PJM and SW camp in Slovakia

Sat Sep 3 20:08:08 UTC 2005

Hello Val!
>Thanks for this excellent report. I am so amazed and happy about this! It would be nice to post your report about the Symposium on our web site later, with your permission ;-)

What a report, which a report? :-) You mean the article? Of course, I'll ask my boss this Tuesday to make a pdf file with the article as soon as it is published...

>.... And also, your report in this message, about the camp in Slovakia, is excellent, and if you want to prepare it for a web posting, I could also post this information about your camp in Slovakia. It is my understanding that Slovakia is neither Poland nor the Czech Republic, so do I need to start a new country web area for Slovakian Sign Language?..smile...Or we could post your report on the Czech or Polish sites...

My friend and interpreter Iwona, who coordinated the camp, will probably write an article on it for Swiat Ciszy. What I've written here is not a proper report, so I would have to write it in English again, in a more literary language ;-).

>Is Slovakian Sign Language a separate Sign Language from Czech Sign Language?...smile...I bet it is! Maybe someday we will need a Slovakian SignPuddle...Val ;-)

I don't know anything of Slovakian Sign Language but I bet it is similar to Czech and Polish SLs. We wanted to meet some Deaf in Slovakia but we had no time for that. One day we had a trip to the city of Zilina, where probably a Deaf club is located but we didn't have the address. We went to Zilina for a few hour shopping and then we had to go back for the lecture I had to give :-). But we the hearing and the deaf discussed the issue at the camp. Namely, we were talking about a meeting with Slovak Deaf people in order to tell them about SW. But we didn't meet any Slovak Deaf...what a pity... maybe some day :-).

Some time ago I wrote an article about the Deaf in Slovakia, basing in the infos found on the web. I learnt that young Deaf people in Slovakia don't want to sign, don't want to be dependent on interpreters on so on, and the Slovakian Sign Language is mostly used by older people. Strange, but I don't know any Slovak to ask him or her if that is true.

The Slovak association of the Deaf, the name of which, translated into English, is the "Slovak Association of the Aurally Disabled" publishes a montly magazine for the Deaf, The Slovensky Gong. The magazine includes mostly articles on social and legal issues, councelling, event reports, hearing aids and CIs, etc. Our Swiat Ciszy editorial receives the magazine every month and I read it (in Slovak, haha!) looking for any interesting issues... I could take some steps to make them interested in SW but I don't know their general attitute to natural sign languages, bilingualism and so on, so I don't know what steps to take and how. I think we should just wait... :-)

Lucy
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