What do you think?
Rate this book
Barron's American Sign Language: A Comprehensive Guide to ASL 1 and 2 with Online Video Practice
Barron’s American Sign Language is a brand-new title on ASL that can be used in the classroom, as a supplemental text to high school and college courses, or for anyone who wants to learn proper ASL.
The only book with comprehensive instruction and online graded video practice quizzes, plus a comprehensive final video exam.
Content includes topics on the Deaf culture and community, ASL Grammar, fingerspelling, combining signs to construct detailed sentences, Everyday ASL, and much more.
More than 1,000 illustrations of signs with instructions on movement--step-by-step with dialogue, tip boxes, and practice exercises and quizzes throughout to reinforce retention and to track your progress.
The only book with comprehensive instruction and online graded video practice quizzes, plus a comprehensive final video exam.
Content includes topics on the Deaf culture and community, ASL Grammar, fingerspelling, combining signs to construct detailed sentences, Everyday ASL, and much more.
More than 1,000 illustrations of signs with instructions on movement--step-by-step with dialogue, tip boxes, and practice exercises and quizzes throughout to reinforce retention and to track your progress.
704 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 5, 2021
53 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Read
September 2, 2025i had this book from the library for about 6 months. yes i returned and re-borrowed and eventually read it in 2 days because the due date is coming up again and this time i'm determined to break the cycle. with no practice or feedback loops required by language learning, i'd been making snail progress (and slumping..).
books are not ideal for learning sign language, but i find them useful for checking my progress. (i need to work more on the time adverbs.) this book is heavy on grammar, which makes it a much needed complement to my current vocabulary building.
the synonyms table is informative. the dialogue breakdowns, however, become repetitive especially obvious toward the end. i didn't read the last few chapters because by then it felt like a matter of vocabulary accumulation and i still think it's better to learn new signs through videos if not inperson.
like all languages, asl carries embedded biases. the spatial grammar can be sexist: the upper half of head space is coded as masculine or associated with “thinking,” while the lower half feminine or associated with “feeling.” words such as shame/ashamed, jealous/envious, and sugar/cute are all signed around the chin. signers touch their forehead or chin to mark gender. perhaps i could instead sign everything around the middle of the face, or down at the neck which is an accepted more casual variation for some signs but also means it might lock my register at “informal.”
i only recently had my first contact with the deaf community when i requested a seat in the asl accessibility area at an event. i think overall i failed miserably; the social etiquette felt like a doubling down on normie norms. i sure wasn't expecting deaf/hoh people to talk so much. i chose to unmask while there, and i think i can tell people didn't like me though i'm not sure whether they saw me as an intruder, a tourist, an appropriator, or just a bit too different.
Book 31 (instruction) of 2025
books are not ideal for learning sign language, but i find them useful for checking my progress. (i need to work more on the time adverbs.) this book is heavy on grammar, which makes it a much needed complement to my current vocabulary building.
the synonyms table is informative. the dialogue breakdowns, however, become repetitive especially obvious toward the end. i didn't read the last few chapters because by then it felt like a matter of vocabulary accumulation and i still think it's better to learn new signs through videos if not inperson.
like all languages, asl carries embedded biases. the spatial grammar can be sexist: the upper half of head space is coded as masculine or associated with “thinking,” while the lower half feminine or associated with “feeling.” words such as shame/ashamed, jealous/envious, and sugar/cute are all signed around the chin. signers touch their forehead or chin to mark gender. perhaps i could instead sign everything around the middle of the face, or down at the neck which is an accepted more casual variation for some signs but also means it might lock my register at “informal.”
i only recently had my first contact with the deaf community when i requested a seat in the asl accessibility area at an event. i think overall i failed miserably; the social etiquette felt like a doubling down on normie norms. i sure wasn't expecting deaf/hoh people to talk so much. i chose to unmask while there, and i think i can tell people didn't like me though i'm not sure whether they saw me as an intruder, a tourist, an appropriator, or just a bit too different.
Book 31 (instruction) of 2025
July 7, 2021
Great book, very helpful. I love that there are online videos as well.
December 17, 2021
Was a helpful book. Its easy to understand. Loved that It had online videos!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews