There are plenty of apps and websites for learning languages. Very few of them, however, offer American Sign Language (ASL). We take a look at the top contenders to help you find the best site for learning ASL.
Note that this article is written by a hearing person and is not intended to speak for the experience of the deaf or hard of hearing communities.
How Hard Is Learning ASL?
Learning ASL takes different skills and requires different methods of instruction than learning an orally spoken language. For example, ASL can’t be taught through audio, whereas listening is an intensive part of learning spoken language. Instead, it requires either live instruction or video, or at the very least, still images, though those aren’t typically as effective.
Learners also need to have their hands free to practice signing, whereas, with other languages you can do some amount of studying and practicing while walking your dog or multitasking in some other way.
ASL is based on American English, however, and you will find that some ASL words have hooks to English that may make them easier to remember. For example, some words are fingerspelled abbreviations, like apartment (fingerspell apt) and boulevard (fingerspell blvd). Other words, like the signs for some colors, incorporate the fingerspelled starting letter of the word and add a shaking motion—b for blue, g for green, p for purple, for example.
How Is Learning ASL Like Learning Other Languages?
In other ways, learning ASL is similar to learning any other language. ASL has its own alphabet in fingerspelling and its own grammar. There are regional differences in the language and slang. ASL is distinct from British Sign Language.
With any new-to-you language, it helps to hear a variety of speakers, and with ASL, you’ll learn more if you watch a variety of people signing—old, young, right-handed and left-handed people, signers from different regions, and so forth. The signing community has a rich culture with rules of etiquette, such as appropriate ways to get a deaf person’s attention, that the best ASL programs include as part of their teaching.
Why Study ASL?
People learn ASL for a variety of reasons. Some learn after suffering hearing loss, some to communicate with family or friends, some do it to build a new life skill or job skill, and some learn for personal enrichment. Whatever your motivation, you can learn a lot of ASL with the right tools and apps. The five listed here are the best ones we’ve seen.
