How should I go about learning American Sign Language fastest and most efficiently? I know that it’s not easy… how long do you think it would take, especially if you have learned it as a hearing/speaking person?
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School and practice…probably less than a year to communicate somewhat effectively with the deaf in America.
There are classes, check with your local Junior college. If you really want to get into it, you must practice, practice, practice. Volunteer to help out deaf patients at a hospital, but make sure they know your ability level. Enthusiasm and a willingness to learn will go a long way.
The absolute basics are not that difficult at all and can be mastered in a very short time—-it is the more complex of the words and phrases that will be the trick for you but there again the basics —when utilized to their fullness–can and do cover an awful lot of territory
Try hunting down a book on this subject that you will find is a marvelous introduction and beginning to the art—it will change your life—-
THE JOY OF SIGNING—-by Lottie L Riekehof
it should be available through your favorite book seller near you
Its like learning any language. The more you use it, the sooner you learn it. If you want to learn it fast, start using it “all the time”. Whenever you are talking in a casual situation (friends and family), sign. And it won’t take long to learn it. Take a class or two, and then get a sign reference book for looking up words. Took me about 6 months to get to where I could say and understand about anything in sign. About a year to where I could work as a paid interpreter at the college I was attending.
I have taken Sign Language for the past two years through my college and I am still not that great at it. I can hold up a simple conversation, but I still need the other signer to slow way down.
ASL takes a long time to learn. It is hard to learn it just in a classroom. You actually have to go into the Deaf Community to practice your skills. Plus the language is always changing and evolving. For example, one sign in Ohio might be totally different for the same word in Kentucky. That is one reason why it takes a lot of time and practice.