Discover Sign Language

Details

Discover the graceful and expressive language of sign language and learn to communicate with anyone, anywhere, just by using your hands! With this American Sign Language (ASL) course, you can unlock this rewarding ability and master communicating with Deaf people.

Throughout your online sign language training course, you will learn to fingerspell the alphabet, sign colors, numbers, objects, and family members. You will acquire a wide range of useful, everyday vocabulary that will enable you to engage in meaningful conversations with members of the Deaf community. Using video demonstrations, you will understand how to form correct signs and incorporate facial expressions to communicate beautifully in sign language.

Explore the history and usage of American Sign Language (ASL) and how to navigate the culture and social customs of the Deaf community. By the end of this sign language course, you will be confident and ready to participate in a conversation using the power of sign language.

Enrollment Option

-Self-Guided

Self-Guided courses are designed for completely independent learning, without instructor moderation. Students interact in the class discussion area. Students have access to the course for 3 months. After enrolling, you will receive all lessons immediately and have three months access to complete the course content. Self-Guided courses do not have extensions.

-3 Months Access

-Start within 3 business days of registration. You will receive an email from our Educational Partner, Ed2Go with log in details.

Syllabus

Lesson 1 - Introduction to Sign Language

What is sign language? Is it a real language? How did it develop? In this lesson, you'll discover what sign language is and who uses it. You'll also learn about the impact Deaf people have made on us as we embrace sign language. We'll discuss its use in America, and you'll begin learning this language as you learn to sign numbers 0 to 15.

Lesson 2 - Fingerspelling

Master your ABCs as you learn how to fingerspell the alphabet. You will discover how double letters are made when they're inside a word and how they're signed when they fall at the beginning and end of words. You will also learn tips on how to read fingerspelling.

Lesson 3 - Introducing Yourself

How do you do? Through this lesson, you'll take the first steps toward having a conversation as you learn how to introduce yourself. In addition to learning the basic signs for this kind of interaction, you'll also gain some more strategies for learning and understanding new signs, including the four aspects that make up each sign. While you add these skills to your signing toolbox, you'll also learn more about the Deaf community, including what Deaf people expect to learn about you when you meet for the first time, and the role facial expression plays in sign language.

Lesson 4 - Getting to Know You

Next, you'll build on the introduction you learned in the last lesson and see how to keep the conversation going. You'll explore the different customs of conversation in the Deaf community, such as how to know when one person is finished talking and how to take turns. In addition, we'll continue to navigate through your introduction by adding more information about yourself. Finally, you'll gain some additional vocabulary as you learn the signs for colors and numbers 16 to 30.

Lesson 5 - Continuing the Conversation

In this lesson, you'll learn more signs to help you continue the conversation you started in the two previous lessons. You'll learn about the cherished custom Deaf people have of giving name signs so you'll understand what to call yourself, your city, and your state. You'll also gain more vocabulary about objects in your living environment. You'll learn to sign the types of dwellings people live in and modes of transportation. In addition, you'll add to your knowledge of numbers by mastering the signs for numbers 31 to 66. We'll end with a discussion about an important issue in the Deaf community: whether deafness is considered a disability.

Lesson 6 - Talking About Family

Signing becomes a family affair as you learn signs for family members. You'll understand how sign language categorizes the signs for gender, and we'll discuss communication in families with a Deaf person. This includes lipreading and other communication strategies. We'll end by learning the signs for numbers 67 to 100.

Lesson 7 - Extended Family and Beyond

In this lesson, you'll learn signs for extended family members. You'll also learn signs to describe how you're related to them. We'll put together longer sentences to practice using your new vocabulary. You'll be introduced to number systems beginning with age and telling how old family members are. We'll discuss Black signs ―the sign language of a subculture within Deaf culture.

Lesson 8 - A Sign for the Times

What time is it? In this lesson, you'll discover how to tell time as well as sign the days of the week and other time periods such as minutes and hours. We'll discuss how spoken languages handle past, present, and future tenses, and then examine how sign language does this. Finally, we'll discover the impact the "Deaf President Now" movement had on the lives of Deaf people and our society.

Lesson 9 - More Time on Your Hands

This lesson teaches signs for additional time frames such as yesterday, today, and tomorrow. You will learn signs for indoor and outdoor activities. Then, you will learn signs for your opinion, so you can explain which activities you like and don't like. You will also learn about CODAs—a group of hearing people unique to the Deaf community.

Lesson 10 - Feelings and Traits

Now it's time to learn the signs for feelings and personality traits, and you'll combine these signs with signs learned in previous lessons. You'll see how to communicate how you're doing, how to ask how others are doing, and how to describe different personal attributes. You'll also learn more about Deaf culture—this time, about physical contact and getting the attention of a Deaf person both nearby and across the room. Finally, you'll gain tips for practicing your signs.

Lesson 11 - Clothing and Hairstyle

In the final lesson, you'll learn signs for clothing and hairstyles, such as jacket and long hair, and we'll combine these with signs from other lessons. You'll learn about classifiers and how to use them with patterns such as stripes. Then you'll learn signs for descriptions such as mustache and beard. You'll also explore the last of our issues of Deaf culture: teaching hearing babies to sign.

Lesson 12 - Food and Animals

We conclude the course with a lesson that will equip you to wish a friend happy birthday, offer a birthday treat, and talk about your favorite animal. You'll start by learning to sign the months of the year and how to say, "Happy birthday!" You'll also learn signs for food and animals. We'll finish by exploring how English is translated into sign language, and you'll get an introduction to the role of the professional sign language interpreter. You'll even get some tips on using an interpreter with a Deaf person.

Requirements

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

PC: Windows 10 or later.
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

Instructor

Erin McHenry

Erin McHenry has been signing since 1996 and holds both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Arts in Interpreting. She is an Associate member of the American Sign Language Teachers Association. Since 2003, Erin has been professionally interpreting across various settings including education, community, and medical. She has been both a staff interpreter and a freelance interpreter.

Instructor Interaction: The instructor looks forward to interacting with learners in the online moderated discussion area to share their expertise and answer any questions you may have on the course content.

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