Guides
Nine guides for new ASL learners
Free to read, with no sign-up. Read them in whatever order matches the question in front of you, and use them as preparation for learning with Deaf people.
The language itself
How ASL works as a language, and the first building blocks almost every learner meets.
-
Why ASL is its own language, with its own grammar
Word order, space and the face all work differently from English. A look at how ASL sentences are built.
-
Learning the fingerspelled alphabet without bad habits
Where to hold your hand, and the habits that are easy to pick up from a chart and hard to drop.
-
Numbers and counting in ASL
Why your palm faces you for a plain count, and how numbers fold into signs for age and time.
-
Facial expressions and non-manual markers
Raised eyebrows can turn a statement into a question. How the face and head do grammatical work.
Building real skill
Understanding what you see, finding the right class, and keeping going once it ends.
-
Practicing receptive skills, the harder half of ASL
Understanding signing needs practice of its own. Where to look, and a simple way to watch short clips.
-
Choosing a first ASL class
The teacher matters more than anything else about a first class. What else to check before you enroll.
-
Keeping progress going after a first course
Put a new routine in place before the course ends, then line up the next class.
Family and community
Learning for someone you love, and taking your signing into places where Deaf people gather.
-
Learning ASL as a hearing parent of a deaf child
Start with the signs your home already needs, and bring Deaf adults and other families into your child's life.
-
Practicing respectfully at Deaf community events
A signing social belongs to Deaf people. How to check that learners are welcome, and how to be a good guest.