Hi all! My 13 yr old daughter is really interested in learning sign language. I started looking at curriculum options. One I've found is Rocket Language ASL. It looks like they have a deal for $49 which gives unlimited lifetime access to the curriculum online. That's nice because I could use it for my younger kids too if they are interested. Anyone used this? Anyone have other suggestions for learning ASL? Thanks! Edie
Here are two sites with free lessons: http://lifeprint.com/ http://www.start-american-sign-language.com/
I would go free and pick up some books from the library. My oldest daughter and I have learned very well this way. Plus, you can always use youtube for lessons as well.
Whatever you chose, make sure it teaches Deaf Culture as part of the curriculum. ASL is a LANGUAGE, with its own grammar, different from English grammar. You can't just "learn signs", put them in correct English order, and think you're using ASL.
Slightly tangential... Would that be SE? I know there's a big difference between ASL and SE, but I don't know what that is.
I'm not sure. SEE is Signed Exact English, and that may be what you're refering to. It's some really obnoxious system hearing people thought up to force on Deaf children, thinking it would help them learn English better. It uses some ASL signs, but also includes prefixes and suffixes on words. It's VERLY difficult to use, though I still put the -tion ending on such words as SALVATION, REDEMPTION, and CREATION out of habit - I learned my signing originally at church. Or you could be refering to Signed English, which is more of a compromise between SEE and ASL. That's more or less what I do. Actually, I used what one of my profs in Deaf ED at Ohio State (himself hearing impaired) claims is the most common sign system used in education...GKW. That stands for "God Know What", lol!
I second the free route! Alexis is doing http://www.start-american-sign-language.com/learn-sign-language-asl.html as part of it.... and there is 1 more.... have to find it though
Yes, I meant Sign English. My deaf friend knows ASL but uses SE exclusively. She claims it is the best system for everyone involved. According to her, using SE and not ASL improves the reading and writing skills of the deaf; again, according to her, her friends who are ASL users have horrible written English because they don't learn the appropriate grammar for English. I really have no clue. I can finger spell stuff.
My daughter and I have been using something between SE, also called Pidgin Signed English (PSE), and GKW. Basically, SE is using the signs of ASL, but in English word order with common omissions like to, the, am, etc and no word endings like -ed, -ing, -s, etc. It is just so much easier to speak and sign the same word at the same time as is done with SE. Here is a site with SE: http://www.uiowa.edu/~c003140/
Is she Deaf or hard of hearing? Signed English is excellent for those who have some English skills to start with. The problem is that we tend to "look down" on those with poor SPOKEN language skills. We can accept that a person from a foriegn country may not speak English well, but that's because English isn't his first language. Yet we don't afford that luxury to the Deaf. They (generally) have poor English skills, but also have no other SPOKEN language to compensate. While people talk about ASL being a "language" in and of itself, it is lip service only. Rarely do people understand what that means. And, unless Deaf children have Deaf parents where ASL is "spoken" in the home, they pass through their formative years with NO language to speak of. Phillip had Deaf twins on his soccer team two years back. They were ten years old, and couldn't tell me more than their age. Their parents told me they had the language level of a 2yo; I honestly would have put it younger than that, because 2yos have RECEPTIVE language if not EXPRESSIVE. And these girls had very little receptive language. The goal for educators is to get the children into a language program as early as possible, regardless of which language it is. The main reason using Signed English doesn't work in the classroom is because it's not used properly. Most teachers, as my prof said, uses "GKW", while saying they use Signed English. I claimed to use Signed English in the classroom, but I would leave out many words...articles, etc. And that is typical of teachers/aides. Even the guy who came up with the system said in a follow up study that it wouldn't work in a classroom, because teachers don't use it consistently across the board. (Of course, this was thirty years ago, when I was taking classes! Things may have changed since then!) When I worked at the Ohio School for the Deaf, we used pretty much ASL. Again though, while my signing became more ASL-like, I am not fluent in it, nor do I understand all the grammar of it. Probably you would say I use "pidgon" ASL.
Deaf as a stone. But, again, I have zero knowledge on the topic. I brought it up because of what she's told me and I'm genuinely curious. I think I understand what you're saying and I find it fascinating.
