High Tea Auslan Experience might be right for you; an upcoming event in Bankstown, Sydney this May 6th.
It is an event organized by Hand Me a Coffee in partnership with Peppertree Cafe.
The basic Australian Sign Language (Auslan) training will take the attendees to a unique voice off experience complemented with high tea and a social gathering to follow.
Jessica Liang, graduating student of University of New South Wales (UNSW) and a young owner of Hand Me a Coffee, became an advocate of Auslan learning because she was born deaf and had undergone cochlear implant.
Starting from a cafe and now evolving to different events (with Auslan as its core), Liang is passionate to raise awareness or shine a light on the challenges (primarily in communication) of the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities.
She adds, "I also want to empower these individuals. You can do anything, deafness is not an obstacle."
"(And to) inspire business owners to make their spaces more inclusive as well."
Liang's call for 'inclusiveness' extends to this event; she welcomes everyone to be part of this one-of-a-kind Auslan experience.
Attendees can expect to learn basic Auslan such as greetings, common phrases, alphabets and numbers. Alongside, they can enjoy the desserts and a wide selection of teas and coffees.
Ends
Verbatim Transcription of the interview
CD: Joining us on SBS Radio Filipino is Jessica Liang. Hi Jessica! It is our pleasure to have you in our program today!
JL: It’s good to meet you as well. I’m glad to have this opportunity to speak about Hand me a coffee as well.
CD: Okay! You have this upcoming event called High Tea Auslan experience but before we get to that, tell us your story, why have you been an advocate of Auslan learning?
JL: Umm...so my name is Jessica and I’m currently in my final year...umm...of studying at University of New South Wales [CD: Uh-hum] and I’ve founded Hand me a coffee late last year aimed to bridge the gap between the hearing and deaf communities to a unique cafe experience where customers can order their coffee in Australian sign language or also known as Auslan [CD: Uh-hum] because I was born in ahhh...deaf and I have cochlear implant from a young age so when I grew up...umm... I really like...umm...was aware of the challenges of communication [CD: Uh-hum] especially you know when we are in a loud...umm...background environment or when we’re watching movies without captions so then a couple of years back, I was inspired by a similar model overseas [CD: Uh-hum] where you can go into a restaurant and the menu would be accompanied by a guide where you can find it and I thought to myself why doesn’t Sydney have this so I put an...umm... this idea for a pitch competition [CD: Uh-hum] ...umm... that my university hosted at that time and... so I put it in and I didn’t think much of it [CD: Uh-hum] and... to my surprise it got selected in the top 10,
CD: Wow! Uh-hum
JL: Yeah, I didn’t win (lightly laughs)
CD: (Lightly laughs) It’s okay! Uh-hum
JL: But yeah, it really gave me some validation [CD: Uh-hum]...umm... that this is something that people are interested in [CD: Uh-hum]...umm... and while I didn’t...umm... taken onboard or act on the idea that time...umm... last year I told myself you know if you don’t give a shot like this time then it would remain an idea in your head.
CD: Yeah, so never give up!
JL: Definitely!
CD: Yeah!
JL: So that’s why I organize like a couple of trials [CD: Yup!] last year in a cafe called Parliament on King [CD: Uh-hum] and that’s in Newtown so it’s really well-received...umm... and people wanted more of it [CD: Uh-hum] so then I decided to put on more events...umm...Auslan workshops and I personally also...umm... enrolled in Auslan classes as well with the deaf society and I found the language really enjoyable to learn...umm...
CD: Are you a teacher?
JL: No, no, no!
CD: No!
JL: Umm...I..ahh...just enrolled to learn the language myself.
CD: Okay, okay, sure!
JL: Yeah, so then...umm... I really wanted to create like a space that is more inclusive [CD: Uh-hum]...umm...for the deaf community to come in, in a cafe environment so you know they can feel welcomed [CD: Uh-hum] and it’s also trying to raise awareness that the challenges...umm... that the deaf and hard-of-hearing community may face as well and I guess, on a, in...like a second level, I also want to empower like these individuals you know [CD: Uh-hum], you can do anything [CD: Uh-hum], like deafness isn’t an obstacle [CD: Uh-hum] and inspire more business owners to make their spaces more inclusive as well.
CD: Okay.
JL: So that’s the story!
CD: Okay, so...umm... Hand me a coffee, that’s your business now right?
JL: Yeah!
CD: Okay, so what makes it unique from others?
JL: Yes, so when I started Hand me a coffee [CD: Uh-hum]...umm... I did not see any other mainstream businesses [CD: Uh-hum] that provide a deaf-friendly space...umm... because you know we all order foods verbal English, we don’t really see much people sign...umm...there isn’t much visibility in the media so what I wanted to do is to create a space...umm... where they can feel welcomed and I guess the most unique part of that is the cafe experience -- where you would usually have lots of cafes where people come in and they just order their food and order coffee, and they just go on their own way [CD: Uh-hum] -- so I just wanna, this is unique in the sense that you can order your coffee and you can learn something along the way as well so that’s how it started, just, just through that unique cafe experiences [CD: Uh-hum] and is now involved to like other different events that also has Auslan as its core, yeah!
CD: Awesome! So...umm... Jessica your event is called High Tea Auslan experience so please share to us what we can expect on this event?
JL: Yes! So the experience is a voice-off experience [CD: Uh-hum], so people can, there’s no prior experience or basic Auslan understanding that are invited to join this workshop style experience with a social gathering to follow so high tea will be served as well.
CD: Wow (laughs)
JL: Yeah (laughs)
CD: So it’s going to be like fun learning with a cup of tea, right?
JL: Yeah! Exactly!
CD: Yup! Uh-hum!
JL: The workshop is lead by a trainer from Deaf society [CD: Uh-hum] and it will be at Peppertree Cafe in Bankstown. It’s an interactive experience so because its voice-off as well, you, you’ll be like learning to communicate in a different way.
CD: Uh-hum.
JL: And you even get a chance to have some fun learning to order your coffee and tea and have high tea, so you have that chance to find your orders as well so that will be like really, really cool!
CD: So can you tell us when is it and where will it be held?
JL: Yes, so it will be on May the 6th which is a Sunday before Mother’s day! (laughs)
CD: Okay (lightly laughs), yeah!
JL: If people want to know when it is, you just remember it’s a Sunday before Mother’s day.
CD: Yup
JL: And it’s 11 to 1 pm and it will be at Peppertree Cafe in Bankstown.
CD: Uh-hum...so are children also okay to join?
JL: Yeah [CD: Uh-hum]...umm... like I said it’s like a very inclusive environment, we want like invite all different people [CD: Uh-hum] to come and join, of all ages, even if you have a wheelchair or like require accessibility [CD: Yup! Uh-hum], the cafe is accessible as well and we’re inviting like members of the deaf community to observe as well so it’s a very, yeah, children are welcome, that’s for sure.
CD: Okay, very inclusive to everyone, right? (lightly laughs)
JL: Yup!
CD: Okay so Jess, would it be difficult for beginners to learn it because I heard that just one small change in hand movement is already a big mistake.
JL: Yeah, I can understand where you’re coming from
CD: Uh-hum
JL: Umm... I think the best way to approach is to have an open mind
CD: Okay
JL: It’s like learning another language, if you’re open to learning, I’m sure you’ll be fine and I think...umm... by attending these events, you can always check whether you got the right sign because the trainer will be there to help you.
CD: Uh-hum
JL: Yeah so it’s a... yeah, everyone...
CD: But there’s not so much pressure right? (lightly laughs)
JL: No
CD: Okay
JL: Yeah, it’s an interactive experience so feel free to you know come with questions and...umm... like what’s the sign for X, Y, Z
CD: Uh-hum
JL: Umm... you’ll be able to have that opportunity as well.
CD: Okay! So Jess can you share to us some of the benefits of learning Auslan?
JL: Yeah, I think...umm... the benefits of learning Auslan, you can communicate with the deaf community and if you’re in that situation where you feel the person who...umm... is struggling to communicate their order or even just communicating in general, in public, and if you have that basic Auslan...ahh... background [CD: Uh-hum] or just knowing how to fingerspell [CD: Uh-hum], which is like writing the alphabet then I’m sure you’ll be able to help that person out and I think on the second thing is that...umm... it’s such a visual language.
CD: Yup, very expressive (lightly laughs)
JL: Yeah, very expressive so that’s also another benefit, you’ll get to learn and immerse yourself in a very different environment.
CD: Yup, Uh-hum!
JL: And from, yeah, from challenging yourself that, that’ll give you another benefit.
CD: Okay, so what message do you want your attendees to obtain from this event?
JL: Mmm... I think...umm... the main thing is that in a, we live in a hearing world and movies require hearing as well so just really shining the light on the challenges of communication faced by the deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals...umm... not just those who used sign language [CD: Uh-hum] but also people who might have hearing aids and...umm... cochlear implants or some level of like maybe some might have like speech impediment [CD: Uh-hum]...umm... but it’s really just to raise awareness for these...umm...individuals that might have...umm... you know communication challenges, and just to be more self-aware and understanding...umm... of this situation and I think for business owners, I really want to inspire them [CD: Yup! Uh-hum] to you know, to make their spaces more inclusive [CD: Uh-hum]...umm... there’s already evidence...umm... of this happening so far [CD: Uh-hum]...umm... it’s like Rashay’s in Punchbowl...umm... not too far from Bankstown, they’ve already made a commitment to make their restaurant...umm... deaf-friendly by the end of the year.
CD: That’s great! Uh-hum!
JL: So it’s really exciting to see this movement. Yeah!
CD: Yeah! Uh-hum! Thank you very much Jess for standing up and being a voice for the deaf community. Have a good day!
JL: Thank you!
