Fingerspelling practice for anyone working on their receptive skills!

See how much you can catch the first time through before watching the slower version. For those who know me, I love my cats so this one is all about them!

Drop your answers below.

I genuinely don’t even know where to start. This is about something in college I think? And then I need to answer yes or no, but I am really struggling with it. Any help greatly appreciated!!

So I know that this question is asked a lot and Im just worried with the sensitivity and awareness around this subject is high these days. I just do not want to offend anyone.

First off, I am learning ASL to help teach my daughter to communicate better and to minimize frustrations since she picks up gestures very well.

Of course, Ive always been interested in learning, since Im big on learning about others cultures, but this is a big motivator for why Im learning.

I want to frame it as another language, since after some research and learning that baby sign is actually cultural appropriation. I am seriously hoping to not only help my daughter to communicate as she is two and struggles with speech, but to connect better with the people who communicate better with ASL (Hard of hearing, Deaf, and Blind(?)).

I just feel like teaching my hearing Daughter ASL could be something that offends people. I want to also note that I am learning through an app called ASL Bloom and plan to further that learning with ASL classes.

I feel as though its not very common for non verbal kids and autistic kids to know sign language. At least its less heard of so, I feel like it can be considered as appropriation.

Anyways, bottom line, I do not want to offend anyone by learning another language to help my daughter communicate. I just worry that this is going to be a argument when shes older and I feel as though Im in the wrong, when the whole reason for this language is to communicate.

Hi! I've been interested in asl for the longest time and I want to have it become my second language, now especially because I have a friend who relys on it. He said he would help me learn some, but I do know a bit so far and I want to surprise him with a sweet gesture as he wrote me a nice note today.

This brings me to my issue : I know asl has a different grammar structure to it, and I want to make sure I sign the thing I want to say in the right order.

I want to say "I like my friend [his name]", and from my understanding that would be signed as "[name/you] my friend I like" or "[name/you] friend I like". Is that correct? As far as I know it goes noun, adjective, verb/subject, so that seems right to me. I want to make sure I'm not signing like an idiot, though I know if I get it wrong he would still understand haha. Thanks!!

Hi,

I've looked around in the pinned messages and history of this subreddit and haven't found much, so I wanted to ask if anyone here has experience with the online ASL learning site / subscription called ASL Spring. It seems to be newer, so makes sense that there isn’t as much readily available information.

Mostly, I just wanted to get a sense of if it was legit before I continue down this rabbit hole of exploring learning options.

Anyone have any feedback? Thanks!

Hi! I need someone to help me with my ASL class. I will pay.

Hey! I’m new to learning ASL. I’m currently in an ASL course on lesson 4 and I’m struggling with the classifiers.

A disclaimer - My professor is deaf and I’m thankful I’m learning from someone in the Deaf community, however it is ASL1 and I’m learning everything through sign. No English so I’m having some trouble.

A question I had was are the classifiers just based on what we feel makes sense? She had used a folding map as an example in class. She used the CL:BB but then moved her hands around to show that it folded. Is that standard practice for signing map? Or was she doing that as just what makes sense to her for map? For deaf people how do you know specifically what someone is signing if it’s just what we think or if it’s just relative to our own perception of things?

I also don’t want to do this, then not be signing accurately or get my CL confused with something else.

So, I've been interested for a while now into learning ASL i know a few signs that hopefully are correct. I understand that the best way to learn is being part of a community. I'm in the DFW area. If anyone's know about a community patient enough let me know. Thanks in advance!

I am currently taking ASL in college, and my ASL 1 class (with a deaf professor) was veeery easy and the lectures were very straight to the point. We’re doing True+Way, if that helps at all. The lectures would have the slides of the words being used, and she would sign almost nothing but those words. I moved to ASL 2, where I am very much struggling. My professor now (who is also deaf) is signing and explaining a lot, and I am finding myself getting lost. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions to help me sharpen up alongside this class? It feels much more immersive this way but I am finding myself feeling more frequently discouraged and performing more poorly on the quizzes and exams.

Thank you!

Super high and i really curious, what do deaf kids/kids of deaf people sign as their first word?

I'm a failure of a brother. I am the sibling of a deaf adult, and at 30 years old my sign language hasn't improved, but has actually gotten worse. I used to be able to have an entire conversation with my older brother when we were children, but now... I can barely manage to remember a single sign and struggle with keeping up whenever he or any other Deaf person signs at/with me. I am so ashamed. I am so embarrassed. I am so saddened when I see my older brother sitting alone and I can see the loneliness in his eyes and face whenever I or anyone else struggles to communicate with or translate for him. Why haven't I been able to find the time and make the effort to be better for my brother? Why the fuck is it so difficult to find affordable and consistent classes to learn? I remember when I started using SignSchool to learn and would come to him to show him my progress, the way he would smile and laugh and correct me towards using his preferred sign, but I couldn't even keep that up... I couldn't even remember the signs I learned. I can never remember. I am a failure. How can I say I love my brother when I can't even learn sign langauge properly? How can I say I care for him when I can't even show him that he's not alone? How can I ever truly say I have his best interests in ind when I can't ever develop my skills? I'm a failure of a brother. ALl I want to and can do is cry. Why is it so difficult for me to learn, and stay committed?

Please, how can I finally learn ASL for the sake of my brother? I' not looking for reassurance nor am I looking for chastisement. I just want to talk to and be there for my brother. PLease. Please, and thank you.

Our 4 year old is starting to learn the ASL alphabet in school and we want to get some posters for the home. Amazon has absolute garbage as far as I can see. Lots of ai slop with extra fingers or we can’t tell the difference between m,n,s, and t because the illustrations are so bad. I went to Lifeprint.com and Handspeak.com but don’t see any materials, just great video lessons. Where can we get trusted learning materials? Thanks

Hi. I hope none of this insults anyone, I just wanted to get some opinions and I'm a very nervous and ramble-y person by nature.

So, I have a laundry list of things that are wrong with me mentally, but none of them are being medically deaf or mute. That being said, I have a dumb mental issue where sometimes I just... can't talk. Or, well, I can, but it's really hard and stresses me out to hear my voice at those times.

My question is this: Is using sign language to communicate during times where it's mentally difficult for me rude or like... cultural appropriation or something? Probably not, but like I said, I don't want to make anyone mad or anything by pursuing sign language as a personal convenience instead of like... to communicate with someone who needs to use the language or to translate.

Again, my apologies if this was rude or insulting to anyone. I promose I'm coming at this from a... well, at least a sincere place, if not a bit selfish.

Hello,

Coming up, my daughter's Junior (4th 5th grade) troop has decided to work on an ASL badge. I've been learning every day for the past couple months, and it was my daughter who presented the idea to her troop. So I am preparing the materials and seeking local connections.

One of the main requirements is to learn the Girl Scout Promise and Law in ASL. In my initial search for a video of this, all I'm coming up with are videos of what appear to be troop leaders and volunteers doing choppy signed English that does not feel like ASL at all. I could wait until I find someone from the community who can visit our troop to help us, but it would be super nice and helpful to be able to learn and practice the promise and law ahead of time, with proper ASL grammar. Any advice?

*(Most of our girls replace the God line with their own)

Girl Scout Promise

On my honor, I will try:

*To serve God and my country,

*To serve my community and my country,

*To serve creator, and this land,

To help people at all times,

And to live by the Girl Scout Law.

Girl Scout Law

I will do my best to be

honest and fair,

friendly and helpful,

considerate and caring,

courageous and strong,

and responsible for what I say and do,

and to respect myself and others,

respect authority,

use resources wisely,

make the world a better place,

and be a sister to every Girl Scout.

Hi, I became a godmother a few months ago (❤️), and a few weeks after he was born we learned that he is very hard of hearing. He can technically hear, but very little, though it seems right now like he’ll be able to use hearing devices to hear when he's a little older, and will most likely be able to learn english and go to a mainstream school. However, even though he could technically be fine with hearing devices and learning just english, and despite most hearing parents in the past would have geared more towards pulling their child away from the deaf community and such, his parents (ie my best friend and her husband) have learned more about deafness and the HOH/deaf community and have decided that they want him to also be connected to this community and they explained to me how and why it is important for him to be fluent in ASL. And with that, why it's important for them to learn ASL too and make it a regular part of their home life, and I totally agree with their reasoning. Sorry I don't know if I phrased that right, but basically they're both now doing intensive ASL courses, and have hired a babysitter who is a CODA and signs with him, and as his godmother I will be possibly the closest adult to him in his life outside of his parents, so I’ve decided I want to learn ASL too because if it ends up being the language he feels most comfortable communicating in, I want to be able to be there for him and be a source of comfort and support thru his life. Idk I just had this sad dream a few weeks ago of him as an older child signing in ASL a poem he wrote or something he's feeling to me, and me not understanding him, and I refuse to let that be the case!

Since he's still so young though, and the family hasn't had much chance to connect with any deaf resources or community yet, the way I have been learning so far is I took an intro course at the local college this summer and am now doing weekly lessons online, as I sadly don't have the time or resources to do the intense course like my friends. So outside of my class I have not really spoken or interacted with anyone deaf before or spoken ASL to anyone. I hope that as baby boy gets older and his parents and I also become a little more confident in our ASL that he’ll be able to connect with other kids and families in similar positions and hopefully I’ll also then get more opportunities to sign in real life, but I also need to get to a better level first.

My question is basically about facial expressions while signing, because that is something that was pointed out to me as something I very much lack while signing. I’m from a culture and family that is incredibly unexpressive, to the point where it is regularly pointed out to me how my face, voice, tone etc are all quite monotone, and even when I’m super excited there's little happening on my face. So because it feels very unnatural for me to even so much as raise my eyebrows or crack a slight smile when talking or signing, and my worry is that if someone like my godson witnesses me be pretty dry and flat when speaking English, but then switch over into these more exaggerated expressions - I feel like I look unnatural and like I’m mocking, or like I’m an actor in a stage play. Is there a way to practice specifically finding a level and type of facial expressiveness that feels natural to you?

I’m also curious if the facial expressiveness when signing is something teen ASL speakers feel self-conscious or embarrassed by? I just was thinking about how when I was a teen, literally anything I did in public that wasn't completely ordinary made me feel soooo embarrassed, and I can imagine feeling an increased pressure in teen years to not express as much unless in a setting where everyone is signing because most people don't talk with that same expressiveness. Like, will my godson go through a phase in his teens where he tones his ASL down? Should I mirror his level if that happens or keep going at whatever level I would normally do? (hopefully I'll have figured the facial expressions out in 13 years time haha)

I’m sorry if these questions are insensitive, I’m still very new to sign languages in general and have learned that I have a lot of internalized ableism and just general miseducation or lack of education about deafness and just disability in general. It really has opened up this whole new world for me that I didn't really consider before, and I’m determined to become well-versed enough so I can advocate for my godson and other kids like him in the future too. In that regard, if anything I have said here is out of line or just incorrect, I would be very happy to hear what it is I did wrong and what to do or say instead! Thank you very much for your help!

Hi everyone! I have a random question and am hoping to be educated. Since ASL has a different grammar structure than English, i was wondering how this impacts music and lyrical translations. First of all, if you were to watch an interpreter sign at a concert for example, and you wrote down the lyrics from your understanding, how different or similar do you think it would be from the actual written lyrics and does the same message/story/vibe come across clearly? Secondly, do you feel elements of music are lost in translation, such as rhyming schemes or how lines are often made with a certain amount of syllables to match the beat? Or are these elements retained?

I dont mean to be exclusionary if this question comes off that way, i am genuinely curious about these experiences that i have not had myself. Thank you for responding ♥️

I apologize if this is rude. I have a course in class that requires me to find a discourse community that will allow me to connect with others of all stages of knowledge of the subject and I wanted to find one about ASL. I have always been interested in learning about the language and culture. My question is: Does anyone know where I could find a discourse community?

Looking at the usual sources like lifeprint the only sentence examples I’m seeing are when satisfy is being used as an adjective or in a question. Is it done differently when it’s being used as a verb? (Aka, “(this) satisfies (that)”). Hope I’m not over complicating this, I just want to make sure I get the grammar and stuff right instead of assuming

i have a non verbal client and know some of the basic signs for needs like eat, drink, trampoline, bathroom, etc. he likes to look at my hair so he will ask me to take my hair down and then put it back up. i figured just teaching him the signs for hair and down but i’m wondering if that doesn’t follow ASL grammar rules. is this ok/would a deaf person understand or is their something else i should teach instead? thank you ❤️

Hi! I'm Deaf from Eswatini, Africa.

I teach:

- ASL Alphabet A-Z

- Basic words: example:( Hello, Thank you, Please, Sorry, Yes, No, Help, Family, Love)

- Numbers 1-1000000

Price: $15 via WhatsApp video.

I send FREE video of alphabet first so you trust me. No scam.

I am Deaf and support my family.

DM me for WhatsApp.

Thank you!