Translator: Cristina Bufi-Pöcksteiner Reviewer: Robert Tucker
The first question is:
Are you okay? Everybody ready?
People in front as well?
Because I have to check all these things
because the person next to me is signing into Dutch Sign Language -
I sign International Sign which is voiced to English.
So this is how it goes, just to explain things to you.
A lot can be said about my identity.
My name is Dennis, I am 24 years old.
I'm gay and I live in Groningen.
Just so you know, Groningen is very close to Haren.
(Laughing)
Facebook doesn't have any influence on me, so, I'm fine.
There is one big part of my life that has a big influence on my identity,
and that is the fact that I am deaf, and she is deaf as well,
and we've got an interpreter in the front who is deaf as well.
Maybe you'll say you're sorry that I'm deaf,
but don't be shocked, I'm fine.
Most of the time, when I speak to people the first time,
they say they are sorry that I'm deaf,
but, honestly, I'm not,
because being deaf has given me access to a very rich and powerful language.
A very beautiful language
which allows me to express everything I want to say.
This sign language, or this using of sign language,
has given me some barriers in my life,
and that's what I'm going to talk to you about.
In Holland, only 3-5% of the population knows how to use this language,
so it is a very small group.
Language is a very powerful tool.
It enables you to order food at a restaurant,
to go to a shop and ask them
where they keep their particular brand of lasagna sauce.
You can ask for directions.
You could check if the train has been cancelled again
or where the next platform is going to be.
You can apply for a job.
You can make a career for yourself, all with language.
But for people who are deaf and use a sign language,
and I say "a sign language" on purpose
because every country has their own sign language,
but that's a topic for another time.
The fact that I'm deaf and use a sign language
doesn't mean that I get access to society,
because as Gwen just said:
"Society is not designed for us."
So we sign, we have this language,
but our sign language has another morphology,
has its own syntax as well -
it is different from the spoken language,
Dutch.
Let me show you an example.
This Dutch sentence,
"Ik ben nu in de trein op weg naar huis", [I'm now in the train on the way home]
is a Dutch sentence -
the English translation is appearing now on the screen,
"I am now in the train on the way to home."
It's a literal translation.
If I were to sign that in the Dutch language,
that would be totally different.
This is what it would look like:
(Dutch) Nu ik waar trein naar huis.
So you can see it has got a different word order.
The English is now,
"Now I here where train to home",
so it is very different.
So, we have some obstacles in our lives,
and I'll talk to you about some experience of my own.
I want to know who of you knows the Dutch railway company, NS.
Who's ever travelled with them?
I want to see hands.
Yeah, many, many people, of course.
Me too.
Another question I have to ask.
So, the Dutch rail company,
who's ever had any problems with them while travelling?
(Laughing)
Yeah, me too!
Okay, let me tell you about my experience with them.
One time I came back from London.
It was very early, the flight had left London at six o'clock in the morning,
so I arrived at about nineish,
and I wanted to go to Groningen from Schiphol.
But the train appeared to be cancelled,
and I asked the train conductor what happened to the train.
Just so, you know, I have a deaf voice, so I don't speak as hearing people do -
I can try signing and voicing.
But they said, "Okay, the next train will be here in 25 minutes."
The train arrived, went to Groningen,
which was [where] it [was] meant to be going,
but I was tired and I fell asleep.
Then, all of a sudden,
I got this feeling that many, many deaf people will recognise,
that something was off.
I opened my eyes,
and I saw people standing up, getting out of the train.
Again with my voice, I asked someone what was happening.
He said, "This train is broken. We have to change trains here in Zwolle."
So, I was, "Okay", looked for the next train,
and checked if that train really went to Groningen.
On the train it said Groningen;
the sign on the platform said Groningen;
and I got into the train,
and in the train you have this TV screen that said Groningen.
Okay, so I went straight to Groningen and fell asleep again.
Maybe you can guess what happened?
I woke up with that same feeling again.
I'd just past station Meppel,
which is a very important station
because this is where the train goes into two directions:
Groningen and Leeuwarden, which is absolutely not Groningen.
This TV, I opened my eyes and the TV said:
"Welcome to" - in the train - "Leeuwarden".
(Laughter)
I was furious, furious, fuming.
No communication, no equality, nothing!
I sent a letter to the customer services telling them off for this inconvenience.
And I got an nice letter back from them apologising for my inconvenience.
But they explained
that they did not have time to update all the written information.
Everything was only announced on the PA, which I can't hear!
That was the time when I decided to -
no it was not, no that's not true, no I decided this before then.
You may know
that I work with deaf children in the deaf school in Haren,
and I -
(Laughing)
I teach Dutch to deaf children.
These children are all very bright,
and they use DSL, Dutch Sign language,
as their language.
They are very bright children,
and they are very bright
because they didn't go to Haren because of Facebook -
anyway, they use DSL to express their opinions to me.
They can tell me that I'm very boring, that I'm a very boring teacher,
or that I'm a very cool teacher.
They can tell me everything they want,
but I know that the hearing Dutch community
expects everyone to master Dutch, written or spoken.
But they have Dutch sign language, as their first language,
so they learn written Dutch as a second language.
I try to explain the rules of Dutch to them,
but they sometimes don't get
the properties that are embedded in the language,
like sarcasm or certain expressions.
I want to raise their level
so they can have full access to the hearing community.
I don't only teach children,
but I focus on deaf adults as well.
I work with deaf adults as well:
because I know
that they didn't have the benefit of the same high level education
we have now in the Netherlands.
That's why I founded my company,
I developed projects, workshops, trainings, seminars,
all to do with language,
because I want to give these deaf adults
the best chance to participate in the hearing community,
to get access to the hearing community.
Deaf people like to be among themselves.
They like to use their own language.
All my friends are deaf, so we use our own language.
That means that we don't focus
on the hearing community as well, all the time.
I want to give them access to the hearing community,
to bring the hearing community to the deaf community.
That is why I started Duo Tres,
which is a weekly news programme on the internet.
It brings the most important news of the world, or of the deaf world,
what's happened,
to the deaf community, in sign language,
in three minutes.
There is a very good programme, we have 1,000 viewers every time.
The deaf school uses it, the university uses it,
deaf people watch it at home behind their laptops.
We have a wonderful team, they are all volunteers.
They work very hard to give people, deaf people,
the best possible access to the hearing communities,
to get them to understand our hearing community.
So, I teach deaf children
at the deaf school,
but the fact that I am a role model to these children
is not commonplace in the Netherlands.
There are countries in Europe where that is not the same.
That is why I joined the board
of the European Union of the Deaf Youth, EUDY,
which is based in Brussels, in Belgium.
It is a non-governmental organisation.
Our biggest aim is to raise the level of education within Europe.
At the same time, we want to have sign languages ratified.
If all countries ratify their sign language,
that would be great.
If Dutch Sign Language were to be ratified,
that would make a big change in the lives of deaf people.
That would mean that we would get
our prime minister or our new king interpreted, for instance.
You could go to Amsterdam Central Station
to see if the trains have been changed again,
and you can get this information signed to you.
Or you go to a restaurant,
and you can order your favourite hamburger with extra mayo, no lettuce, extra cheese.
That is what you could do.
That would be a perfect world.
For that perfect world for us to exist,
it would be perfect if you would support our sign language for deaf people.
If you were to have respect and understanding for deaf people,
because we are all the same.
If that were to happen, we could make a big change.
Thank you.
(Applause)
Thank you