Document: Learning Tables

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There are a number of approved braille teaching courses available. These courses are designed to teach braille in easy stages, adding wordsigns, contractions, punctuation, etc., over a number of lessons.

This feature is in no way a substitute for these courses, but it allows you to produce additional braille material for students to help them become more familiar with what has been introduced at each stage.

DBT currently includes 7 courses - BANA (2), BAUK (3) and UEB (2).

Details of each course can be seen by clicking on the appropriate link below:

1 - NLS I.B.B.T. (BANA)

2 - TSVBI Clusters (BANA)

3 - Braille in Easy Steps (BAUK/UKAAF)

4 - Fingerprint (BAUK/UKAAF)

5 - Take off Series (BAUK/UKAAF)

6 - RNZFB STAR (UEB New Zealand)

7 - S.A. Syllabus Level (UEB South Africa)

NLS I.M.B.T. (BANA)

The first series of "select contractions" steps is based upon the "Instruction Manual for Braille Transcribers," (Fourth Edition, 2000) published by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Library of Congress. The lesson numbers associated with the steps correspond to that document; the contractions are introduced as follows:

Lesson 4.2: but, can, do, every, from, go, have, just, knowledge, like, more, not, people, quite, rather, so, that, us, very, will, it, you, as

Lesson 4.3: and, for, of, the, with

Lesson 5: ch, sh, th, wh, ou, st, child, shall, this, which, out, still

Lesson 6: ar, ed, er, gh, ow, ble, ing

Lesson 7.2: his, was, were, be, in, enough, en

Lesson 7.5: con, dis

Lesson 7.6: com

Lesson 7.10: good, letter, little, paid, quick, said

Lesson 8.1: to, into, by

Lesson 8.2: bb, cc, dd, ff, gg, ea

Lesson 8.3: about, above, because, below, children, first, great

Lesson 9.1: day, ever, father, here, know, lord, mother, name, one, part, question, right, some, time, under, work, young, character, through, where, ought, there, upon, word, those, whose, these, cannot, had, many, spirit, world, their

Lesson 9.7: according, always, braille, o'clock, perhaps

Lesson 10.1: ound, ance, sion, less, ount, ence, ong, ful, tion, ness, ment, ity, ation, ally

Lesson 10.2: across, almost, also, immediate, must, necessary

Lesson 11 of the Instruction Manual introduces the final group, namely the short-form words: after, afternoon, afterward, again, against, already, although, altogether, before, behind, beneath, beside, between, beyond, blind, friend, together, could, should, would, either, neither, much, such, today, to-day, tonight, to-night, tomorrow, him, himself, its, itself, your, yourself, yourselves, herself, myself, oneself, ourselves, themselves, thyself, declare, declaring, rejoice, rejoicing, conceive, conceiving, deceive, deceiving, perceive, perceiving, receive, receiving

This last level is not in the "Select Contractions" list, because inclusion of the short-form words amounts to full grade 2, which is selected simply by choosing "English/American (Literary)" without "Select Contractions".

TSVBI Clusters (BANA)

The second graduated contractions series is based upon the "Clusters" defined and used by the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

The complete TSBVI "Clusters" sequence is listed below. Note that Cluster 1 is equivalent to grade 1, and Clusters 54 and above are equivalent to grade 2. Those clusters that are omitted in the menu are marked with an asterisk (*). Apart from Cluster 54, the reason that the others are omitted is that they introduce no new contractions nor the letter sign:

1: a, t, m

*2: b, g, i

3: a, that, more, but, go

*4: capital, period, I

*5: r, f, n

*6: x, l, s

7: rather, from, not

8: it, like, so

9: d, do, p, people, k, knowledge

10: y, you, c, can

11: h, have, o, question mark

12: q, quite, u, us, comma

13: w, will, e, every

14: v, very, z, as

15: j, just, and

*16: (Reading exercises)

17: mother, father, right, time, exclamation point

18: lord, some, day, part, name

19: know, young, here, one

20: question, under, work, ever, apostrophe

*21: number sign, numerals

22: hyphen, numeric dates, letter sign

*23: comma in large numbers

24: the, there, braille, ing, him

25: about, according, after, also, afternoon, afterward

26: th, this, although, through, across, already

*27: (Reading exercises)

28: almost, always, blind, either, neither, ed

29: of, by, myself, himself, itself, oneself, yourself

30: had, quick, its, these, cannot, open quote, closed quote

31: sh, shall, should, would, could, good, paid

32: tion, er, herself, perhaps

33: o'clock, was, con, cc, colon

34: ou, out, ought, today, tonight, tomorrow

35: for, ch, child, children, character, such, much

36: ar, ound, above, en, enough

*37: (Reading exercises)

38: great, together, little, ow, ance

39: be, bb, semicolon, spirit

40: because, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond

41: sion, ble, his, your, friend, letter

42: less, their, ourselves, yourselves, themselves

43: with, st, still, first, must, again, against

44: ount, dollar sign, decimal, cent, many

45: percent, fraction bar, ity

46: ence, altogether, immediate, com

*47: (Reading exercises)

48: wh, which, where, world, ea

49: to, ff, in, into, those, said, ong

50: word, were, gg, parentheses

51: ness, ment, necessary, ally

52: dis, dd, gh, ation, ful

53: upon, whose, thyself

*54: conceive, conceiving, deceive, deceiving, declare, declaring, perceive, perceiving, receive, receiving, rejoice, rejoicing

*55: dash, ellipsis, asterisk, italics or underline

*56: double dash, brackets, inner quotes, accent sign, termination sign, degrees

Braille in Easy Steps (BAUK)

by John Lorimer (revised by Claire Wilson, 2007)

Duxbury Levels

Because three letters are not introduced until Book 7 (j, q, z), but all other letters have been learned by the end of Book 4, this would have to be the first Duxbury level, with the three missing letters taught specially if they occur. So, the Duxbury levels would look like this:

Book 4

(note: letters j, q and z may occur which are not formally taught until Book 7)

Pre-braille and tracking skills

The alphabet (j, q and z not formally introduced, but may crop up)

Wordsigns: but, can, do, every, from, go, have, knowledge, like, more, not, people, rather, so, that, us, very, will, it, you, and, of, the, in, into, was, in

Contractions: and, of, the, ed, in

Punctuation: full stop, question mark, exclamation mark, comma

Other signs: capital letter sign (dot 6)

Book 5

Contractions: er, ing

Shortforms: could, good, would

Punctuation: apostrophe

Book 6

Contractions: st, ar, en, ea

Wordsigns: still, enough

Composite signs: one, time, there, had

Shortforms: about, after, again

Punctuation: Ellipsis

Book 7

Letters: j, q, z

Wordsigns: which, his, just, quite, as, were

Contractions: wh, ow

5. after Book 8

Wordsign: shall

Contractions: gh, sh

Shortforms: him, said

Punctuation: quotation (speech) marks, hyphen

Book 9

Wordsigns: out, this

Contractions: ou, th

Composite signs: mother, father, some

Shortforms: across, perhaps

Book 10

Wordsigns: child, for, with, be

Contractions: ch, com, for, with, be, ble

Composite signs: day, where, -ound, -less

Shortforms: against, quick

Other signs: numeral sign, decimal point (dot 2), mathematical comma (dot 3), pound sign (dots 1-2-3)

Book 11

Contractions: bb, cc, dd, ff, gg, dis

Composite signs: their, word, these, -ong, -ally, -ful, -ment

Shortforms: although

Punctuation: dash

Book 12

Wordsigns: by

Contraction: con,

Composite signs: here, know, ought, right, ever, through, work

Shortforms: friend, must, your, today, tomorrow, tonight, afternoon, much, such, herself, himself, myself, yourself, above, before, below, beneath, should

Other signs: italic sign, double italic sign, italic closure sign

Book 13

Composite signs: -ance, part, name, young, -tion, -ness, -ount

Shortforms: because, behind, beside, between, beyond, children, great, its, little, afterwards, almost, always, first, together

Punctuation: brackets

By the end of Book 14, the cmplete contracted braille code should be familiar (see exceptions below - which would have to be explained if context did not make the meanings apparent)

Book 14

Composite signs: many, world, those, -ation, question, under, upon, -ence, -ity, -sion

Shortforms: also, already, blind, braille, letter, paid, receive, receiving, themselves, either, neither, immediate, necessary

Other signs: braille letter sign (dots 5-6)

Not included in this course

The following rarely used signs have not been taught in Braille in Easy Steps. The pupil is warned at the end of Book 14 that they may encounter some of these unfamiliar signs in their braille reading, and a list is given.

Composite signs: lord, character, cannot, spirit, whose

Shortforms: according, altogether, conceive, conceiving, deceive, deceiving, declare, declaring, itself, o'clock, oneself, ourselves, perceive, perceiving, rejoice, rejoicing, thyself, yourselves

Punctuation: slash, square brackets, inner quotes

Mathematical signs: plus, minus, multiplication sign, division sign, equals, per centage sign, fractions in braille, separation sign

Other signs: bullet point sign (dots 4-5-6, dots 2-5-6), asterisk (dots 3-5 twice), ampersand (dot 4, 1-2-3-4-6), accented letter sign (dot 4), Euro sign (dot 4, e)

Fingerprint (BAUK)

The "select contractions" step series is based upon the "Fingerprint" course originally developed in 1993 by the late Nigel Berry, Lecturer in Braille at the Royal National College for the Blind, Hereford, UK, and now published by the RNIB. The contractions are introduced in the following units:

Unit 1: (equivalent to grade 1)

Unit 4: as, but, can, do, every, from, go, have, it, just, knowledge, like, more, not, people, quite, rather, so, that, us, very, will, you

Unit 5: about, above, according, across, and, after, afterward, afternoon, again, against, st, still

Unit 6: almost, already, also, although, altogether, always, th, this, was

Unit 7: be, because, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, were

Unit 8: ch, child, children, could, either, first, friend, good, great, him, neither, sh, shall, should, would

Unit 9: ar, er, immediate, its, letter, little, much, must, necessary, o'clock, paid, perhaps, said, such

Unit 10: blind, braille, ing, quick, the, today, to-day, together, tomorrow, tonight, to-night, your

Unit 11: ble, gh, of, wh, which, with

Unit 12: ed, for, ou, out, ow

Unit 13: by, enough, his, in (as word sign only), into, to

Unit 14: cannot, had, many, spirit, their, these, those, upon, whose, word, world

Unit 15: bb, cc, com, con, dd, dis, ea, en, ff, gg, in (general use)

Unit 16: character, day, ever, father, here, know, lord, mother, name, one, ought, part, question, right, some, there, through, time, under, where, work, young

Unit 17: ally, ance, ation, ence, ful, ity, less, ment, ness, ong, ound, ount, sion, tion

Unit 18 (full grade 2 EXCEPT that the letter sign is not used): conceive, conceiving, deceive, deceiving, declare, declaring, herself, himself, itself, myself, oneself, ourselves, perceive, perceiving, receive, receiving, rejoice, rejoicing, themselves, thyself, yourself, yourselves

Take Off Reading Scheme (BAUK)

Take Off is divided into 12 levels, and a group of grade 2 braille signs is taught at each level. It is assumed that the following braille signs are already known when a pupil starts using Take Off:

The alphabet

All alphabetic wordsigns (excluding k for knowledge)

Upper contractions: and, the

Shortforms: good, little

A small number of grade 2 braille signs are not taught at all in Take Off. These are:

Afterward (afw)

Braille (brl)

conceive (CONcv)

conceiving (CONcvg)

deceiving (dcvg)

lord (dot 5 l)

oneself (dot 5 of)

perceive (pERcv)

perceiving (pERcvg)

rejoice (rjc)

rejoicing (rjcg)

thyself (Thyf)

The Italics signs and rules are also not covered.

Take Off

Series 1

Upper contractions: for, of, ou, ing

Wordsigns: out

Lower contractions: in

Series 2

Upper contractions: with, ed, st, ar

Wordsigns: still

Lower contractions: to

Shortforms: him

Series 3

Upper contractions: sh, th, er, ow

Wordsigns: this

Lower contractions: en

Composite contractions: day

Series 4

Upper contractions: ch

Wordsigns: child

Lower contractions: was, into

Composite contractions: one, some, time, there

Shortforms: children

Series 5

Upper contractions: wh

Wordsigns: which

Lower contractions: ea, his, were

Composite contractions: under, where

Series 6

Lower contractions: by

Composite contractions: name, work

Final groupsigns: ation

Shortforms: friend, letter, again, about, your

Series 7

Upper contractions: gh, ble

Lower contractions: bb, cc, dd, ff, gg, enough

Composite contractions: father, mother, know

Final groupsigns: sion

Shortforms: great, together, said, himself, herself, myself, yourself, perhaps, also, its

Series 8

Wordsigns: shall

Lower contractions: be, com, dis

Composite contractions: cannot

Final groupsigns: ong, ound, ence

Shortforms: could, would, today, much, such, afternoon, tomorrow, tonight

Series 9

Composite contractions: right, here

Final groupsigns: ance

Shortforms: because, behind, should, always, o'clock, after

Series 10

Lower contractions: con

Composite contractions: ever, part, through, many, their

Final groupsigns: ount, ment, tion

Shortforms: almost, first, above, quick, across, already, paid, before, beneath, beside

Series 11

Alphabetic wordsign: knowledge

Composite contractions: question, ought, character, spirit, world

Final groupsigns: less, ness, ful, ity, ally

Shortforms: declare, deceive, against, immediate, receive, receiving, below, between, beyond

Series 12

Composite contractions: young, upon, word, these, those, whose

Shortforms: according, themselves, must, neither, necessary, ourselves, either, yourselves, although, blind, altogether, itself, afterwards

RNZFB STAR (UEB)

The "RNZFB STAR" series is based upon the document entitled "STAR -- Order of introduction of braille signs," prepared by the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind. The contractions are introduced in the following order:

Level 1.1 Alphabet letter wordsigns: like, can, but, knowledge, it, people, every

Level 1.3 Alphabet letter wordsigns: very, go, more, us, you

Level 1.5 Alphabet letter wordsigns: have, rather, do, that, so

Level 1.7 Alphabet letter wordsigns: from, just, quite, will, not, as

Level 1.8 Shortforms: about, above, according, also, again, almost, blind, little, either, immediate

Level 1.9 Shortforms: across, already, altogether, braille, could, deceive, deceiving, declare, declaring, good, great, him, its, letter, paid, said, receive, receiving, today, together, tomorrow, tonight, your, yourselves

Level 1.10 Shortforms: after, afternoon, afterward, always, friend, himself, myself, necessary, neither, quick, rejoice, rejoicing, would, yourself, itself

Level 2.1 Contractions: and, for, of

Level 2.2 Contractions: the, with

Level 2.3 Contractions: st, ar, ing, still

Level 2.4 Contractions: ed, er

Level 2.5 Contractions: ou, ow, out

Level 2.6 Contractions: ch, gh, sh, child, shall

Level 2.7 Contractions:: th, wh, this, which

Level 2.9 Shortforms: themselves, herself, against, first, must, perceive, perceiving, perhaps

Level 2.10 Shortforms: children, much, such, should, although, ourselves, thyself

Level 3.1 Contractions: en, in (groupsign)

Level 3.2 Contractions: be (wordsign) were, his, was

Level 3.3 Contractions: enough, in (wordsign)

Level 3.4 Contractions: be (groupsign) con, dis

Level 3.7 Shortforms: before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, because, conceive, conceiving

Level 3.8 Contraction: ea

Level 3.9 Contractions: bb, cc, ff, gg

Level 4.1 Contractions (dot 5): day, ever, father, here, know, lord, mother

Level 4.2 Contractions (dot 5): name, one, part, question, right

Level 4.3 Contractions (dot 5): some, time, under, work, young

Level 4.4 Shortform: oneself

Level 4.5 Contractions (dot 5): there, where, ought

Level 4.6 Contractions (dot 5): character, through

Level 4.7 Contractions (dots 45): upon, word, these

Level 4.8 Contractions (dots 45): those, whose

Level 4.9 Contractions (dots 456): cannot, had, many

Level 4.10 Contractions (dots 456): spirit, world, their

Level 5.1 Contractions (dots 46): ound, ance, ount

Level 5.2 Contractions (dots 46): sion, less

Level 5.3 Contractions (dots 56): ence, ong, ful, ness

Level 5.4 Contractions (dots 56) (Fully contracted UEB): tion, ment, ity

S.A. Syllabus (UEB)

The "S.A. Syllabus" series is based upon the document entitled "Syllabus -- Order in Which Braille Contractions Are Learnt", prepared by Reinette Popplestone for the University of Cape Town Disability Unit, for teaching English Braille to students in South Africa. The contractions are introduced in the following order:

Level 1.1 Alphabetic word signs: but, people, can, quite, do, rather, every, so, from, that, go, us, have, very, just, will, knowledge, it, like, you, more, as, not

Level 1.2 Five contractions: and, for, of, the, with

Level 1.3 Initial-letter contractions with dot 5: day, part, ever, question, father, right, here, some, know, time, lord, under, mother, work, name, young, one, there

Level 1.4 Two related contractions: these, their

Level 2.1 Short forms: about, good, above, great, according, him, across, immediate, after, little, afternoon, letter, afterward, necessary, again, neither, also, paid, almost, quick, already, said, altogether, today, always, together, blind, tomorrow, braille, tonight, could, would, either, its, friend, your

Level 2.2 Group signs: gh, ed, er, ow, ar, ing

Level 2.3 Group signs which also have a word meaning: ch, child, sh, shall, th, this, wh, which, ou, out, st, still

Level 2.4 Initial-letter contractions with dots 45 and 456: upon, cannot, word, had, those, many, whose, spirit, world

Level 2.5 Two lower contractions: en, in (as part-word only)

Level 3.1 Lower group signs: ea, be (as part-word only), bb, con, cc, dis, ff, gg

Level 3.2 Lower word signs: be, enough, were, his, in, was

Level 3.3 The remaining initial-letter contractions: character, through, where, ought

Level 3.4 The remaining short forms: against, itself, although, yourself, declare, yourselves, declaring, themselves, deceive, children, deceiving, should, first, thyself, himself, ourselves, herself, because, myself, before, must, behind, much, below, perhaps, beneath, perceive, beside, perceiving, between, receive, beyond, receiving, conceive, rejoice, conceiving, rejoicing, oneself, such

Level 3.5 Terminal group signs: ound, ence, ance, ong, sion, ful, ness, tion, ount, ment, ity, less

Level 4.1 Contractions from pre-unified code: o'clock, ble, com, dd, to, into, by, ation, ally

Note: Level 4.1 is, naturally, not relevant when Unified English Braille is the basis of the series as level 3.5 constitutes fully contracted UEB.