Published on: 16th November 2022
Recently, we were lucky enough to sit down with Danni Walker to discuss her passion for Auslan. Danni’s story may inspire you to consider a career teaching Auslan yourself. If you thinking about a career as an Auslan Trainer, find out more and apply now by visiting our careers page here.
Danni is an Auslan trainer at Deaf Connect (formerly Deaf Services and the Deaf Society). Over ten years ago, she started teaching beginner Auslan classes. Danni enjoyed it so much that she decided to undertake further study. As a result, she completed the Diploma of Interpreting and the Diploma of Auslan, which helped develop her enthusiasm and excitement for teaching Auslan to students looking to enhance their knowledge in the language.
Danni says, “I’m always looking to expand my experience and learn more about Auslan”. She would encourage anyone thinking about teaching Auslan to complete the Diploma of Auslan and the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment courses. Danni explains that her further education “has given me a better understanding of the language and how people learn and will help me explain information and context to students”.
Danni’s advice for new or aspiring Auslan trainers would be to make sure you have patience, time management skills, and passion. Danni describes the career as “exciting, interesting, and challenging at times”. She says that her students are all different and come from diverse backgrounds, and trainers need to adapt to their student’s interests and needs.
Danni’s favourite part of being an Auslan trainer is sharing that excitement and passion for the language and the Deaf community with her students; “I love Auslan as a language, it’s a beautiful visual language, and it is comfortable for me to use“.
Danni has already achieved many of her personal goals, including becoming an Auslan trainer. In the future, she would like to see more people know and understand Auslan and for the deaf and hearing community to communicate together easily.
If you think a career as an Auslan Trainer is right for you, you can apply now by visiting our careers page here.
