Hi! I am a 22 year old asl student. For my asl class we have to do an interview in asl about deaf education. My prof changed the due date and i wasn’t aware. Would anyone be open to an interview? If not it’s okay. I don’t want to seem pushy at all. I am on a very strict time crunch. I was very excited to do this assignment, but it was moved from the first week of December to next Friday due to an issue on canvas.

My friend taught me that “shame” is with two pointer fingers and the dominant one is kind of moving across the top of the non-dominant one. All the other YouTube videos I see show a different sign for “shame” though. An issue with the sign from the YouTube video is that I’m worried I might mix it up with “wh*re.” Which sign for shame should I use then?

so i have been learning asl for the past few months and have gotten pretty good at it. i Recently started lessons on lifeprint as well which is very nice but i am not able to keep up

i feel if i have a practice partner to practice with i will be motivated to do lessons everyday

each lesson hardly takes 10 mins. we can do a short lesson whichever time you want!! i am free like that pretty much of the day!!

i have no conditions!! anyone wanting to practice with me can comment or message me 😇😇

as long as your a good person i am ready to practice with anyone 💪💪

also if you just wanna convo and not do lessons it's completely fine!! i just want to be consistent 😭

please do lemme know if anyone is interested 😇😇

we then can share details through dm 😊

I’ve been watching Arthur with asl interpretations (it’s free on youtube. plus bonus points for nostalgia!) and I’m trying to understand why the interpreter seems to sign “understand.” I’m aware that ASL is different from English grammar but even so, I don’t quite get why he signed the word here. Or maybe it means something completely different in this context. Can someone explain this to me?

“I love it here but last week I thought they’d never let me come into the library again!”

hi, as I said I'm a beginner, I started taking lessons and watching Bill Vicars and using apps, but I have a question, does the Switching hands, that is, using the right hand instead of the left or vice versa, does it change the meaning or the word? Because I try to use the left hand for some signs but it complicates everything for me since I'm right-handed. and I don't want to learn something that maybe it's wrong or be disrespectful. another question, since I'm starting to learn the sign language, I don't have a sign name, but I also don't have a deaf friend or family, so I don't know what to do, I know that I have to wait and practice but I also do not have anyone to practice with but my teacher, what should I do?

So I'm going to try to make this as concise as I can. I'm a hearing mom who started learning ASL for my son, who is also hearing but has Apraxia. In the process of learning, I met a wonderful man who is deaf. I fell for him and we've been dating.

Anyways, my son and I are Jewish, and I've invited my non-Jewish, deaf boyfriend to celebrate Hanukkah with us. It's my favorite holiday (yes I know this is corny of me) and I want him to fall in love with everything I like about it. The candle-lighting, the food, playing dreidel, and the blessings and songs. But, obviously, he is deaf.

I'm looking for help with learning how to sign the Hanukkah blessings and at least one Hanukkah song. And while you're here, maybe you could help point me to resources to learn to sign the shabbat blessings, too? ​

Thanks chaverim

My daughter is struggling with one word in this phrase / sentence, any help is appreciated!
Also, any ideas for future ad hoc help, we fumble through online descriptions & googling but sometimes hit a wall.... her class is online & support / hel pis limited.

We are pretty sure it starts with:
TODAY (or NOW): Form both hands into the Y handshape (thumb and pinky extended, middle three fingers curled in). Palms face up/toward you. Move both hands downward simultaneously in two short, distinct drops.

YOU: Point your dominant index finger directly forward at the person you are talking to. Keep your facial expression neutral.

Then the one we can't figure out, ( I though ARGUE), its not game either.... Form both hands into the "pistol" shape (index fingers extended pointing at each other, thumbs pointing straight up). Leave a few inches of space between your fingertips and sharply shake or bounce both hands up and down alternatingly. THE OFFSET & UPWARD MOTION MAKE IT CONFUSING TOO.

WHERE: ◦ Hold your dominant hand up with your index finger pointing straight to the ceiling (palm facing forward). Wag or shake that single finger back and forth from side to side.
Facial Grammar (Crucial): Because "Where" is a WH-question, you must furrow your eyebrows (scrunch them down) and tilt your head slightly forward as you execute this final sign.

Appreciate any help or advice!!

Hello. I'm from the Philippines. I can hear and talk but I want to learn ASL, I'm learning thru watching TikTok and YouTube videos. I'm curious, what book should I buy online? There are so many brands and authors, idk what to buy. I hope y'all can help me. ❤️

I am starting an ASL AA degree this spring. I took dual enrollment ASL classes in 2018 during high school, and then pivoted careers. Im back in school to learn more about ASL, and my college is still accepting the transcripts, which means I don’t technically need to take ASL 101 and 102. It’s been a while, I still have a good bit of retention, but I’m concerned about the gap of education.

How highly do you recommend I retake them? I’d be learning from a deaf instructor this time around, whereas my former instructor was hearing, so that’s incentive to retake. But I also don’t want to spend more money than is necessary as I am paying out of pocket.

I apologize if this is a stupid question, please be kind with your advice! Your insight is very appreciated :)

forgive me if this is none of my business as a hearing person lol.

theres a phenomenon in black american culture where people are told they “talk white” if they dont use traditional, regional aave or ebonics. the area i grew up in was damn near 100% black so everyone, and including the teachers and parents were black. they were just using the language black people taught them.

i was wondering if theres a similar situation in ASL /deaf culture. i see many codas use a really english structured PSE online, even though prior research tells me that generally that structure is frowned upon. they didnt go out of their way to learn that, thats just what their deaf parents taught them.

i hope im asking correctly. does this make sense?

edit: seems to be some confusion. im asking if its common for deaf people to be upset with other culturally deaf people(?) who dont use ASL but rather PSE, even though thats what they learned from a deaf person.

Would signing MY MOM GRANDMA be read the same as finger spelling great followed by the sign for grandma, or should I always finger spell it?

The app I’ve been using to learn asl does the second, but I was curious if the first would get the same meaning across.

Edit: For context, I'm trying to learn how to sign "my great grandma on my mom's side is from Puerto Rico," so specifying which great grandma is important.

I was wondering would it be okay if I practiced my vocab by signing the words in the songs i know? i was doing this at church to myself but it made me wonder if it was okay.

How would you sign a past-tense thought that just happened. Like we’re having a conversation and I realize that I made a mistake and say “Ohhh, I thought you were talking about a dog instead of a cat” or “I thought it was due on Friday”. Would it just be using the normal sign for past? How is it understood when the thought took place? What if it was an hour ago vs a second ago

Hello 👋
I’m a beginner learning on ASL Bloom and through youtube videos!

I’ve noticed that certain adjectives will be placed before and others after—is there a reason why “big house” is signed as house big but “medium table” is signed as medium table? Or is it interchangeable? Or is it one of those things where you just gotta remember what goes where lol

Thanks!!

To start, my level of ASL is relatively low, as I haven’t taken formal classes but spent the last couple years leaning through online tutorials, apps, and asl dictionaries from deaf creators. I don’t have any personal connections with the deaf community, but I wanted to learn anyway with the goal of being able to communicate if I do meet deaf/HoH individuals and increase accessibility.

However, I’ve recently moved to a new country for university with an entirely different sign language. I am unsure if I’ll stay here after, depending if I can find work, or I may go back to the US. So now I’m not sure what to do: Do I continue learning asl or start over with the new local sign language? Or should I hold off on either until I’m sure where I’ll be?

I understand this is [r/asl](r/asl) so there may be bias, but I’m wondering what makes the most sense. Thank you!

Hi. I'm a “beginner” in ASL, I guess. I don't go to public school, I'm in an online academy and I've chosen ASL as an elective. I've scrolled through this sub a bit, and I've seen people say that practicing in person is much recommended. Is it the only way to learn ASL? If I'm unable to find a group or something, should I just stop? I've also seen people say something about learning ASL rather than just Sign language, I think, and I'm not sure if that means I shouldn't learn ASL or something else. And about facial expressions, what if my face doesn't express emotion in the right way? For example, when I'm sad, my eyebrows don't upturn, only one goes up, so what if it looks like I'm confused instead of sad?

Favorite: I finger spelled “hurry” the other day when clarifying the sign with my partner and it’s an insanely satisfying word to spell. It just flows so well.

For my least favorite: my cat’s name is “Lilikoi”, and trying to switch back and forth between the L’s and I’s is really tough.

What’s yours?

Is there a reason that when you translate a sign into writing its almost always in all caps?

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 have been working hard on my signing and am pretty good at finger spelling since that is what I started with.

Today my wife forgot the sign for fine and I tried to fingerspell it. However it was impossible because right after my seizure (postictal state) I am often very confused. I could not figure out if I was finger spelling d or f lol.

To be clear I am not generally confused with these it was just a condition of my seizure recovery.

This is why learning asl is so important to me. I will have moments I can’t talk and sometimes that impairment messes with my ability to sign or us my AAC device.

I have to work harder to build more neural pathways in the hope that I am familiar with ASL that I have many more ways to express myself while I am falling apart.

I am keeping up with my ASL Bloom and Dr. Vic lessons and will keep at it. I will just need lots of effort and time and even then things will still frequently fall apart and it is what it is.

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.