Auslan News

Errol St Campus

From Simone McGenniskin, Senior School Auslan teacher

Auslan Breakfast Cafe

Students were delighted with this week’s task as we played a game Simone has coined as “Waiter!”. Participating in an Auslan-only restaurant, students had to order breakfast in groups of 4, with one person playing the ‘waiter’. ‘Waiters’ used their whiteboards for note-taking and as a tray, collecting the student-made foods and bringing them back to their hungry customers. 

Meanwhile, the customers drew plates and cutlery on their whiteboards, and were encouraged to “chat” in Auslan while they waited. Students asked each other how they are, marvelled at the weather outside and even complained about how long the waiter was taking in Auslan (all in good fun!). 

There were penalties for students speaking/whispering, rushing or collecting the wrong foods for their table. The objective of the game was to communicate clearly the first time so that everyone at the table had enough time to each play the waiter. Tables that successfully played 4 rounds of waiter were crowned our winners. 

This fine-dining experience gave students the opportunity to immerse themselves in Auslan culture, waving to get their waiters attention, keeping their voices off and fingerspelling any unknown signs. With some cheesy Parisian cafe music to accompany our game, students delighted in this challenge and demonstrated their quick sign-recall this fortnight.

How can I help? 

Print and practice: 

Put up our breakfast signs on the fridge to help jog your child’s memory. They’ll love teaching you the signs and you can use them in your everyday conversations. Don’t forget to ask them what they learnt about “Gen-Z Auslan” - we had some long discussions this week about the differences between generational signing as Auslan continues to evolve as all languages do.