In this article, we will give information about the language learning of blind and visually impaired people. We know that after passing through an officiant learning process, a sighted person can learn a language. What about blind and visually impaired people? In this article, we will try to answer questions, such as which techniques do the blind and visually impaired use while learning a language? What is the advantage of blind and visually impaired people who learn foreign languages?
What is our aim as BlindLook to help blind and visually impaired people? Can blind and visually impaired people learn another language other than their native language?
First, let’s answer the “can blind and visually impaired people learn a foreign language other than their native language?” question.
Of course, they can learn, but the techniques of learning a language slightly differ from sighted people.
So, how do blind and visually impaired people learn a foreign language?
Let’s give a few examples of the techniques which that blind and visually impaired people use to learn a foreign language:
1- Braille: The braille script nearly replaces the Latin script for blind and visually impaired people, but it isn’t used very often. The advantage of the Braille script is that a blind and visually impaired person can read a text written in a foreign language as it is, letter by letter. The importance of this is especially felt in learning English, French, or German, which are languages not spelled as they are read.
2- Learning a language by listening with a screen reading program: Blind and visually impaired people can use programs that convert text into speech called screen readers. However, it is recommended to use this program in combination with a word processing program, such as Microsoft Word, etc. The reason for this is to prevent a blind and visually impaired person from making spelling mistakes because as we stated above, every language isn’t spelled as it is read. For example, even some blind and visually impaired people, who have their native language as English, could make a spelling mistake, thinking that they have spelled the word correctly just because their screen reader pronounced that word correctly, while actually, they have made a spelling mistake. Being able to spell the words correctly increases intelligibility, and it is very important for exams while learning a language for academic purposes.
We hear you ask “Well, what happens if the alphabet of the language is different? If we were to answer this question..
If the alphabet of the language being learned is different, then most probably the places of the keys on the keyboard are different as well. This is especially true for languages like Russian or Arabic. Blind and visually impaired people learn to type with ten fingers while learning how to use a computer. The process of learning the keyboard is a long process. While learning a foreign language, it is necessary to type a lot in that language to type faster. Listening exercises might help as well in speeding up typing. So, what kind of an advantage will a blind and visually impaired person have when he/she learns a foreign language? Most importantly, he/she can go abroad and communicate with the people out there with ease and he can make new friends.
The second important advantage is that he/she can have access to resources in languages other than Turkish and get more information on the internet. By learning a foreign language, a person can expand his/her horizons, and this is very important for self-improvement.
As a result, blind and visually impaired people can, contrary to popular belief, do many things independently, including learning a foreign language. As BlindLook, our aim is to make blind and visually impaired people proficient in many fields. Our dream is to be able to integrate the blind and visually impaired people who are proficient in technology, able to move freely and independently into society. As blind and visually impaired people are integrated into society, community awareness will increase, and we will be going forward on the road to being a more advanced society.
Author: Fatih Yüksek / BlindLook Team
