Welcome to our FREE online course to help you learn British Sign Language (BSL). This course will provide you with an introduction to the sign language used by the Deaf community, their family, friends and professionals in the United Kingdom.
This course is in development and we plan to release sections in stages. The Foundations of BSL section is now live. Core Vocabulary will be released in March 2025 and future sections in the coming months.
At Commanding Hands, it’s our mission to help teach people BSL for free. We want everyone to learn and use BSL. You can support us in a variety of different ways. Financial contributions help us to create content but we understand that not everyone is in a position to do so (that’s why we exist!). Following us on social media and sharing our posts helps us to spread awareness of BSL.
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This course is complete with videos to watch, exercises to help you practice and free PDF downloads. Once you have finished this course, our recommendation is that you sign up to an in-person BSL class with a registered teacher. Interacting with the Deaf community and practicing in-person is an important part of learning BSL.
How to use this course
Menu options at the top and bottom of each page to help you navigate through the course.
Sections are numbered. We recommend you complete the course in the order we’ve set, however feel free to complete the course in any order you wish.
Check the bottom of each section for key points as well as useful downloads and links.
PDF copies of each page for you to download, print and share.
Feel free to use and share any of our content, we only ask you credit us and that you do not alter it in anyway. Commercial use of our materials is prohibited. Feel free to contact us with any questions.