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    Learn Sign Language in a Hurry: Grasp the Basics of American Sign Language Quickly and Easily
    Learn Sign Language in a Hurry: Grasp the Basics of American Sign Language Quickly and Easily
    Learn Sign Language in a Hurry: Grasp the Basics of American Sign Language Quickly and Easily
    Ebook317 pages1 hour

    Learn Sign Language in a Hurry: Grasp the Basics of American Sign Language Quickly and Easily

    By Irene Duke

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    "I love you."
    "What can I get you?"
    "Let's take a walk."

    Wanting to say simple things like these but not being able to is frustrating and dishearteningbut learning how to communicate can be easy and fun! This book is a basic guide to the alphabet, vocabulary, and techniques it takes to connect using American Sign Language. Whether signing out of necessity or learning for the sake of growing, you will enjoy this practical primer. After reading this book, you will be able to use American Sign Language in a social, educational, or professional setting.

    Whether the goal is to communicate with hearing-impaired grandparent, a child with special needs in school, or an infant, people learn sign language for many different reasons. Easy to read and referenceand complete with images and examples of common signsthis basic guide allows you to make a meaningful connection that's otherwise impossible.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster
    Release dateJul 18, 2009
    ISBN9781440513831
    Learn Sign Language in a Hurry: Grasp the Basics of American Sign Language Quickly and Easily
    Author

    Irene Duke

    Irene Duke (Mashpee, MA) has been a professional instructor of American Sign Language for more than twenty years. She is the director of ASL programs at Massasoit College and in the Whitman-Hanson (Massachusetts) Regional School District. She establishes direct onsite ASL courses, workshops, and lectures throughout New England for educators, child-care providers, medical personnel, and special needs and community service organizations.

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    • 4/5
      Great book! But it is the same as the Everything about Signing from the same author.

    Book preview

    Learn Sign Language in a Hurry - Irene Duke

    LEARN Sign

    Language

    in a Hurry

    9781598698688_0002_001

    GRASP

    THE BASICS OF

    American

    Sign

    Language

    Quickly and Easily

    Irene Duke

    9781598698688_0002_002

    Avon, Massachusetts

    Copyright © 2009 Simon and Schuster

    All rights reserved.

    This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

    Contains material adapted and abridged from The Everything ®Sign Language

    Book, 2nd Edition, by Irene Duke, copyright © 2009 Simon and Schuster,

    ISBN 10: 1-59869-883-4, ISBN 13: 978-1-59869-883-1.

    Published by

    Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

    57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322. U.S.A.

    www.adamsmedia.com

    ISBN 10: 1-59869-868-0

    ISBN 13: 978-1-59869-868-8

    eISBN: 978-1-44051-383-1

    Printed in the United States of America.

    J I H G F E D C B A

    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

    is available from the publisher.

    This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

    —From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the

    American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations

    Interior photographs: Joe Ciarcia / Symphony Photography

    Interior illustrations: Elisabeth Lariviere

    This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.

    For information, please call 1-800-289-0963.

    Contents

    Introduction

    01 / Sign Language Basics

    American Sign Language

    The Big Four: Rules of Use

    Intonation and Sign Order

    Plurals

    First Signs: The Manual Alphabet

    Fingerspelling

    02 / Understanding, Asking, and Answering Questions

    Wh Questions and Yes-No Questions

    Trying Out Nonmanual Behaviors

    Signing Wh- Words

    Answering Questions

    Explaining Relationships

    People You Know

    Pronouns and Possessives

    03 / Adding Color to Your Vocabulary

    Describing People

    Playing with Color

    Getting Dressed

    Describing the Look

    Expressing Emotions

    Using Signs in Storytelling

    Classifiers

    Shaping Language with Classifiers

    04 / Playtime: Signing Sports and Venturing Outside

    A Helpful Classifier

    Sport Signs

    Additional Compound Signs

    A Sign of the Times

    Playing Outside

    05 / Learning Numbers and Signing Time

    It’s All in the Numbers

    Counting to Ten

    Conversations with Letters and Numbers

    Eleven Through Nineteen

    Counting to Ninety

    Higher Numbers and Fractions

    Money and Shopping

    Signing Everyday Numbers

    Past, Present, and Future

    Signing a Specific Time

    General Times

    Learning the Calendar

    Time to Celebrate

    06 / Essential Vocabulary for Home and Abroad

    Beginning the Day: Breakfast

    Lunchtime!

    Afternoon Snack

    Making Dinner

    Dessert, Finally!

    Vocabulary for Home

    Computer Signs

    In the Classroom and at the Office

    Hitting the Road

    The Three-Finger Classifier

    Appendix A / Quizzes and Games

    Appendix B / Resources

    Appendix C / Glossary

    Introduction

    Whether you’re interested in learning sign language because you have a child who is deaf, have lost hearing yourself, need to sign at work, or are simply looking to pick up a new skill, congratulations! You’ve taken the first step toward learning the art of American Sign Language.

    As you’ll begin to understand in the upcoming chapters, sign language is more than just a series of hand gestures. It is a natural, flexible way of communicating that will tap your creativity and introduce you to the unique culture of the signing community. Have you ever wondered how babies can learn and communicate with sign language before they can speak? It’s because using gestures to communicate with one another is instinctive—it’s a natural part of our shared human history. As you’ll learn in this book, American Sign Language uses these instinctive hand gestures (such as touching the throat to indicate thirst) coupled with body language and additional signs to incorporate the important elements of expression and intonation into your message.

    Learn Sign Language in a Hurry will teach you how to combine natural hand gestures with eye movement, facial expressions, head movement, body posture, and other forms of body language to communicate with and understand people in the Deaf community. After practicing the signs and exercises in this book, you will be able to ask and answer questions, describe an encounter with an old friend, and use signs to paint a visual picture for your audience.

    Each chapter in this book will build on the chapter before. You will start out by establishing a basic understanding of the rules of signing, and will then build your vocabulary and confidence as you continue to learn. Like most languages, sign language requires plenty of practice (often in front of a mirror) to get it right, but once you’ve developed some skill, a whole world of possibility awaits you. And if you need or want to learn basic sign language fast—this is the book for you!

    01 / Sign Language Basics

    9781598698688_0008_001

    SIGN LANGUAGE is a complete visual mode of communication. It is the third most used language in the United States and the fourth most used language worldwide. Conversations and information, using sign language, are conveyed visually rather than auditorily and are composed of precise handshapes and movements. Sign language users combine articulate hand movements, facial expressions, and head and body movements to communicate feelings, intentions, humor, complex and abstract ideas, and more.

    American Sign Language

    American Sign Language, known as ASL, is the natural native language of the American Deaf community. ASL is used as the primary form of communication in the daily lives of the Deaf. ASL is a full language with its own syntax, punctuation, and grammar. American Sign Language is composed of precise handshapes, palm positions, movements, and the use of space around the signer.

    These elements, movements, and handshapes, supported by facial expressions and body language, are capable of conveying complex and abstract ideas. ASL is constantly evolving and often changes regionally. The following combined elements serve to make ASL an exciting, effective form of communication:

    Il_9781598698688_0008_002 ASL signs

    Il_9781598698688_0008_002 Limited fingerspelling

    Il_9781598698688_0008_002 Facial expressions

    Il_9781598698688_0008_002 Body language

    Il_9781598698688_0008_002 Head movement

    Il_9781598698688_0008_002 Use of space and directional movement

    You will soon acquire, through visual sign images and accompanying instructions, a broad basic sign vocabulary. Please note that all of the images are displayed with the model facing you, the receiver/reader. In other words, simply think that someone is directly signing to you. Also, all images demonstrated throughout this book show a right-handed signer.

    Just take a close look at these two images, which illustrate the signs for hello and sign. These two signs are a great beginning and among the most often used signs.

    9781598698688_0009_001

    HELLO: The starting position of the hand is similar to a military salute. Then, simply wave your hand off your forehead.

    9781598698688_0009_002

    SIGN: Position both hands in front of the chest with both index fingers extended, and palms facing each other. Circle your hands, alternately rotating them toward your body.

    Starting Out

    The most commonly asked question for beginning signers is Which hand do I use? and it is quite easy to answer. You will use your naturally dominant hand. This hand is the one you use daily while writing, eating, and doing most tasks. For those novice signers who are ambidextrous, eventually you will begin to favor one hand, and that will become your dominant hand.

    Many signs require the use of both hands, and the use of the dominant hand does not always apply here.

    There are three different ways to form signs:

    1. One-handed signs are formed using only your dominant hand, for example the sign for mirror.

    9781598698688_0010_001

    MIRROR: Form the sign for mirror by imitating that you are holding a small vanity mirror and looking into it.

    2. Two-handed symmetrical signs require the use of both hands moving the same way, formed with the same handshape. Both hands will also be in the same location. See for example the sign for rain.

    9781598698688_0010_002

    RAIN: Form the sign for rain with both palms down, fingers spread to an open five while dropping your hands down several times to imitate rain.

    3. Two-handed asymmetrical signs require movement from your dominant active hand while your nondominant hand remains stationary. Often, the nondominant, or motionless, hand acts as a support base for the dominant active hand in these types of signs. For an example see the signs for sunrise and sunset.

    9781598698688_0011_001

    Sunrise, Sunset: To sign sunrise, place your nondominant arm and hand level with your chest. With your dominant hand, form the handshape of a slightly open C and bring it upward to a high-noon position; this is sunrise. Now, bring the arm back down level with the elbow of the nondominant arm, and this represents sunset.

    See the Big Picture

    While learning these signs, remember a basic rule of signing: Maintaining eye contact is a must. Breaking eye contact during a signed conversation is considered extremely rude. Learn to develop attentive behaviors during signed conversations, such as nodding and adding an occasional signed exclamation, like Yes, Wow, or Really, just as you would in an oral conversation. In addition, observing the signer’s face at all times assists comprehension. Do not worry about focusing on the hands of the signer. Learn to see the whole picture, face and hands simultaneously.

    The Big Four: Rules of Use

    It is important to know the rules governing the proper use of sign language. The explanation of the rules called the Big Four will add clarity to the important elements in sign language.

    A sign is a unit of language that is formed with distinctive handshapes, locations, specific movements, and facial expressions. The signs have four independent parts. These parts play exacting roles, and if any one of them is changed, the meaning of the sign is altered. Take a close look at these four important parts of signs:

    1. Handshape

    2. Location

    3. Movement

    4.

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