HALLATLAN ABCDEFGH IJKLMNO QRSTUVWX BROCHURE

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Brenda Watkins
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1 HALLATLAN ABCDEFGH JKLMNOP hal RSTUVWXY lat ABCDEFG lan IJKLMNO BROCHURE QRSTUVWX

Introduction Founded in 2005, Hallatlan Foundation aims to help sign language gain social recognition and thus to help the integration of the deaf community by tools and applications

eu have become important bases of Hungarian Sign Language education and everyday tools for the users.

Professional sign language interpreters can receive instant and direct help and support by using the electronic sign language dictionary.

2 Introduction Founded in 2005, Hallatlan Foundation aims to help sign language gain social recognition and thus to help the integration of the deaf community by tools and applications created in the course of various developments. The two websites of the organisation, hallatlan.hu and hallatlan.eu have become important bases of Hungarian Sign Language education and everyday tools for the users. The primary services of the two websites include a multilingual online dictionary, news broadcasts in sign language uploaded every weekday and a crossword puzzle. Professional sign language interpreters can receive instant and direct help and support by using the electronic sign language dictionary. The forum and the chat room enable communication between hearing and hearing impaired users. Over the past fourty years linguistics has provided irrefutable evidence for its claim that all sign languages are human natural languages. Questioning this now well proven fact reflects great professional incompetence. Source: Ferenc Kiefer (ed.): Magyar Nyelv [Hungarian Language]. Akadémiai kiadó, Budapest, 2006.

3 Sign language as a foreign language According to the 2011 census, there are nearly deaf and hard of hearing individuals living in Hungary. Since providing data about one s hearing condition is not obligatory, the number might be higher but we do not know the exact number. The common language of the third largest minority in Hungary is Hungarian Sign Language which had been acknowledged only by a limited group of experts in the past. Following years of hard work, the Parliament acknowledged Hungarian Sign Language as one of the official languages of Hungary in Furthermore, the protection of Hungarian Sign Language as part of Hungary s cultural heritage was added to the Constitution in Misconceptions regarding sign language and deafness result in a false knowledge about the hearing impaired and their condition and a discriminating attitude. That is why it is crucial to educate the public. We believe that our websites hallatlan.hu and hallatlan.eu can help people to get to know the world of deaf people and to disapprove potential false concepts. Previous experiences have shown that users become more open not only towards individuals communicating via "different modalities but also towards people living with any kind of a handicap. Sign language courses are also one of the Foundation s most important services. In order to help their work, our instructors and deaf and hard of hearing individuals participating in our programme can enrol tutorsupervising courses. The Foundation has received several awards, including the European Language Label in 2006, the Website of the Year Award and the SozialMarie prize rewarding innovative social projects in Recently, the Foundation was ranked first from the 460 pre-selected projects of 105 different countries on the World Summit Award (WSA) in the category of e-inclusion.

4 Online media The website hallatlan.eu provides educational material, an online sign language dictionary and a community platform for sign language speakers and those who are interested and/or involved in teaching or learning sign language. Sign language signs are shown in looped videos on the website. As an important innovation, the sign language speaker can now be observed from two angles; from the front and from the side. Moreover, a drawing of the hand gesture of a given sign can be seen under the video, too. Category-based labels make using the website and learning sing language for those interested in specific topics (e.g. travelling, transportation, health, administrative tasks, family, etc.) now much easier. Constantly striving to meet our users demands, the sign database is constantly being developed with the inclusion of new individual signs, expressions and complex sentences, hallatlan.hu, besides being quadrilingual (Hungarian, English, German, Spanish), offers a thematic sign language dictionary and other web-based services to help and support those interested in learning sign languages. The Foundation won the tender announced by the FSZK Public Benefit Nonprofit Ltd. and the Ministry of Human Resources (Supporting professional programmes and services of national, regional and local organisations of persons with disabilities for the equal rights of people with disabilities). The online sign language news broadcast service, the supervision of tutors and the acquisition of tools helping the work of the Foundation have been acquired and realised within the project winning the tender.

Our sign language news broadcasts with self-edited news can be viewed on Hungarian Sign Language with the aid of sign language users every weekday.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 13 TYPES 99 EXPRESSIONS We were the first to introduce an interactive sign languagebased crossword puzzle and this invention of ours is officially copyrighted.

This game, besides being a playful means of learning sign language, is also a great tool in developing the Hungarian grammar skills of deaf users.

5 Our sign language news broadcasts with self-edited news can be viewed on Hungarian Sign Language with the aid of sign language users every weekday. By making the information of public interest accessible for deaf and hard of hearing individuals, we enable them to be informed about the news of the world. CROSSWORD PUZZLE 13 TYPES 99 EXPRESSIONS We were the first to introduce an interactive sign languagebased crossword puzzle and this invention of ours is officially copyrighted. It is a variation of the traditional crossword puzzle and is perfectly easy to use. Words and the sign language version of the letters have to be recognised in replayable videos. This game, besides being a playful means of learning sign language, is also a great tool in developing the Hungarian grammar skills of deaf users. The widespread use of smartphones encouraged us to develop an app for our services. Thus, our sign language dictionary is now available everywhere on a phone with internet access. At the moment, the website has nearly registered users (between the age of 6 and 66), on average there are 4 new users daily and the site has nearly 700 visitors a day.

We use one of the most popular social media sites, Facebook to promote the activity of the Foundation and to share news and events regarding the deaf community with our nearly 11 000 followers.

149 CITIES AND 167 COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD Our courses More than 1 500 students have participated in courses organised by the Hallatlan Foundation; during these courses they were lectured by tutors

6 We use one of the most popular social media sites, Facebook to promote the activity of the Foundation and to share news and events regarding the deaf community with our nearly followers. FROM 273 CITIES AND 19 COUNTIES OF HUNGARY FROM CITIES AND 167 COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD Our courses More than students have participated in courses organised by the Hallatlan Foundation; during these courses they were lectured by tutors whose first language is sign language. Currently these courses are held every weekday by four tutors on A1, A2 and B1 levels that were adjusted to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. We are planning to launch B2 and C1 level courses too in the near future. We have re-launched a supervision course for our tutors in 2014, supported by the Equal Opportunities of Persons with Disabilities Nonprofit Ltd. and the Ministry of Human Resources. Our goal is to provide mental health services to deaf and hard of hearing individuals in order to help preventing burn out syndrome and to handle conflicts efficiently.

During the supervision our deaf or hard of hearing tutors can discuss their difficulties and

Application for the fresh courses can be done via the website hallatlan.

Offline media The Basic Level Sign Language and Intermediate Level Sign Language DVDs and textbooks

like mimic and the proper use of classifiers and proforms.

7 During the supervision our deaf or hard of hearing tutors can discuss their difficulties and problems occurring during the courses with each other and their supervisor. Application for the fresh courses can be done via the website hallatlan.hu and in person in the offices of the Foundation. Offline media The Basic Level Sign Language and Intermediate Level Sign Language DVDs and textbooks published by Hallatlan Fundation review topics that are indispensable in the communication with Deaf individuals. The multimedia material helps learners to learn sign language and its essential grammatical elements like mimic and the proper use of classifiers and proforms. These publications were acknowledged in the category of healthcare and equality on the contest of digital materials at the efestival in We published a new material in September 2013 called A1 Workbook with an attached DVD which helps learning sign language by extensive grammatical explanations and modern, colourful illustrations.

Since being exposed to and t h e a c q u i r i n g s i g n language for deaf and hard of hearing children at an early age is particularly important, the Hallatlan Foundation published a CD-ROM called

The material contains visual elements, motion pictures and animations.

8 Since being exposed to and t h e a c q u i r i n g s i g n language for deaf and hard of hearing children at an early age is particularly important, the Hallatlan Foundation published a CD-ROM called Jelelj Velünk! (Sign With Us!), specifically for children. The Sign with Us CD-ROM was awarded first prize in the category of equality at MATISZ efestival, December The material contains visual elements, motion pictures and animations. The topics and visual elements of the lessons are specifically designed t o a t t r a c t a c h i l d s attention and maintain it s focus. Before the CD-ROM was published, Hungarian teachers and kindergarten teachers had not had any material of the kind to help hearing and hearingimpaired students be exposed to sign language. The publication can also be found on hallatlan.eu and we are currently working on a revised version available on tablets, too.

Mobile apps On more than 10.000 devices. Some complementary features have been added to our sign language dictionary smartphone and tablet app.

9 Mobile apps On more than devices. Some complementary features have been added to our sign language dictionary smartphone and tablet app. Additional information was added to the sign language expressions in the videos and a visual representation of the hand gestures of a given sign can now be seen under the video, too. The viewing angle of the interpreter can be rotated to help understanding and acquiring the gesture more accurately. Individual practice is made more playful with quiz games, available both on the website and on our mobile app. A random video from our current collection of expressions is played while the user has to pick the right solution from four possible choices. As a help, the user can reduce the possible solutions to two or get a hint about which category the given sign belongs to. Categorybased labels help focused learning and one can also find information on new courses. The app can be used offline and the videos can be downloaded in order to reduce mobile network traffic. Users can record their own sign language expressions with the camera of the device and these recordings with an added description can be uploaded to our database to make sign language development a community experience.

Online interpreting service We launched the online interpreting service in June 2013. Unlike traditional interpreting services, our interpreters are available online 24/7.

However, immediate access to the interpreter service can even save lifes in case of an emergency call.

10 Online interpreting service We launched the online interpreting service in June Unlike traditional interpreting services, our interpreters are available online 24/7. This is a huge advantage for our deaf clients since the service enables them to run errands more quickly and efficiently and contributes to them having an independent and fulfilling life. However, immediate access to the interpreter service can even save lifes in case of an emergency call. Our interpreters also benefit from the service, because their working hours are exclusively spent on interpreting, not commuting. This service first became available in the Péterfy Sándor Hospital on a tablet installed in the building; communication between doctor and patient is aided by the interpreter of the Foundation, available at all times. Our devices can be found in nine Vodafone stores, so deaf costumers could easily communicate with the employees without having to have their own device on them.

11 Silence does have a sound. Be loud - learn sing language. SPOT FACEBOOK Android ios

12 This brochure was published with the help of the tender called Operational and professional support for local, regional and national organisations of persons with disabilities hal lat lan All rights reserved! Tax number: Bank account number: OTP / IBAN: HU info@hallatlan.hu; tanfolyam@hallatlan.hu Fax: Address of the educational centre : 1085 Budapest, Rigó utca floor

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