footballmom Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 Hi, my youngest is really interested in learning ASL. What resources do you recommend to learn it? I have some Christmas gift $ in the budget to put towards an online class, books, videos, whatever is effective and makes the learning approachable. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 Sign It is pretty good. I find it helpful to have gone through the quicker Signing Time Sentences, which is a dvd meant for older learners. Sign It takes it a step further and does a whole online course with checkpoints, bringing in more deaf & CODA actors to reinforce concepts. There is a free course through LifePrint that is also geared toward adults. It's best with a buddy or small group, but doable alone if a person is motivated. If you ask my own teen ds, he discovered ASL on SnapChat and thinks it's great, but it's not organized. It's more of a reinforcement than a class. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 How old is your teen? Our local cc has online and in person ASL classes. Your student may get more out of a structured class with practice opportunities. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footballmom Posted December 12, 2023 Author Share Posted December 12, 2023 18 hours ago, KungFuPanda said: How old is your teen? Our local cc has online and in person ASL classes. Your student may get more out of a structured class with practice opportunities. New to the teen years 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 2 hours ago, footballmom said: New to the teen years 😉 Ahhhh, yes, 13 would be too young, but once your child is in high school there may be some dual enrollment options that are appealing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusyMom5 Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 Lifeprint.com! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 https://courses.osd.k12.ok.us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I talk to the trees Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 Bill Vicars (Lifeprint) and Meredith Rathbone (LearnHowToSign.com) both have lots of clear, fun, and free videos on YouTube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 My best advice is to find an in-person instructor in your community. Most places have them. There's a huge difference in experience when learning a new language. My teen has been doing duolingo for a spoken language for a few years now, but just started beginner in person instruction where they have a lot of opportunities for true conversation. Learning vocabulary in isolation (by yourself) gives you a taste of a language, but it doesn't really give you depth ime. That said, if she's just wanting a taste of what ASL is like Learn How to Sign on YouTube is helpful. Start with the 25 ASL Signs You Need to Know video. This lady does it right when talking about palm orientation, hand shape, movement, face emotion, etc. She also explains why the signs are what they are when it's relevant, which is important for future language expansion. She goes really fast, there's no review, and I find some of the video positioning a bit weird, but it's not a deal breaker for me. Kid4 spent their baby and toddler years signing because kid2 was deaf, but when kid2 died, we stopped signing as a family. Kid4 wanted to pick it back up again, with only a few memories to go off of, and these were helpful for them. One aside that I haven't really ever seen mentioned in a video, but I wanted to explain. Notice that the instructor is almost always in a solid color shirt in a contrasting tone (ie beige people shouldn't wear beige). It offers a clearer contrast and it's much easier to follow a conversation when someone isn't wearing a distracting shirt. This is especially true if there are also vision issues at play. The other things that I haven't really seen covered in videos that she will need to know if she becomes serious about the language are the Deaf culture issues. It's rude to watch a private conversation (it's like eavesdropping) and it's also rude to break eye contact if you are in a conversation (it's like pointedly ignoring a person). Deaf groups also tend to be hella blunt, and things that would be shocking to say in a spoken language aren't necessarily shocking in a Deaf conversation. There are some other nuance things, but these were the biggest things we encountered as hearing people interacting with the Deaf community. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 You really need in person tutoring for grammar and story telling techniques. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted December 14, 2023 Share Posted December 14, 2023 I highly recommend the tutor Kimmi Krauss on iTalki. She's excellent. iTalki does gift cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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