About two weeks ago, I decided to enroll in an American Sign Language class. I decided to go with a local non-profit, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services. They are based out of GR, MI and advocate for issues concerning, well, Deaf and hard of hearing (now and forever more, abbreviated as HoH).
Besides ASL, DHHS offer lip-reading for Deaf and HoH folks as well as adjusting/knowing about adaptive technology (ie telephones) that are available to anyone who may need these technologies. DHHS offers great services for both Deaf/HoH and any community members that are interested in knowing the challenges and culture of Deaf/HoH.
I'll also note that most local community colleges offer ASL courses/classes. But be very aware that CCs charge by the credit hour and may treat you as a student, which gets really complicated and messy if you are just taking a few ASL classes. Your CC (or community education center) may have non-credit classes that are worth looking into as well. All that being said:
Just like learning any other new language, American Sign Language/ASL is tough. And just like "Spanish for Dummies", there's free/cheap resources for ASL. But I'd say to actually learn the language it's best to actually go to an in-person class, using the cheaper resources to help you. Keep in mind that it takes on average, about 8 years to fully learn and understand a new language--ASL is no different. I'll note here that besides American Sign Language, there's French Sign Language, Spanish etc etc etc. Learning ASL is learning a new language and do not forget that.
Like any language, there's many parts to ASL...you'll probably be better off having a "real-live" Deaf teacher telling you all that instead of you having to read something off the internet--that may or may not really be true. And yes, my teacher is Deaf.
The really tricky thing about ASL is that there's so many "dialects"--my teacher said that if I move to a different state, I'd have to learn that state's sign language--while there's likely to be similarities, there's likely to be a lot of differences. Basically speaking...there's more than one way to sign "how"-there's 3 signs of "how?" as in "how are you?" Then there's a sign for "how much?" as in "how much should I tip the waiter?" It's confusing and wild and crazy. Being said...
Although I am just going into week 3 outta 10, here's what has helped me really understand and memorize the signs in ASL:
- These flash cards from Barnes and Nobles. There's a TON of flash cards on the market for teaching your baby ASL. But for adults, I find these useful and awesome.
- Print-outs of the alphabet. I printed a copy and carry it EVERYwhere with me...I also made it my desktop wallpaper. I usually finger spell a word or two while waiting for things to load. Just Google "ASL alphabet printable" or run a Google image search and pick a chart you like and print it!
- Lifeprint.com. I found this to be the easiest-to-understand, yet FREE, ASL tools out there. Each week, we're given a list of vocab words and together as a class we write notes on how to sign them...I can't always read my scribbles--so I often look up words on this site. PLUS they have some nifty ASL screensavers and games!
- ASL Finger Spelling "Game" If no one in your family, but you, knows ASL this "game" makes practicing easy.
- Teach your significant other. It's fun teaching Andrew the ASL alphabet. We'll often jump ahead and look up other words...like "shower", we'll sign "I going take shower" (while proper English is "I am going to take a shower", ASL is often literal).
Fascinating..you are.
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