ASL Learning Resources

American Sign Language (ASL) Learning Resources

• SIGN OF THE DAY LINKS:

  • • Sign School

    • ASL Word of the Day (Apple Podcast)

    • Signing Savvy's Sign of the Day Word List

    • HandSpeak (scroll halfway down the page for the Day as well as a daily fingerspelling practice): 

• FINGERSPELLING PRACTICE:

  • • Bill Vicar's fingerspelling (slow down or speed up as necessary!)

• ASL APPS:

  • • Lingvano

    • ASL Bloom

    • ASL Pocket Sign

    • The ASL App (a favourite for learning by subject)

    • ASL Speed Spell (you can set the difficulty, and the app is MUCH more fluid than the Bill Vicar website)

    • ASL Dictionary Sign Language (blue version, when doing quizzes, ensure the signer's mouth is covered so you don't rely on reading lips).

• RECOMMENDED BOOKS for grammar learning (not heavy duty Linguistics):

  • • ASL-English Grammar, A Comparative Language Handbook

    • Don't Just Sign... Communicate! A Student's Guide to Mastering ASL Grammar

• ALTERNATIVE ASL DICTIONARIES/ONLINE CLASSES:

  • • SignASL

    • Lifeprint/ASLU (dictionary AND classes): 

    • StartASL (check out their free curriculum!)

    • SignSchool

    • Spread the Sign (app too)

There's lots of free stuff online so don't be afraid to look stuff up on your own!

And for dipping your toes into understanding Deaf culture from a perspective talking about normal childhood all the way to Hollywood in adult life:

• Deaf Utopia, A memoir - and a Love Letter to a Way of Life

• Hollywood spotlights he's known for:

  • Dancing with the Stars

  • America's Next Top Model

While COVID has changed a lot of things about meeting people in the world, don't be afraid to look on Facebook or Google for your state/city's ASL meetup, and if the Meetup app kicked back up again in your area following 2019, don't be afraid to look there too!

• StartASL teaches ASL Unit 1 for free. 

• Cincinnati State also teaches ASL 1-2 for free, you only have to look at when they start teaching each course.

• Many colleges, community or otherwise, offers their ASL Interpreting program online (whether you are seeking a certificate or an associate's).

Ways to test proficiency:

• The American Sign Language Proficiency Interview (ASLPI) is a recorded 20-25 minute interview between examinee and interviewer which is then evaluated and awarded a proficiency level on a scale of 0-5. Gallaudet University lists resources to prep. 

• The CASLI exam(s) is/are the exam(s) interpreters  need to pass for National Interpreter Certification (NIC). 

Canadian American Sign Language (ASL) Learning Resources

• American Sign Language alphabet/ABC song (video | 01:56)
  Source: Laura Berg Life

• American Sign LanguageꟷContinuing Education Programs
  Source: Mohawk College

• American Sign Language courses
  Source: York University

• American Sign Language curriculum
  Source: South-East Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Inc.

• American Sign LanguageꟷModern Languages
  Source: Carleton University, School of Linguistics and Language Studies

• American Sign Language resource list
  Source: Manitoba School for the Deaf

• American Sign Language training for professionals and parents/teachers of deaf children
  Source: American Sign Language Education and Communications

• American Sign Language undergraduate courses
  Source: Ryerson University

• Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services teacher's resource
  Source: Saskatchewan Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services

• Education Programs
  Source: Canadian Hearing Services

• First Responders Basic American Sign Language
  Source: Mohawk College

• Provincial Outreach Program: Deaf and Hard of Hearing
  Source: Government of British Columbia

• Sign Language classes
  Source: Newfoundland and Labrador Association of the Deaf

• Sign Language courses
  Source: Deaf Access Simcoe Muskoka

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