What’s the best route for a twelve year old to take? He is a quick study, so I’m thinking either a book or CD. But which ones? Any suggestions? Thanks,
mom
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Sign Language Lessons, Information, Product Reviews and Tips to Get Started Learning ASL
What’s the best route for a twelve year old to take? He is a quick study, so I’m thinking either a book or CD. But which ones? Any suggestions? Thanks,
mom
.
Hi Mom,
I found that it’s very hard to learn sign language from a book, because they do not convey the movements and expression that are so key to ASL.
There are so many to choose from, but the Webster’s DVD, “American Sign Language: Getting Started in Signing” might be good for him. Failing that, if you call your local community college, they can make recommendations based on what they use in their ASL courses.
Good luck!
Do not attempt to let him learn by himself without the instruction of a teacher.
This is because American Sign Language is a complex language with its own grammatical rules. It uses different sentence structure. They do not use the words “and, to, any form of be like is am are” and many other words. They set up sentences similar to this: “I happy I” or “Happy I” or “I happy”. This varies based on the sentence context which no book or self learn CD can help him with.
Several years ago (like 20 or so), I tried to teach myself ASL…well, in reality, I was learning Signed English Exactly which is frowned apon in the deaf community. It took years for me to be able to retrain myself from it. Since then, I have received a doctorates degree in being a Teacher for the Deaf and American Sign Language.
I have a 14 year old daughter. I learned mostly from a book. But the best way to learn would be from a deaf person. It is very easy to communication to a deaf person that wants to help. Hope I have helped.