use in the exam ;)¡

[diffrentcolours]

Bah. When it came to my Spanish GCSE, I had a total memory blank. About the only word i could remember was "latigar" (to whip). Lots of whippings happened in that exam...

[gnimmel.livejournal.com]

*thinks*
1. man walking along a country lane, mountains in the distance, backpack and the like.
2. He's sitting down on a bench at the edge of a field, unwrapping a sandwich. A sheep is looking at him.
3. He feeds the sheep a small piece of sandwich. A few other sheep are looking on interestedly.
4. Huge fuzzy white pile of sheep. Foot poking out from underneath.

Um, yes. It did happen to a friend of mine, honest.

[fluffymormegil.livejournal.com]

*giggle* oof.

[taimatsu]

Great, I've worked that one out, though I had to look up 'sheep' and 'lane' :) Thank you!

[heteronormative.livejournal.com]

For the CACDP Stage 1 syllabus, the stories need to stay simple. don't try to be ambitious, stay within what you can naturally and comfortably sign with confidence, as a large part of the stage 1 assessment seems to rest with how well you deal with meeting a new Deaf person.

When I did Stage 1, there was no picture story round - that was a part of the Stage 2 exam, but perhaps they liked it so much they brought it into the Stage 1. Who knows?

In the Stage 1 exam, as mentioned, it's important to remember that the tutor isn't from the same area as you, so some of their signs might be different, notably for colours and numbers. If you don't understand something, remember that if you sign AGAIN, they'll just repeat the same signs again, which won't help if they've used something you've not seen before. Better to repeat the sign they used with a puzzled look, then sign WHAT? and hope they explain. Usually, though, the context should be clear enough to let you guess what the regional sign meant.

Another good ploy is to put references to Deaf culture and the Deaf experience of life into the story - by having a vibrating alarm for people waking up, or having people sms or minicom rather than phone. Touches like that will likely win you lots of points with the assessor.

The stories tend to be very linear. I remember the story my Stage 1 examiner told me which I had to relay back.

1: About ten years ago, I was living alone in a flat in Bristol and I was getting lonely so I decided to get a cat. I went to the shop and saw some kittens (hand stroking sign rather than whiskers). There was a stripy kitten, a black kitten and one which was white with a fluffy tail. The white kitten looked at me, I looked back and I fell in love with the kitten straight away and bought it. (sign of lifting up kitten's tail) The kitten was a boy.

2: As the kitten grew to a cat (whiskers sign) we became really close friends and I would look after him. I would bring him milk in a dish and feed him every day. In the evenings, we'd play with a ball of wool which he'd chase all around the room, under the table and onto the settee.

3: Last year, the cat was getting old and frail and was finding it harder to walk. His back legs would wobble and he found it difficult to eat. I took him to the vet (V.E.T.; ANIMAL DOCTOR) and the vet checked his heart and checked the cat very thoroughly and said he was very ill and was suffering. After playing with the cat, while he weakly tried to join in the games, he was put to sleep and passed away while I was stroking him.

Miserable story, that. I hope they don't use it with you, as it quite upset me, lively bundle of fluff becoming haggered and feeble old moggie. However, that's the kind of thing they'll use - not in terms of miserable content but in terms of adherance to theme.

For the four part story you have to tell, try to stick closely to one theme and don't veer from the point too much.

I hope that helps. NVQ4 was just paperwork, so count yourself lucky!