This post’s resource is from a website with skillsharing. You get a one month’s free trial and then it is $130/year or $37/month. So far it seems like a really great resource and if you were not a student whose bank account is not optimal at the moment, this site might be one that would be worth the price. Especially because it is for more than just learning ASL.

The particular class that I chose to start learning from on this site was with a man named Michael whose channel is called Able Lingo ASL… who oddly sounds a lot like Blippi.. which I wouldn’t and shouldn’t know but I do because my 7 year old (who should be too old to have gone through a Blippi phase) sometimes likes to watch shows that are a bit more immature than she is… to revel in her youth I suppose… haha. I will say though.. after pooping on Blippi (hilarious reference… #IYKYK) his shows are actually informational even if they are a bit over the top as kids shows can be… its not all just fluff at least… but I digress, back to the point…

Other than sounding like this silly character, Michael is a very engaging teacher. There is a “about your instructor” section where it tell us that he learned ASL because when he was younger his brother lost his hearing so his family all became active members in the deaf community! Now Michael is a police officer and is able to use his ability to help deaf and hard of hearing community! Super cool!

Here is one class I have started taking from Michael. Before I started this, I watched at least 90min of segmented videos on his ASL tips! I had already been aware of some of them but I will highlight some that I found to be very useful!

1. Get Comfortable With Mistakes – The first tip was one that was a basic tip, he discussed at that it is important to embrace your mistakes, which should seem obvious but I believe that is a good tip for all things in life. We are going to be pros at very few things in this life, so embracing our mistakes instead of dwelling on them is going to be the best in all things.
2. Know Your Learning Style – Then he said to be aware of your learning style which was another bit of grace that he gave me. Do it at your speed with how you are comfortable, don’t try and conform to any one way or you will not be successful.
3. Speed vs. Meaning – Now he gets more into the ASL specific tips, starting with remembering that speed is not everything, clear communication is, so sign at the speed that allows you to convey your meaning.
4. Use Your Dominant Hand – When signing, you should do so with your dominant hand. If you’re right handed, you use your right hand for most signs and your left hand to be the “helper” the opposite is true if you’re left hand is dominant. When following videos of RH speakers, use them as a mirror.
5. Verb Tenses – Verb tenses in ASL do not change. In order to convey the passage of time, you would simply add a word like “before” “after” or “during”, etc.
6. Hyphenated words – When reading ASL they use all caps and if there is a hyphenated word that wouldn’t normally be in English, that indicated it is two words but you use one sign like “THANK-YOU” or “I-LOVE-YOU”
7. Maintain Eye Contact – Fluent ASL speakers make eye contact while signing. This was something that threw me for a loop! I hadn’t even considered that they wouldn’t have to watch the speakers’ hands while talking! Much like in English, eye contact while speaking is a sign of respect, although when people are learning to sign, it is acceptable and not considered rude to watch their hands but the end goal when learning is to maintain eye contact. Once I thought about it, it made sense because there are so many parts that go into the language (hand signals, body language and facial movements) you would need to be able to see everything, not just their hands!
8. Regional ASL Signs – Just like with the English language speakers from different regions will have different signs for the same word. An example he gave us was showing a glass of coke and asked what we call that. Some would say coke, pop, or soda but we’d all know what the other regional word was talking about and the same goes for signing. I found that super interesting!
9. Finger Spelling Insurance – he stressed here the importance of knowing your ASL alphabet because when you can’t remember a sign, you just have to spell it out.
10. Eyebrows and Questions: WH questions, you furrow your eyebrows. So, when asking someone a who, where, what, when, why or how question, you furrow your brows and when asking a yes or no question, you raise your eyebrows and lean in. He says to pretend like something is happening in your neighbor’s backyard and you want to see what’s happening so, pretend you’re looking over a fence when asking a question that can be answered with a yes or a no.

I really enjoy everything this instructor has to say as well as his teaching style! He keeps it light and fun and has a lot of great tips for learning ASL. I also love that he has the “I-LOVE-YOU” sign as his logo!! ….. even though he sounds a LOT like Blippi.

The website overall is a great resource. I’m excited to learn from other skill sharers on this site and see how similar or different they are in their lesson formats as well. I will say, it was a bit to get used to the website but now that I understand what’s going on, it is much better. And I really hope I remember to cancel my subscription!!