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5 Comments

  1. i tried learning it ,its not to hard but i have forgotten
    it all ! by now that’s been years ago !
    never had a chance to use it !

  2. Normally local colleges and community centers will offer courses in sign language. For a small fee you can learn in a small group with a teacher and you’ll meet once a week or so. I would imagine that books are good but could get confusing with small differences in hand position or when trying to form full sentences. So if you are willing to join a small class email your local colleges and ask about community courses or “adult” learning courses. Even if you are not an adult there are still classes you can take. They call them “adult” sometimes since they teach lots of things like river rafting, gardening, motorcycle riding, Spanish, computers, etc. Good luck. I’ve always wanted to learn myself but never considered just getting a book.

  3. You could also try the internet for some basic vocab – just make sure you choose the right language: not all countries are based on American Sign Language.

    Just google that – there are some pretty good ones with video “translations”

    Good luck 😛

  4. What a lot of people do not understand is that American Sign Language is not simply English on their hands. It is a unique language. It has its own grammar and syntax. If you simply learn from books you will never fully understand that part of the language. You need to be around other signers, preferably Deaf people.

    So it is possible to learn vocabulary from a book/dictionary, but to learn the language it’s best to find a class or tutor or something.

    How hard or easy really depends on you. If you are a more visual/spatial learner it shouldn’t be a problem. If you are an aural learner, it could be very tough.

    Good luck!

  5. I’m studying AUSLAN (Australian sign language) at a tafe college at the moment, I don’t think it would be possible to learn it from a book, the basic vocab yes but sentence structure and classifier signs need to be taught.

    A book is may be a good start/supplement though, just be careful about book selection, make sure you go for a book with the sign language you are after (I almost made that mistake when 1st starting, nearly grabbed an American book). Make sure its a modern, up to date book that is ASL (assuming you’re American) and not Signed English or something.

    Also its much easier to learn the vocab from an online/cd dictionary than a book dictionary, its a lot better to see the sign being preformed than it is to see a drawing, which can’t just cant show all the signs properly and doesn’t have facial expressions (which are a phonological parameter), the facial expression can completely alter the meaning of the sign.

    My advice: its better to go to a class and learn it from a native speaker, the book may just help you stay a bit ahead of the class

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