American Sign Language The Easy Way

by David A. Stewart, Jessalyn Little, Elizabeth Stewart

Learning ASL—American Sign Language—becomes easy with the help of this heavily illustrated book. This edition has been updated to include information on new technological developments and their related vocabulary. A useful guide both for the deaf and for those who teach or otherwise work among deaf men and women, this book opens with a detailed presentation of the 10 key grammatical rules of ASL. Also emphasized is the use of "facial grammar" as an important supplement to manual signing. Most of this book's contents are devoted to demonstrating and explaining signing. More than 800 line drawings clearly illustrate different words and then show how to combine them to convey statements. Here is easy access to the use of American Sign Language, a practical book for both the deaf and for those with normal hearing who have occasion to communicate with the deaf.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction

480 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2003

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was interesting, but more interesting than I feel useful.

1. The explanations of ASL grammar were concise, simple and not lacking in examples.

2. The diagrams themselves were a little hard to understand. Arrows and drawings didn't always make it clear (at least to me) how to perform the gestures. Pictures are all you get though in most cases.

3. There is a lot of great information included in the book on the deaf community: concerns, history, humor, etc. , which was wonderful for me since I basically picked up this book on impulse.

4. The vocabulary is a little suspect. A lot of basic conversation and utility signs were nowhere to be found, while a lot of relatively useless ones were included (wrestling, Finland, "to beat someone"...)

No offense to brutish, Finnish wrestlers.

So yeah, my overall take: great information, well-presented and readable; poor attention to rudiments and hopeless in vocabulary.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a lot of information, but it also uses some signs that Deaf instructors recommend not using because they are considered Signed English." Having taken a six-week online course through my library, I had some basic knowledge of ASL and was able to spot a discrepancy with the sign for "what" and look it up online. Having learned that even one of these signs is inaccurate, I cannot trust the information in the rest of the book.

[Allison]

I think this would be a great reference book for folks who've had training/classes in ASL. I figured out quickly that ASL isn't a language I could teach myself - at least not from books. If I were taking a class in-person, I'd buy this one because the information it provides is that helpful.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good reference source because it explains ASL -- signs, concepts, grammar, etc. -- in an effective manner.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant workbook for learning sign language.

[Karen Sawyer]

It's a great book for learning ASL. It explains ASL Syntax in an understandable manner and gives plenty of explanations and examples.