Why are you learning ASL?

[Jax94]

I’m learning ASL because I want to become an ASL interpreter, it is my dream job. I want to also connect more with this beautiful community.

Edited February 21, 2022 by Jax94

[MelissaL]

Hi 

how are you doing?  What is new with you .  I am still trying to find ways I can learn American Sign Language. I dont know where to start or were to find things for me to learn. I am hard of hearing. I wear a hearing aid in my right ear. I am really want to learn sign language. My hearing is kind of bad in my right ear and i have some of a hearing loss in my left ear. For some reason I can not wear a hearing aid in my left hear . I have try to wear a hearing aid in my left ear it felt like I was a deaf because I could not hear anything and i don"t know why

[AmberASL]

Hi Melissa, to break into learning ASL before knowing any words, just find a video about the most common or first hundred words, and try to learn from as many different people as possible, partly to keep it interesting and you'll also learn more variations of signs that way, which helps with reading sign later.

The format of these videos is usually a printed English word shows up and the person immediately signs it while the word is showing.  Some videos have really well defined facial expressions, as it depends on the signer's facial expressiveness.  Learn from wherever you can, as everyone has something different and overlapping knowledge keeps it refreshed.

In addition, lookup videos on the fingerspelling alphabet, as that comes in handy as well.

If you like learning from a book, find out of the library has an ASL book or just get one at a bookstore, just make sure you're learning from it before you buy it so you know that you can.

Learning is slow and steady, always compare your progress to the time that you didn't know any ASL yet and you'll do fine.  A lot of days you'll mostly be solidifying knowledge that's previously been put in your brain, and this a vital step in learning as well.

[MelissaL]

I have like three asl books and a binder that has different kinds of papers that have asl and a few little booklets that are asl. What are the best videos to watch. I know the alphabet already. 

[MelissaL]

How long does it take to become really good at asl?

[AmberASL]

I watched most of the Bill Vicars ASL videos, they will get you pretty far and once you get into them you won't want to watch other ones for a while.  I don't know just yet how long it takes to become really good at ASL, and it feels like something that you get slightly better at every day over a very very long time.

Also, google the fingerspelling tool and practice reading the words that it shows at different speeds if you haven't already, it helps a lot to increase your receptive speed.

Oh, why am I learning ASL, I started because I had a near-deaf experience which made it a curiosity, and then my hearing test showed just how deaf I was becoming, so I pushed harder and kept at it, and now I just can't stop, must learn all ASL everywhere~~

[beh0ld]

Let's video chat I'll be in the chatroom for the next hour

[AngelF]

To learn how to sign with my grandparent