Sign Language   

Beginning ASL Part I is designed to include all the cultural information students should know if they never take another ASL class again, including basic ASL skills, presented in a fun, interesting manner intended to draw them to additional ASL classes.  Additional classes will build greater vocabulary while having cultural understanding already in place.
 
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:  This course is designed as an introduction to American Sign Language and American Deaf Culture.  The main concepts and lessons in this class include:  the five parameters of signs, differences between ASL and Signed English, facial expression and Non-Manual Signs, proper terminology in the Deaf Community, syntax and timing for asking questions, ASL backchanneling, the basic history of ASL, the ASL time line, Deaf Culture, Name Signs, Agent Suffix, basic ASL sentence structure, and verb tenses.
Vocabulary in this course focuses on beginning conversational signs:  introductions, greetings and responses, personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, fingerspelling (the manual alphabet), question words, numbers 0-19, school and classroom signs, some directional verbs, and days of the week.
 

Beginning ASL Part II is designed as a follow-up to Beginning ASL Part I or for those that have some knowledge of deaf culture and American Sign Language, to build greater vocabulary while having cultural understanding already in place.  Additional time to use previously-learned signs will be provided through activities and developing signed conversations.  
 
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:  This course is designed for vocabulary-building and practice with American Sign Language.  The main concepts and lessons in this class include Subject-Pronoun Copy, Transfer Error, the grammatical use of Rhetorical Questions, making signs plural, signing age, how to sign the concepts of OR and AND, additional uses of Rhetorical Questions, visual-spatial aspects of ASL, and an introduction to Classifiers.
Vocabulary in this course focuses on beginning conversational signs:  activities, interests and favorites, colors, numbers 20-30, months and holidays, seasons and weather, background and information, classroom directions, size, states and countries, cities and distance, people, family, and pets.
 

This class is available to signers of any level who would like a chance to practice their ASL skills in fun interactions, using ASL in conversation.  Come use your signs outside of class in a casual setting with activities and games designed to enhance and improve your ASL abilities. This is a great addition to our other American Sign Language Classes.