100 Basic Signs in British Sign Language (BSL) 

This really should be mandatory in all schools instead of french, since leaving school I've encountered a few deaf people whilst working and it's embarrassing for both of us to find pens and paper. Thank you for this video.

1 of my neighbours in the apartment i stay, seems lonely. I'll learn this and communicate with him = 1 less lonely person in the world :)

I saw some people were asking for a list of the words. Here is a list with their rough timings. Hopefully I got them all. 0:04 - Yes 0:10 - No 0:17 - Maybe 0:26 - You 0:35 - Me 0:42 - Please 0:50 - Thank you 0:58 - Are you okay? 1:08 - Deaf 1:17 - hearing 1:29 - Good 1:35 - Bad 1:42 - Better 1:49 - worse 1:58 - Brilliant 2:07 - Terrible 2:15 - Happy 2:22 - Sad 2:30 - Excited 2:40 - Angry 2:47 - Mother 2:55 - Father 3:03 - son 3:11 - Daughter 3:22 - brother 3:31 - sister 3:40 - family 3:50 - baby 3:59 - boy 4:06 - girl 4:14 - like 4:21 - don’t like 4:29 - Love 4:37 - Hate 4:45 - True 4:53 - Lie 5:02 - understand 5:09 - don’t understand 5:17 - help (directional) 5:30 - okay 5:38 - home 5:47 - work 5:55 - school 6:04 - university 6:13 - college 6:22 - learn 6:31 - office 6:40 - Red 6:50 - blue 6:59 - green 7:07 - brown 7:16 - yellow 7:24 - orange 7:32 - purple 7:40 - pink 7:49 - white 7:56 - black 8:05 - gold 8:14 - silver 8:24 - day 8:32 - night 8:40 - evening 8:48 - morning 8:57 - future 9:06 - past 9:14 - now 9:21 - tomorrow 9:31 - yesterday 9:40 - week 9:50 - weekend 10:00 - car 10:08 - drive 10:15 - bicycle 10:25 - bus 10:32 - train 10:41 - walk 10:51 - run 11:00 - shop 11:09 - cheap 11:14 - expensive 11:24 - coffee 11:32 - tea 11:40 - sugar 11:48 - milk 11:59 - hot chocolate 12:10 - water 12:19 - sweet 12:28 - cake 12:38 - biscuit 12:37 - who 12:54 - which 13:03 - when 13:10 - where 13:19 - why 13:28 - how 13:39 - how many? 13:47 - easy 13:56 - hard 14:05 - British Sign Language 14:22 - goodbye enjoy

0:04 Yes 0:11 No 0:19 Maybe 0:28 You 0:36 Me 0:44 Please 0:51 Thank You 0:59 Are you ok? 1:09 Deaf 1:18 Hearing 1:27 Good 1:33 Bad 1:42 Better 1:51 Worse 2:00 Brilliant 2:09 Terrible 2:17 Happy 2:24 Sad 2:33 Excited 2:41 Angry 2:49 Mother 2:58 Father 3:06 Son 3:14 Daughter 3:22 Brother 3:32 Sister 3:40 Family 3:51 Baby 3:59 Boy 4:08 Girl 4:15 Like 4:23 Don’t like 4:30 Love 4:38 Hate 4:46 True 4:55 Lie 5:03 Understand 5:12 Don’t understand 5:22 Help (directional) 5:31 Okay 5:40 Home 5:49 Work 5:57 School 6:06 University 6:14 College 6:23 Learn 6:33 Office 6:43 Red 6:50 Blue 7:00 Green 7:08 Brown 7:16 Yellow 7:24 Orange 7:33 Purple 7:41 Pink 7:40 White 7:58 Black 8:06 Gold 8:14 Silver 8:23 Day 8:33 Night 8:43 Evening 8:49 Morning 9:00 Future 9:07 Past 9:15 Now 9:23 Tomorrow 9:32 Yesterday 9:42 Week 9:52 Weekend 10:00 Car 10:08 Drive 10:17 Bicycle 10:26 Bus 10:34 Train 10:41 Walk 10:51 Run 11:01 Shop 11:10 Cheap 11:15 Expensive 11:25 Coffee 11:34 Tea 11:42 Sugar 11:50 Milk 12:00 Hot chocolate 12:12 Water 12:21 Sweet 12:30 Cake 12:40 Biscuit 12:48 Who 12:53 Which 13:06 When 13:12 Where 13:21 Why 13:31 How 13:40 How many 13:50 Easy 13:58 Hard 14:06 British Sign Language 14:22 Goodbye

Thank you for this! I've been wanting to learn sign language for a while now and decided during lock down is the best time! 💕

This should be mandatory in school in the UK. My brother has deafness and I start taking classes so that I can communicate with him but I have to pay for it. It should be compulsory so people with deafness can communicate with everyone. I’ve saved this to my playlist so I can always refer back to it in case I forget. Thank you for posting ❤️

Making myself watch this every day till I remember all. I only know alphabet so far

I've been on RU-vid too long. When he signed 'Like,' I was convinced the next one was was going to be 'Subscribe.'

Thank you for showing the signs from different angles, really helpful when learning how to position hands correctly and use it correctly!

I cannot thank you enough in doing this . I had a brain injury in 2010 which has made me deaf in my right ear and find myself having to lip read people when speaking with them . I find it hard to learn new things but will watch this constantly each sign at a time . I had tears in my eyes watching this for the first time . Good tears that is . Thank you so much for posting this Amazing post .

Hello, just wondering if I could make a suggestion! I work at Starbucks, and it would be great to have a coffee related BSL video, maybe mentioning the terms for... the different coffee syrups, how many shots of coffee, what kind of coffee, e.g. cappuccino, late, different milks etc maybe pastries?? I would really appreciate it as it is job related for me, many thanks 😊

This is an amazing video. Clear signs, multiple angles, and a steady pace... But I don't understand why there's such a stigma for people without hearing impairment or who aren't mute, learning BSL (or any SL for that matter). This really should be taught alongside English around the world. You never know when someone might be mute or hearing impaired, or whether you'll lose your hearing or ability to vocalise words... And if that happens, you're stuck without being able to communicate, especially for help. I might only be in my early 20s, but I've come across a fair amount of people with hearing impairment that I never got to converse with, especially in the workplace. Hopefully if I learn BSL to some degree, they'll have another person they can chat to :D

Anyone there in the middle of the night try to learn hand sign to speak as secret code. Edit: This is my first comment that got a lot of likes. Thank you 😃😃😃. And an update is that I only try to learn BSL only that one time when I post this comment. XD

Hi Dan. I'm 58 years old and have been deaf all my life. I could hear sounds when I was little, but couldn't pronounce any words, so it was thought that I was a "backwards child". I was 9 before anyone realized I was actually profoundly deaf. I got my first hearing aid and gradually learnt to talk. However, my hearing was all gone by my late teens. Luckily, I can lip-read, but my voice is nasally and can sometimes sound garbled, especially if I'm tired or stressed. I have always worked and adapted to suit my employment situations. I find my deafness is hard for people to understand. I've been to many sign language classes, but these are always for hearing people. I can't learn in a group setting as there is too much going on and it confuses me. Your series of BSL has been so helpful to me. I have tried to find sign language tutors for people who are actually deaf. Do you have any recommendations? I'd love to 'have a conversation' with someone in sign-language. I'll keep following your wonderful classes. Many thanks, Jane :)

When I teach English as a second language (ESOL) classes, I like to end the classes with a few minutes of BSL, with things like simple vocab, their countries, and spelling their names. It really sticks with students in a lot of ways!

i love how the sign for "dont understand" is basically like the point going over someones head

You are so good . I love the way you’re so clear with your hand shapes . 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I work in retail and I have recently served and assisted a deaf lady. She is always smiling and it a pleasure to help her. I want to make communication easier for her and with respect myself. So thank you for your video and I can’t wait to surprise her the next time we meet.

This is so clear. Undertaking a BSL course and a bit lost. This is fab and so much easier to follow. Thankyou.

There’s a new girl at my school who was born deaf, I want to learn sign so she has a friend. Nobody knows how to talk to her and since she finds it hard to read nobody can write anything to talk to her either. I want to do this not just for her, but for others like her why just need a friend.

After 3 weeks I finally memorised them all! Time to learn another 100 signs! Thank you Commanding Hands! :)

To anyone learning sign language... please remember sign languages are all different. this is BSL which is used in the UK. ASL is used in the USA and most of Canada. Brazilian sign language is used in Brazil and Mexican Sign Language is used in Mexico etc.

What is the difference between "please" and "thank you"?

I feel so happy knowing that people out there are watching these sorts of videos and are willing to learn BSL. Im half deaf and was taught SL in school and at home so I was always around It but then the teaching stopped when I got older as I was given a hearing aid. Im very insecure about my hearing problems but reading these comments of how kind people are really made my day and made me feel not so ashamed of being the way I am. I was born this way and will die this way. But thank you all for your willingness to learn such a language. You really make people like me smile

I seen a girl in McDonald’s and she using sign language and all I want to do was to be able to have a small conversation so since then I’ve been trying to pick it up

I work in retail Is there a vid yet on - would you like a bag - hows your day - did you find all the items you wanted 2day - would you like your reciept - have a good day/ evening/night - much planned for 2day

I'm 14 and was going to learn French but thought this could be amazing if I ever meet and become friends with someone who uses sign language. Also, I'd love to be a teacher and it would be a great thing to know and teach incase. I think it should be taught in schools personally, if we were to meet someone who uses bsl we can become friends and have conversations without people not being bothered enough if they already know

I might be deaf in a few years so I'm learning sign language to make sure I can communicate. Not gonna lie tho,it is pretty fun to learn!

ah this is really helpful, I suffer from a major anxiety disorder and if I get very stressed or nervous or if I'm having a panic attack I find it difficult to talk so I'm trying to learn sign language to help me in those situations!

As someone who used to be non verbal and used to communicate using sign language I knew most of these and I watched this out of curiosity and wow I love the way you put it, it was simple and easy to understand straight away :) You, sir, are a Chad.

As a child, many doctors would think I wouldn't be able to speak so I had to learn sign language as a very young kid. Luckily I am now able to speak like others but I am learning BSL so if I come across anyone deaf or hard of hearing I will be able to communicate with them. :) Edit: May I just ask, when you do a sign with two hands, does it matter which hands you do it with or can you use your left or right hand to do that same sign?

I cannot express how much I appreciate you repeating all these signs from the side as well as the front! It's so hard trying to learn things from a distance without an expert to adjust something you're not getting quite right, so this is so helpful!!

I don’t know why, I always wanted to learn sigh language I’m working at hospitality sector and I always wanted to be ready for customers who are using sign language Thank you from London

I’ve always wanted to be a children’s nurse, I thought if I learnt bsl then it would be a good start to helping people and making them feel like a part of something. Thanks for this! x

Just started watching a few videos! This has helped so much with my son! He’s profound deaf and we are learning bsl sign language and this is so clear and how you do it from frontwards to sideways helps so much! 👌😊

i am profoundly deaf & fluently in BSL. this is best video i ever have seen. from now on, if people asked me where/how to learn to sign, i'll show them this video. so damn crystal clean sign language video i ever seen in decade!

I'm in my second year of American Sign Language and seeing the differences is so crazy! Some signs in BSL are signed the same as totally different ones in ASL, it's so interesting!

I just recently finished reading a silent voice, I've watched it too, and wow am I crying I definitely want to be able to communicate in sign language, everyone's voice should be heard.

Thank you for this video! I’ve always wanted to learn BSL and now have the perfect opportunity during lockdown!

This is fantastic. I do believe that schools should be offrering this as a language course. So useful. Thank you.

thank you so much!! i’m a retail worker and i always feel really bad about not knowing how to communicate with my deaf / hard of hearing customers, so i want to learn for them so they feel more happy & included 😔💕

I grow up with a deaf neighbour and me and her used to play with eachother so much I started picking up on BSL without even knowing now we’ve grown distant I feel like linking up withher again but I want to regain at least some knowledge before I do so, this was very helpful thanks

I’m learning or trying too as I am loosing my hearing and work in retail so thought it was a good skill to have Im doing a bit by bit and want to master my signs before moving on thank you!

THANK YOU, I have just come across your post, I did BSL a good few years ago in Collage, as a mature student (I'm nearly 60 now). It comes in Very Handy at work, when I'm on check-outs.. I can remember a bit so I sign very basically, and if I'm not sure I finger-spell the word and the customers help me out.. THIS IS A GODSEND.. Many many thanks from Wales.

Dan, thank you for uploading these videos; they’re so thorough and well-paced! I’ll be an NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher) next year, and was wondering whether it would be possible to request a school-specific video so that I could converse with students and/or carers about grades, classroom rules, homework, etc. You’re the best!

we have this girl in my college class and she's the only deaf student there. she's really sweet, and i want to learn sign language to speak to her. so far, thanks to this, i've asked if i can look at her work politely and thanked her when she helps/compliments me, thank you for this

I first noticed I had partial hearing loss about a year ago and to consider learning a new language in my 30s felt daunting but this has been a calming and informative starting point, thanks!

It’s good they show him doing the signs from different angles, it helps you see how to do it properly!

as a 12 year old, i loved learning this with my bestfriend. i hope that one day i bump into somebody deaf and can communicate with them to make them and me happy :) thank you!

I did an introductory BSL course today at work and we learned finger spelling and a lot of these signs make so much more sense now!

There are alot of deaf people at my school including my best friend so i took up sign language a few years ago- but they taught me ASL instead- this is difficult but helping alot! Thank you!

Thank you so much for sharing this video. As a student Nurse in 1999, Queen’s University offered many foreign languages as an extra for students costing £10.00. I had worked in a school for disabled children. Makaton was used in the school. I believe that we should all know sign language, Martha’s Vineyard comes to mind. And so, I phoned the BSL centre and asked if I, student Nurse with a little Makaton, could get classes in BSL at a small price? I’ll never get over what I was told. It costs £125.00 per course and no reductions. Shame shame shame

Thank you for this. I've been learning ASL and as it turns out, BSL is more popular in Malaysia after being pointed out by a friend. Love your session.

Thank you so much for showing this. I learnt BSL some 10 or more years ago, through my background, I just wanted to give a voice to all. I remember during my exam times (I would be filmed doing my BSL exam), I said I could not do it, then a friend, told me I could...I did it and I passed Level 2. Because I do not use it on my day to day life, I feel I do not know what to do, but seeing your post, it helped me to remember that I can do it. Thank you. To me it now seems obvious, but, I doubt it would have been that simple! please message me on facebook if you have ideas to help me and the service I work with, I can say though, there is no monetary gain for you. I work for a charity. Take care .

Thank you for showing each signs in stages! This is very helpful.

0:10 no 1:30 good 1:46 better 2:00 brilliant 2:10 terrible 2:18 happy 2:26 sad 2:30 excited 2:40 angry 3:30 sister 3:44 family 4:06 girl 4:16 like 4:23 dont like 4:30 love 4:38 hate 4:48 true 4:56 lie 5:03 understand 5:10 don’t understand .. r/wooosh is how we’re gonna remember it 5:35 okay 5:50 work 5:55 school 6:24 learn 6:40 red 6:50 blue 7:00 green 7:08 brown 7:50 white 7:58 black 8:10 gold 8:30 day 8:35 night 8:58 morning 9:00 future 9:05 past 10:40 walk 12:07 hot chocolate 12:30 cake 12:58 which 13:50 easy 13:56 hard 14:06 british sign language

I’ve been trying to learn BSL for a few years and haven’t been able to find somewhere to properly learn it and this was so useful!!! Thank you 💖

Imagine if everyone in the world was taught to communicate like this, language barriers could be broke, strangers could talk to each other. Well back in the old days maybe.

I'm nonverbal and wanting to learn bsl just to feel like I'm not "language-less" so thank you for this! I'm excited to make my own flashcards to practice with :)

Thanks for the video. Currently, I am giving comments from London. I am very interested in BSL because I have been suffering from disarticulation (can't speak fluently) since childhood. I feel so depressed because I cannot talk to people confidently. I do sympathize with the people who are vulnerable to speak or hear because I am one of those who are suffering. I wanted to learn a new language and find a way out to help those people who are suffering as well. Now I have an idea to learn Sign-language and somehow, I will be able to help people as much as I can.

Thank you for this! My 6 year old learnt some Makaton in the past, which we both enjoyed, but now has a deaf teacher at school who uses an interpreter, and I have hearing loss, so we both like the idea of being able to communicate through BSL. This is a great resource!

That’s fantastic. I just learnt that as accents varies from place to place so does SL. I use basic BSL for SEND and I love it. Good job there.

Bored during quarantine and I always find learning new languages is the best way to connect with people you normally would never have connected with, so here I am.

I used to study sign language when I was little with my friend who was deaf. Sadly when she left the school I stopped getting the lessons, but I’m amazed at how much I still use and remember. Thank you so much for these videos! Definitely going to get back into it!

I’m conversationally fluent in ASL, but I want to move to the UK so I thought why not try BSL 😂

I am not deaf nor do I have deaf friends or even interactions with deaf people so why this came up as a recommendation I do not know. But what I do know is that I'm glad I watched this all the way... very simple and easy to learn... great video and now I want to know more. Let the journey begin.

This is sooo useful, the different angle helps me a lot, since I have terrible spatial awareness and usually struggle to copy mirror images. Thank you so much!

After watching this video, i make the very same body movements and always speak with my hands - and this is BSL, i genuinely never realised this. I watched this first video and already now know how to do it. It all makes sense. Thank you so so much. Im learning this right away. ❤❤

BSL isn't just for the deaf, it can make a huge difference for people who are non verbal or have learning difficulties!

This has been really helpful. Fairly often (although not often enough to stay current) patients will come through my ward that either sign, use makaton or gross approximation of signs. So it's really good to have these demonstrated to remind me!

Thank you this is so helpful. I've met so many people who are deaf or hard of hearing and it's nice to not feel stupid when I don't know how to communicate with them. Can't wait to learn more :)

Immediately subscribed! My best friend is deaf but she prefers to lip read more than sign but I've always been an advocate for the hard of hearing.. it's mad to see how bsl has changed over such a short time too!

Love how similar Auslan is to BSL (I know Auslan comes from BSL). Thanks for this refresher!

I started learning 5 days ago and have already learned 80 words using this video. Looking forward to learning from more videos by Commanding Hands.

i recently started learning bsl and this is so so helpful! thank you so much :)

This is very helpful, I'm learning because I work in a Nursing home and we have a elderly lady who is deaf and speaks through bsl and I really don't want her to feel lonely, so I'm learning the basics!!

Thank you so much there aren’t many videos like this with so many useful signs and clear gestures. Will continue to watch more of your videos X

I'm hearing and worked along side deaf people in a factory. They taught me sign language. It's a great feeling being able to communicate with the deaf. They show me great respect for learning sign.

I've always wanted to learn sign language to help people who need it and it's a perfect video to help me start! Thank you ❤️

Excellent and as others have written, the video is usefully three dimensional unlike trying to learn from drawings alone. One thing that I don't understand is why have so many viewers left thumbs down / dislike marks for something so useful for everyone?

Thank you! I don't know anyone deaf, But just in case i meet someone that's deaf .. I'll remember!

I’ve decided to start learning BSL over the summer holiday and this video has really helped me boost my vocabulary! The signs are really clear and easy to follow

This video deserves more likes! This is very simple for beginners like me. This is also a very good opportunity to learn this during quaranteen. It just takes a few days to learn and me and my mum are actually doing well with sign.

i’m from america so i’ve been learning ASL for about 4 years and i’d say it’s pretty well known in my head but i wanted to learn BSL because it seemed so cool to know 2 sign languages so thanks so much for this video!

Thank you for this, I work in a school with severely autistic children who are mostly non verbal and use sign, so this is so helpful for me to be able to communicate with them through a language they understand ☺️ I’m no where near an expert but even small phrases will help me understand what they need and how I can help them!

Very helpful and clear, saving this one to come back to. It's one thing for us Brits to be ignorant of languages outside of our own shores but quite another to be unable to talk to the guy sitting next to you on the bus.

Thank you, you’re presenting this so well that it makes it so much easier for someone like me to take his first stumbling steps towards learning a new language :)

Me and my two sons watching "sing and signs" for kids when they were pretty young and they really enjoyed it. That time I did not realise it, that I will use the signs for purpose later on. It happened that my youngest child was diagnosed with ASD and severe language development delay. Now he is 10 and even he can nicely say words, singing like angel and telling stories, he has no receptive language. I started to prompting him with the old well known signs and he is following me and so happy with them. I decided to learn more and I am so happy to find your videos. I agree with other comments that it would need to teach children in school for at least the basic sign language; it should be fun for them and kids has a tendency to help others, so...Thanks a lot :)

Thank you so much, these videos are extremely clear and very helpful 👍👍👍

thank you so much for this video. as an autistic person who recently had started going non-verbal more and more frequently, this video is really helpful to teach me and my friends and family how to communicate with each other! thank you so much!

Is there a difference between please and thank you?

Honestly I love these videos because you never know when your going to have to communicate with someone who does sign language. I’ve learnt a lot from these

Thank you so much for this video! Like everyone else i seams I thought BSL would be something useful to spend my time learning and this video was extremely clear and useful. Definitely going to watch more of your channel to learn! Showing the different angles was extremely helpful for positioning and hand shapes and it was really easy to follow Good luck to everyone else learning!

I had a patient today asking for directions in the hospital. He was the nicest person I have ever met. I walked him to where he wants, but I felt so guilty for not knowing even the basics of sign language. We walked to his destination in silence, and I thought, the world must be a lonely place for him. If only i just knew a few gestures, we would have had a simple chat on the way, and that would have brought both of us a small moment of happiness… so thank you for this, I will try harder to expand my knowledge about BSL

Thanks for this video! Very clear I have been teaching my niece some BSL and this has really helped :)

I love how this guy was very clear with sign showing us from multiple angles. Superb !!

This is amazing I have been trying to learn sign language since late 2019 but have been really struggling to remember them especially with my very bad hand to eye coordination but with the different angles this makes it much easier to understand. I have sever panic attacks and I can't talk when having them so I think bsl is amazing to help with that. Could you show the signs for emergencies like if i required an ambulance and needed to sign it?

I've recently begun learning sign language as at first just a hobby, but when a customer at the place I work (who was deaf) came in she seemed nervous so I gave what I'd learnt a try; and she was more than surprised. My signing wasn't great or "perfect" by any means, but she felt appreciated and that made my day as well as hers. It's handy videos like this that make learning sign language not so difficult as it first appears. Thank you once again!

Here because my son was diagnosed with non verbal autism and we really need a mode of communication for him to express himself.

I just starting a new path in my career, I am an Interpreter and I speak four languages and I easy could say five languages but, since I starting to learn BSL my completely whole world changed. It is beautiful to watch your videos. BSL, should be learn in school since we are littler. Thank you for share your videos meant a lot to me.