Where I work, we have several deaf clients and I have always wanted to learn how to sign, so now I have a reason. For those who have learned it, what worked best for you? Any suggestions on books, etc that helped you?
I would love to take a class but right now I don’t have a lot of free time (working and trying to finish my degree this semester) plus there aren’t any classes being offered right now in my area. They offer them in the fall, but by then I may be living somwhere else.
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go to the welfare school
I learned the basics, such as ABC’s & everyday signs. Then I started with classes. For me, being musical…I discovered that I remembered signs better when I put a song I already knew into sign. It “stuck” better.
Then I moved up to more advanced classes. Finally, I did some immersion (involvement in Deaf Community without using my voice) that was a real eye-opener.
I also began visiting places where Deaf Interpreters were needed, & volunteered my services.
Good luck! sign is a beautiful way to express oneself. Know there is a big difference between signed English & American Sign Language. I suggest you learn ASL.
I would recommend a class or a video to go with the books. ASL is a visual language. What you see in the book is static, and you don’t always get the true picture of what the signs really look like.
my friends mom is partially deaf and she used to teach my family sign language. i dont know that much of it anymore but its a really fun language to learn. you might want to try taking a college class, most colleges have sign language classes. also, if you know someone who knows sign language you could ask them to teach you. hope this helps good luck!
I some basic signs along with a family with an adopted deaf son. After that, I took some ASL classes at the local community college. The teachers in the program were all deaf, so it was total immersion from day 1. I really think total immersion is the best way to do it.
As far as books… sign language is all visual, and there is a lot that goes into it. The hand shape, motien, position in reference to the body, facial expression, eyebrow position, etc. You can’t capture all that in a book, you really need to learn from a person. But you DO need a good dictionary. My favorites are the Random House Webster’s American Sign Language Dictionary by Elaine Costella and American SIgn Language DIctionary by Martin Sternberg (see links below)
Once you have someone to learn with, practice till your hands fall off :). If there is a local deaf community, see if they have any events you can attend to practice your sign language. Attend local shows and concerts with sign language interpretation. Volunteer to spend some time with deaf kids – their moms will love you for giving them a break, and you will get EXCELLENT practice trying to play pretend in sign language!
I highly reccomend videos as opposed to books as signlanguage involves a lot of movement which is hard to understand in a little sketch of one body with 600 hands! (if you’ve looked at a sign language book, u know what I mean!)
There are several videos out there…check the library in your area. There are also web sites. aslpro.com and asl.ms
and since there are deaf clients where you work…why not ask one of them to help you with your sign language? Most deaf people love to teach people who are willing to learn!!!