Learning American Sign Language
May 18, 2005 5:43 AM Subscribe
I'd like to learn American Sign Language. Are there any good, free web resources that would let me teach myself?
I know you're asking for free web resources, but my wife learned to be fluent in ASL at the local community college. The live interaction was very helpful.
I think she also had a CD-ROM called The American Sign Language Dictionary. When I googled "American Sign Language Dictionary", I found lots of online stuff, some of which is free.
posted by Doohickie at 8:22 AM on May 18, 2005
I think she also had a CD-ROM called The American Sign Language Dictionary. When I googled "American Sign Language Dictionary", I found lots of online stuff, some of which is free.
posted by Doohickie at 8:22 AM on May 18, 2005
Best answer: I first started learning ASL from books and a CD ROM. Over the years, this site has added more and more signs and is something I look to in the times I get rusty (like now). If you want to start learning some things for free online, I'd look there.
Things to remember, though, is that while the signs can be easily learned, ASL does not follow anything like the same grammatical structures of English and can be quite varied. It is only in recent years that the language and constructs are really being studied and documented in any meaningful way. The best way to learn anything more than vocabulary is to become involved in the deaf community and with other students.
For the next step up from free, I'd say that spending $50 or so on the something like the ASL books/video combo used in colleges be the best investment. Lots of signs, explanations and workbooks as well as the videos that allow you to learn to actually read other people's signing (by far the more difficult task).
When practiced, I'm quite fluent in ASL and my total investment was probably under $300 total. When I started, I was learning dozens of signs a day with this book and CD ROM. Eventually, though, I knew it wasn't amounting to much in the way of communtication so I signed up for an adult education class (about $60, I think) and was invited by the instructor to take her university ASL 3 class ($150 registration, $75 in books or so). I went on to be a teaching assistant there for a few years.
All in all, money very well spent. I love ASL and find it a very useful language. I'm excited any time I see people looking to learn it. Good luck!
posted by aaronh at 12:07 PM on May 18, 2005
Things to remember, though, is that while the signs can be easily learned, ASL does not follow anything like the same grammatical structures of English and can be quite varied. It is only in recent years that the language and constructs are really being studied and documented in any meaningful way. The best way to learn anything more than vocabulary is to become involved in the deaf community and with other students.
For the next step up from free, I'd say that spending $50 or so on the something like the ASL books/video combo used in colleges be the best investment. Lots of signs, explanations and workbooks as well as the videos that allow you to learn to actually read other people's signing (by far the more difficult task).
When practiced, I'm quite fluent in ASL and my total investment was probably under $300 total. When I started, I was learning dozens of signs a day with this book and CD ROM. Eventually, though, I knew it wasn't amounting to much in the way of communtication so I signed up for an adult education class (about $60, I think) and was invited by the instructor to take her university ASL 3 class ($150 registration, $75 in books or so). I went on to be a teaching assistant there for a few years.
All in all, money very well spent. I love ASL and find it a very useful language. I'm excited any time I see people looking to learn it. Good luck!
posted by aaronh at 12:07 PM on May 18, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by evilelf at 6:59 AM on May 18, 2005