“Now I know my ABCs”… but now what?
“The only normal way to begin speaking in a new language is to begin speaking badly”
Greg Thomson
After setting my intentions on learning some basic ASL for my learning project, I very quickly realized that it is much easier said than done. One of the biggest issues I faced right away was choosing what resources to use. Simply googling “ASL lessons” or “how to learn ASL” was extremely overwhelming, with a plethora of options to choose from, each explaining why there were the best (and sometimes, the definitive) option for learning ASL. Eventually I just grew tired of looking and picked on that looked decent.
The program is through an online interface called StackSkills, where instructors can create virtual lessons on a wide variety of topics and then sell them to people like me who have no idea where to begin. After signing up for an 80+ hour package of ASL lessons (it contains multiple courses and classes, so no, I won’t be learning ASL for 80 hours straight this summer semester), I chose a course called “ASL: The Manual Alphabet (American Sign Language)”.
This specific course was designed to provide a very in-depth way of learning the letters. For example, to learn the letter “I” (as pictured above), the instructor devised a two-minute video clip of just the hand sign for “I”. To be honest, I felt that this was quite excessive, but I did appreciate how he took the time to describe, rotate, and show his hand position in a way that made sense for anyone watching. He also gave plenty of tips for funny ways of remember how certain letters are formed and look, like the letter “G”:
“So, if you want a quick way to remember it, let’s say someone said “How big was the bug?” And you’re like, this big! Then you just turn, and that is a G”
Michael Honkanen
Admittedly, most of these tips were quite childish, but they did help! He also designed specific reviews for sections of letters throughout the course. I didn’t have to learn the entire alphabet, and then try and remember it; he taught letters 8 at a time, and then used review wheels to randomly have me sign them to practice.
In terms of progress, I have managed to memorize the entire alphabet this week. My plans for this following week are to work on letter-spelling sentences like “Hello, my name is Benton”, or “I am writing a blog on ASL”. From there, I’m thinking of starting to replace some words with basic vocabulary, but I’d like to see how this next week goes before I get to far ahead of myself. And here’s a progress video too!
I really enjoyed reading this blog post! I actually remember learning the ASL alphabet one summer when I was super bored, and as I was going through your blog post it definitely sparked that memory for me. As I watched your video, I signed along with you. The resource you found to help teach you seems absolutely amazing! The fact that he used the review wheel to help you recall the letters (out of alphabetical order) is awesome. StackSkill sounds super interesting, and I might have to check it out. One of my goals in the next few years is to learn ASL fluently, so that might be a good place to start some extra learning. Good luck with spelling out sentences next week! You’ve got this!
Hi Benton,
I think learning ASL is very important in today’s schools! I have been in schools with many children who either do not speak English but understand Sign Language or students who have earing deficiencies that have affected their learning in schools. I think ASL is a really interesting thing to learn and if educators could learn ASL it could really impact student learning for those with specific challenges. I remember learning how to spell out letters in Sign Language for fun, as some playgrounds have pictures of it on the play structure! These are great resources for helping us to understand ASL! Good luck this semester and have fun!
Now I Know My ABCs.. But Now What?
After reading your post on your journey to ASL, I can definitely say I’ll be back to follow along. The tool you signed up for sounds quite in depth and certainly very interesting; is there a cost for this tool? I once worked with a fellow in Calgary who is deaf, and I remember asking him why he doesn’t come out to social functions after work. He told me it’s because it is hard to communicate with individuals outside of the deaf community and no one likes to sit and pass notes back and forth. This broke my heart and certainly gave me a touch of insight on the complexities of being deaf. From that day on I always encouraged him to come out and made an effort to sit with him and write notes back and forth. This same fellow even arranged a weekly ASL Class at our office for those who wanted to participate, and I still recall most of the letters!