UPDATED as of September 19, 2018

With inclusive education as one of the College’s main focuses, the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde launched “FSL Buddy App,” a learning companion app filled with more than 200 signs of the Filipino Sign Language (FSL).

Launched last April 30, the application features basic words and phrases interpreted in FSL by members of the School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (SDEAS) through short videos.

Some categories include the alphabet, animals, basic adjectives/adverbs, ‘in a restaurant,’ ‘money matters,’ months of the year, numbers, time, and verbs, among others. In addition, users can save videos offline.

The application is free and is available to iOS and Android users.

According to the app’s description in Google Play Store, FSL “is a form of visual and manual communication, incorporating facial expression and body movements, and has its own linguistic features (such as grammar, syntax, morphology) distinct from spoken and other sign languages. FSL is the natural sign language used by majority of Filipino Deaf and hearing interpreters.”

The app, a project by the College, was jointly developed by SDEAS, the Office of the President, the Hub of Innovation for Inclusion (HIFI), and the School of Management and Information Technology-Information Systems Program (SMIT-ISP).