We are proud to report that a project we have been working on in recent months for the Polish Ministry of Education will have its grand premiere tomorrow! Namely, a set of books for teaching Polish Sign Language (PJM) to students in the first to third grades of primary school will be released on the Ministry website.
The series, entitled “Migaj razem z nami” [Sign With Us], provides a complete set of materials for two years of study in school, even for children that have not yet had any contact with signing. The sign language course was developed by a team of (both Deaf and hearing) specialists in Deaf education and sign linguistics. Each of the parts was prepared as a separate multimedia application that can be used on a computer – both in the classroom and at home.
On 23 February 2018, at 10:00 AM, a press briefing about the course will be held at the Education Ministry building, involving Anna Zalewska, the Minister of National Education. Also taking part will be Dr. Paweł Rutkowski from the UW Section for Sign Linguistics and the authors of the books for learning sign language: Joanna Filipczak, Małgorzata Limanówka and Monika Dobrowolska. More information is available here.

We are proud to note that the UW Section for Sign Linguistics continues to develop its collaborative ties with the Polish Ministry of National Education. In the near future we look forward to being able to present a major project to the wider public, on which we have been working hard for the past few months. We hope that you will find it to your liking and that it will help some of you in your day-to-day work.

In Brussels in recent days, Dr. Paweł Rutkowski (head of the Section for Sign Linguistics) participated in a session of the “Language and Rights” workgroup set up by the European Language Council (Conseil Européen pour les Langues). Issues related to sign languages often came up in the discussion about the further activities of the group (including putting together a report with recommendations). We are pleased to announce that the next session of the “Language and Rights” group will take place in Warsaw in September 2018. It will be accompanied by a conference addressing the issue of language rights.

We at the Section for Sign Linguistics would like to extend our most heartfelt wishes in connection with the upcoming Christmas holidays. Here’s hoping that the winter break is a time filled with peace of mind, love, and relaxation from day-to-day struggles, a time spent snuggled up among loved ones! And may the New Year bring you all nothing but new successes, in both your private and professional lives. Thank you all for being with us!

Dr. Paweł Rutkowski, head of the Section for Sign Linguistics, was interviewed on sign languages by the journalist Karolina Głowacka on the Polish radio channel TOK FM. The show can be listened to (in Polish) or read (in Polish transcription) here.