FAQ

From the January 2027 intake, SgSL classes will move from Equal Dreams to DeafSphere, a new, dedicated organisation founded and owned by longtime SgSL specialists Andrew Tay and Yew Hau En. This transition is part of Equal Dreams’ demerger, reflecting its commitment to placing SgSL education in the hands of Deaf instructors and creating a Deaf-led space. DeafSphere will focus solely on SgSL education and community development.

Yes. Students who have passed a level with Equal Dreams may progress directly to the next level at DeafSphere, provided they enrol within the usual 6-month progression window.

Please note that the next level at DeafSphere will follow our new curriculum.

If it has been more than 6 months since you completed the previous level, you will need to complete a short Entry Assessment for Level 2 first. This helps us check your current SgSL skills and ensure you are ready to progress to the next level.

If you have successfully completed Level 3 with Equal Dreams, you have already completed the final level of the previous curriculum. You are therefore not required to take Level 4 at DeafSphere.

Instead, you are welcome to continue your learning through our Beyond Level 4 programmes.

Our new Level 4 forms part of the enhanced curriculum introduced for new students. While it covers many of the core concepts previously taught in Level 3, it has been expanded and refined with additional content, learning activities, and practical applications. If you would like to refresh your knowledge and experience the enhanced curriculum, you are welcome to enrol in Level 4, although this is entirely optional.

Relevant learning records and course progress are being transferred from Equal Dreams to DeafSphere to ensure continuity.

Follow DeafSphere's social channels. Equal Dreams will also share updates on their own channels until launch.

No. Level 1 is face-to-face only, because we found in-person classes more effective. If you would like to try SgSL online first, join a Zoom standalone class.

Go to our Programmes section to check out which are open for registration. If registration is closed for the one you are interested in, or the schedule does not fit yours at the moment, no worries. Head to the individual programme page and register your interest, so that you can get notified via email once the next intake is launched.

At the moment, SkillsFuture credits are not applicable for our programmes.

No. All payments are non-refundable once payment has been made, unless the programme is cancelled by DeafSphere.

However, if you are unable to attend the programme you registered for, you may transfer your enrolment to the next available run of the same programme. Please contact us as early as possible to make the necessary arrangements.

Let us know in your registration, and we will do our best to accommodate you, including interpretation or materials in accessible formats where needed.

We will prefer participants to be of at least 18 years old. Those who are keen to enrol but are below the age of 18, please first email us at hello@deafsphere.sg.

A few reasons: instructors can broadcast announcements and schedule changes to a whole class without anyone's phone number being visible to the group. Notes, video links, and PDFs can be shared directly in the chat. Polls make it quick to check who's coming to a makeup class. And pinned messages keep the next class time or homework link sitting at the top, so you're not scrolling back through days of chat to find it.

It depends on the level. In Level 1, students complete self-practice exercises primarily through auto-graded Google Forms to reinforce their learning.

From Level 2 onwards, homework is assigned to reinforce what you have learnt in class and provide additional opportunities to practise your receptive and expressive SgSL skills.

All self-practice exercises and assigned homework should be completed. Incomplete work may result in a deduction from your assessment score.

Mistakes are a natural part of learning, so the focus is on regular practice, completion, and effort.

More information about homework requirements will be shared during the first lesson.

Score 75% or above and you get Grade A, a Certificate of Completion with distinction, and a direct path into the next level. Score below that and you still finish the term, but with a Certificate of Attendance rather than Completion.

You will need to complete the SgSL Entry Assessment for Level 2, which is the highest level available for direct entry. This allows us to assess whether your existing SgSL skills meet the requirements.

Where possible, we also encourage students to continue their SgSL learning journey with the organisation where they began, as different organisations may follow different curricula, teaching approaches, and level progressions.

SEE (Signing Exact English) is a manual-coded system of English. While your previous signing experience may help with sign recognition, fingerspelling, and visual-gestural communication, SgSL is a visual-spatial language that has its own grammar and syntax.

Signing can occur along a continuum, from forms that are more influenced by English structure to forms that make greater use of SgSL grammar and linguistic features. Our curriculum focuses on developing your ability to communicate using more SgSL structures, before learning how to code-switch appropriately between different signing styles depending on the context and communication needs.

If you have prior SEE or other signing experience and would like to skip Level 1, please complete our Proficiency Check Form.

Not yet, it is currently being developed. It will follow the same format as our other levels once it is ready. See the Level 4 page to be notified when it opens.

If you have taken our old Level 3 curriculum, the new Level 4 is broadly comparable in level and difficulty. The curriculum has been reorganised into a clearer progression, so what was previously taught as Level 3 is now positioned around Level 4 in the new structure.

SgSLcore is our private sign-video resource library, created to support students in their SgSL learning and revision. Term-class students receive access to all signs taught across our courses, while standalone students receive access only to videos related to their own sessions. SgSLcore is for registered students’ personal learning and reference only and is not available to the public.

It should not be treated as an official SgSL dictionary or as an attempt to standardise SgSL signs. Sign languages naturally have variation, and the videos reflect signs used and taught within our programme.

Access Period
Term-class students receive full access to SgSLcore throughout their course and for 6 months after the course ends.

If you enrol in the next course within this 6-month period, your access will continue without interruption. Your 6-month post-course access period will then restart after your new course ends.

After completing Level 4, or once your 6-month post-course access has ended, you may choose to continue accessing SgSLcore for a small amount per year.

This small annual contribution helps support the running and maintenance of our website, ongoing development of SgSLcore, and the work and effort of our team, allowing us to sustain and improve the resource over the long term.

Our Long-Term Goal
SgSLcore is still a work in progress. As the library grows, we will continue reviewing, improving, and expanding its content.

Our hope is that, when SgSLcore is sufficiently developed and ready for wider use, we can eventually make the resource publicly accessible without a subscription fee. 

A standalone class is a self-contained 3-session taster with a Certificate of Attendance. It doesn't replace Level 1, the first step of the Level 1 – 4 pathway.

Yes, though it is a separate registration, completing a standalone class does not automatically enrol you in Level 1.