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International Day of Sign Languages

International Day of Sign Languages (IDSL) was celebrated last week.

It is marked annually across the world on 23 September. This date is when the World Federation of the Deaf was established in 1951.

Here in Aotearoa New Zealand New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) is one of three official languages, along with English and Te Reo Māori.

According to Statistics New Zealand (Census 2018), there are approximately 4,599 deaf people who use NZSL as a form of communication and about 23,000 people in total who use NZSL.

This includes parents who use NZSL to communicate with their deaf child. These figures are likely to be underestimated.

New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) is crucial to many deaf people's ability to learn, communicate and participate in society. The language is vital to the expression of deaf culture and identify. Workforce Development Partner Akira Le Fevre and Data Entry Operator Denise Godman (who is a member of the deaf community) recently collaborated to create a video teaching some easy NZSL phrases that can be used every day. You can view it here: https:// vimeo.com/752038046/ decb658eb9