Curtains Closed for my ASL Learning Project

This blog post marks the end of my Learning Project! I remember being a little bit stressed because I could not think of anything that I would be interested to do for this project. Two of my main options were cooking dishes originating from a different country and heritage or learning a new language. I was initially going through with the idea of cooking, but I later realized that it would be expensive, especially as a university student. For that reason, I switched to learning a language. Even though this was already my second option, I was a bit hesitant because learning a language is complex, and once you enter the more difficult parts of learning a language, so many people just give up. In high school, during the tranquil times of the lockdowns due to COVID-19, I decided to learn Japanese. Throughout those years, I learned Hiragana and Katakana, which are two of the three scripts that comprises the Japanese language. However, I kind of gave up after transitioning to Kanji. Kanji are Japanese characters that were borrowed from Chinese languages, so memorizing each stroke and what each character signifies is extremely overwhelming as the number of Kanji that is needed to be memorized go into the thousands. However, for this project, I was determined to learn as much as I could to expand my knowledge on American Sign Language (ASL). 

Prior to starting this project, I did not have much knowledge in ASL and the many resources that were available for me to use to help me learn it. Before this project, I was only fluent in signing the alphabet and a few random words, since I learned it when I was younger. In addition, I was already familiar with a couple YouTube Channels that teach ASL, like Bill Vicars and Jeremy Lee Stone, so I already had an idea on how to approach my journey in learning ASL. I was really excited to learn a new language, and I really believe that it will help me converse and create deeper connections with a wider range of people. Because of this project, I have discovered new online tools that helped me make learning ASL more fun, efficient, organized, and accessible. Those tools range from phone applications to YouTube channels to AI Integration. Each tool that I discussed have their own reasons as to whether it is the perfect tool to aid someone in their learning of ASL.  

Since this class took place in the Spring semester, we only completed seven blog posts for the Learning Project, including this one. Listed below are the things I did for each blog post. 

 

Week One 

• I talked about my prior knowledge of ASL before starting the project. 
• I talked about choosing between two different topics for this project. 
• I talked about why I did not end up choosing cooking for this project. 
• I am already familiar with a couple channels on YouTube. 

 

 Week Two 

• I downloaded an app called “Sign Language ASL Pocket Sign”. 
• I went through the different pages that are seen within the app itself. 
• I listed words I learned from the first day of using this application. 

 

 Week Three 

• I listed the new words I learned from Sign Language ASL Pocket Sign
• I downloaded a new app called “ASL Bloom”
• I talked about the benefits and the downsides of using this application
• I listed the new words, different from the previous app, I learned from ASL Bloom

 

 Week Four 

• I talked about the downsides of using Bill Vicars’ and Jeremy Lee Stone’s channels, and why these downsides might affect one’s learning of ASL
• I talked about a YouTube channel that I have not seen before called “Learn How to Sign”
• I talked about the benefits of learning ASL through Learn How to Sign, and how it is a mixture of the good things about the other channels I mentioned
• I learned how to sign different words that are associated with mathematics 
  • Numbers
  • Time
  • Age

 

 Week Five 

• I talked about an AI tool called “SignLanguageAI” and how it is a decent online tech tool to help learn ASL. 
• I went through the different tabs from this tool, discovering that their dictionary is very limited. 

 

 Week Six 

• I found a great online tool to help people, mainly children in elementary school, learn ASL. 
• The tech tool is called “Elemental ASL Concepts” 
• They also have a limited dictionary, but big enough to learn different words in many different categories. 

I really enjoyed my time with this project. I feel like I have absorbed as much information as possible. Even though I still have a long way to go to be fluent on the subject, this project helped me be more knowledgeable in ASL.