Sign Language   

Beginning ASL Part 1 is for students new to the world of ASL and Deaf Culture.  The class is designed to include all the fundamentals of American Sign Language and its grammar, along with Deaf Culture basics, presented in a fun, engaging manner intended to prepare and interest students in 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 timeline, 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.
 

The third of the series, this class is for students who have completed Beginning American Sign Language I and Beginning American Sign Language II. This course is designed for building fluency, highlighting several differences between signing English and signing ASL, as well as additional practice with American Sign Language and cultural aspects. The main concepts and lessons in this class include signing age using Numerical Incorporation (review), CODAs, Contrastive Structure, the Listing & Ordering Technique, correcting mistakes, friendship patterns in the Deaf Community, advanced tips for understanding fingerspelling, Deaf Art, ASL Storytelling and Jokes and their part in Deaf Culture, more Topic+Comment syntax practice, maintaining Spatial Agreement, changing statements to Yes-No Questions, proper negation in ASL, sequencing in ASL, and a brief introduction to the DeafBlind Community.

Vocabulary in this course includes:  people, family, and pets (review from Beginning American Sign Language II), numbers 31-100 and beyond, life events, relationships, numerical pronouns, and personal qualities & traits. 

Intermediate ASL Part 2 is designed as a follow-up to Intermediate ASL Part 1 (and Beginning ASL Parts 1 and 2) to build both greater expressive language skills (signing) and greater receptive language skills (understanding what is signed to you) while having cultural understanding already in place. The class will touch on a few additional Deaf Culture points as well as a tool for improving fingerspelling fluency.