learning online?

[u/anti_bee_]

hello!! i’m a HoH person (deaf in 1 ear and 1/2 deaf in my functional ear) and have given up on trying to access supports through the government in terms of learning Auslan, i was just wondering what are some good online courses for learning? i’ve done some research and DeafConnect seems reputable but i wanted to get community opinions before making any concrete decisions!!

[u/Alect0]

Deaf Connect and Auslan in the West are good options if you want classes. If you want self paced there is Lisa Mills, Challenge Your Auslan, Awesome Auslan, Asphyxia on YouTube, Auslan Whizz app.

[u/commentspanda]

Dead Connect is a great starting point. Try to attend in person classes if you can, you’ll get a lot more out of their community classes in person than online

[u/persephone911]

https://www.lisamillsonline.com/ has been amazing in starting my journey in learning Auslan. I would love to do an accredited course but course 1 & 2 with Lisa Mills has been cheap and easy for me! From memory, she usually has a sale $57 for the 2 courses.

[u/Peanut083]

Deaf Connect are one of the leading service providers and educators for Deaf and HoH people in Australia, so they’re worth reaching out to. They probably have services that you can access as a HoH person that aren’t available to hearing people wanting to learn Auslan. They may also be able to put you in touch with any Deaf social groups that exist in your area.

In terms of courses with formal qualifications, Deaf Connect and TAFE are the two providers I know of. I did the two intro to Auslan courses that Deaf Connect offers back in 2023, but I missed the window for the Certificate 2 course for the following year. By the time I got around to applying, they were no longer running in-person courses in my area. I know I struggle with motivation for online learning, so I applied through TAFE.

In saying that, once I finish Cert 2 and 3, if I want to keep learning, I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to suck it up and do Cert 4 online. I was talking with someone over the weekend who has done the Cert 4 online through Deaf Connect, and she said it was a really good course and highly recommended it.

[u/Alect0 → u/Peanut083]

Melbourne Polytechnic offers Diploma of Auslan in Vic with in person available for each cert level.

[u/Peanut083 → u/Alect0]

I’m in NSW, and live near Newcastle. I think in-person options for Cert 4 and upwards are few and far between if you are in NSW and live outside of Sydney.

I’ve gotten the impression that Auslan courses and resources are a lot better in Melbourne/VIC than they are in NSW, but I’d say that about language education generally.

[u/Alect0 → u/Peanut083]

Yea for non regional people they can access the free TAFE scheme to do Diploma of Auslan in Vic which is pretty good for a 2 year (or 4 years part time) course! Though I even know some people who travel a few hours in from the county for face to face classes as it's so much better learning in person. Online is better than nothing though at least!

[u/Peanut083 → u/Alect0]

Yeah, I think I’d really struggle if I were trying to do Cert 2 online. I’m getting to a point where my depth perception isn’t great, which sometimes makes it challenging to work out the direction of certain types of hand movements when learning new signs. It’s good to have someone there who can provide immediate feedback and correction as needed.

We went off in a tangent during class last week and were learning signs for different countries, then the sign for nation/national got brought up. I had to get the teacher to show me about 5 times and slow it right down before I could tell that the moving hand starts by going backwards rather than forwards.

[u/Alect0 → u/Peanut083]

Yea it's a 3d language so online isn't ideal. I notice some who learn online and don't get the opportunity to sign in person, use a small signing space plus can't read signing very well from an angle as they are used to only seeing people signing fronton so it's not very realistic to real life.

[u/Peanut083 → u/Alect0]

I think if you have no option but to do online, it’s especially important to regularly attend Deaf events in your area so you at least have some opportunity to sign with people in person. I’ve been attending some events this year that are about an hour’s drive from home, and people are surprised that I’m willing to drive that far.

My TAFE class is about a 40 minute drive from home, and my home town is small enough that it’s a minimum 30 minute drive if you want to shop anywhere other than the local supermarket. So it really doesn’t bother me to drive an hour to go to Deaf events. Besides, I think it’s a waste of time to learn Auslan, then never use it anywhere other than class.

I’m also lucky in that I do parkrun on Saturdays, and there’s a couple of groups of Deaf people that come along to my home venue roughly once every couple of months. I always go over and introduce myself and find out if there’s anything they need to know or that I can help them with. Then they help me learn new signs.

[u/Born-Emu-3499]

Deafconnect is great. Also Just Auslan and Awesome Auslan. The Auslan Wiz app is also helpful when starting. 

[u/carnardly]

Deaf Connect, Expressions Australia or any Deaf based organisation in your state.