Everything Sign Language Book

by Irene Duke

Explains basic communication using American Sign Language, including proper handshapes, body language, signing etiquette, and communicating with the hearing impaired.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Language, Education

304 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2003

Reviews

[Angela]

I'm reading this right now. I find it helps explain details that are not in the Sign Language dictionary, but explain how to tell the difference around the certain signs, word order, and background the the deaf community. They say in South Dekota they opened up a deaf town that it consist of all worker that speak Sign Language. I think it would be fun to go too.
Angela

[Gina Manis]

My little one has been introduced to sign language in her physical therapy sessions due to developmental delays. She does have hearing loss in her left ear. I found the information in this book really explain all the different way sign language is used. Not much signing in the book but that was okay for me. I did love the book and hope you do too.

[Bonita Jones]

I am totally deaf in my Dr after it was medically shut down due to chronic infection and my or eat has about 25% voice recognition. In September 9th I had cochlear implant surgery. My activation date is September 24th. I read this book to enhance my communication experience. I learned so much I was to continue to expand my sign vocabulary just as wide as my verbal 1.

[Jason Comely]

Similar content to Irene Duke's other book, but with more hand signs and information on deaf culture. Personally, I prefer her Learn Sign Language in a Hurry... it's what got me excited about learning ASL. Read that one first.

[Wendy Matta]

Very Good For My Situation

I have taken the Vow of Silence, on Day 4... so decided when I NEED to communicate I use writing Tools and now Signing... Wish the Arrows weren’t so confusing, but basic Words for basic communication... I do recommend this for beginners... Aloha & Blessed Be Wenz

[Laura Eggen]

I really enjoyed this book; it was very informative and helped me greatly expand my ASL vocabulary.
If I could change one thing about this book, however, it would be for it to give a more in-depth and extensive explanation of the ASL syntax.

[Sarah]

This book is very useful. With history, common signs, and tips, all broken down into easy-to-follow chapters and subjects, this book is a great way to start, or further, your ASL skills.

[Gina Manis]

It was a good introduction to sign language and how it is used for many different disabilities.

[Abigail Wilson]

There’s a couple of odd typos- it may just be for the Kindle version. It has some really good vocabulary though! I am not deaf so I can’t speak to its quality in that regard.

[Kathy Kellow]

Great tool for teaching sign
♥️

[Zoelle]

Great book!

I’m not deaf but I am recently mute and this book made learning ASL a breeze. I just wish anyone else knew what the heck I was signing.

[Heather]

This book was a fun read.

Things I like:
- I like that it has a lot of information about Deaf culture, the Deaf community, the history of sign. There is even really great information that is usually not included in ASL books - on accommodations for a Deaf person's hotel or hospital room, how to behave around a guide dog, how to use a TTY, etc. Some of the information was kind of like preaching to the choir (e.g., why health care and police workers should learn ASL) and thus less interesting, but the historical tidbits were entertaining.
- The photos are nice and big. (Although, I think if the decision was bigger photos or more signs, they should have gone with more signs.)
- The included practice activities and the group activities in the back are all GREAT ideas for practice.
- There was good information about Deaf etiquette and cultural norms.

Things I didn't like:
- Some of the topic groupings seemed illogical or could at least have been ordered better. For instance, that "thank you" is introduced in chapter 18 under the category of "Potpourri." Greetings, introductions and polite words should be at the beginning of any language you're learning.
- Some of the signs, according to other books and websites and my own interaction with the Deaf community, do not seem to be the more commonly used version. (Using two hands for "cat," for instance, is considered old-fashioned.)
- The photos appear really dated and the signers have expressionless or very serious faces. It's not often clear from the arrows what the motion should be (though, for the most part, the descriptions of the sign often make up for that). However, it seems there's a newer version of the book with new photos, so maybe those photos are better.
- Some of the signs are described in the text but there are no accompanying pictures.
- There are a lot of signs and a lot of grammatical information (about classifiers, time orientation, facial expression, etc.) but not much practice with whole sentences.

Overall, this book would be a great addition to a curriculum when used with a class textbook and a signing dictionary.

[Shelli]

I am so frustrated with this book right now! My daughter and I have been reading a chapter at a time and carefully going over and over the information and signs only to check http://www.handspeak.com and see that MANY of them are incorrect. Yes, words often have multiple signs and vary regionally but there is no way this is the case with so many of the basic signs. I feel like we wasted the last few weeks learning information that I can't trust to be accurate. If anyone knows a source that can be trusted please message me. It's unfortunate too because I really loved all the back information The Everything Sign Language Book began with, which is the only reason I am even giving it two stars.

[Melissa Marin]

I'm taking an ASL class right now and I found the history of ASL interesting. I personally find watching a person (live or in videos) most useful when learning though because movement and palm orientation is very important and a book can't demonstrate that as well as a human.

[Maggie]

So interesting! Not just for picking up a few fun signs, this book really covers the details and foundations of learning ASL for what it is: a new language. And it's straightforward enough for any age of reader to learn from it.

[Rosie]

I found this book to be quite informative about the basics of sign language and the common assumptions people make about signing and the Deaf community. It is well written and I would recommend it to other people who are interested in ASL.

[Kianna]

my main goal right now is to teach mysel sign language. this book is really helping me out and i've learned more than i thought i could learn in a month

[Leslie]

I don't think this book is the most efficient way to learn sign languauge. It doesn't flow the way I would like it to...

[Ian]

I actually really like this book's introduction to sign language and what kinds of people use it. The pictures are intuitive and was overall a good starter for me in ASL.

[Michelle Mcnamara]

The pictures helped alot

I like the visual pictures provided and helped alot. The other book read had drawing of the signing which wer
ent as clear