Sign Language of the Netherlands and Deaf Culture  

In this article, we give an impression of the development 
of Deaf culture as a subject taught to student-teachers and 
student-interpreters of Sign Language of the Netherlands (SLN).  
One specific problem for students of any sign language is that 
there is no “deaf country” where they can encounter the 
language in a natural way and come into contact with the 
culture in which that language is embedded. By force of this 
fact, we developed various courses in Deaf culture linked to 
practical assignments that encourage students to go forth into 
the Deaf community and link the theoretical knowledge taught 
in our classes with their own experiences among the Deaf.