Signing Everyday Phrases

by Mickey Flodin

Signing Everyday Phrases is the most convenient and concise way to learn commonly used phrases in sign language. Arranged by topic, this handy book is a much needed reference for those who come in contact with deaf people on an occasional or even a frequent nurses, waiters and waitresses, firemen, policemen, doctors and emergency rescue workers, as well as friends and family members. With more than 3,100 signs, easy-to-follow directions and illustrations, and an extensive index for easy reference, Signing Everyday Phrases will teach you familiar phrases.

Genres: Reference

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

About the author

Mickey Flodin is an accomplished artist and bestselling author whose books on sign language have sold hundreds of thousands of copies. A self-taught painter and illustrator, Flodin began his career in advertising before launching his own freelance business, building a professional art career that has spanned over 25 years. His award-winning artwork has been featured in galleries and museum shows, with national and international sales. Deeply inspired by nature and wildlife, Flodin now works full-time as a wildlife artist, traveling across the United States for inspiration and residing in Missouri amid the natural landscapes he loves to paint.

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful for learning basic signs. Like any language, signs change over time, and by region and culture. So, these signs aren't necessarily universal.

[Korgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are very clear. The descriptions are also clear enough that they could be followed even without the illustrations. The format of the book makes it very simple to memorize vocabulary; each chapter focuses on a different topic, and the sentences in that chapter can be thought of as a story of events. You may be surprised how many signs you can remember even after only the first pass through the book.

Take note: this book is in fact Signed English, and not ASL. The book doesn't explicitly say that it is ASL, but nor does it make it clear that it is not, and I think this ought to be amended. For instance, the introduction of this book has these lines:

"American Sign Language (ASL) is the native language of the Deaf community in the U.S."
"ASL has a different syntax and grammatical rules than English and is preferred by deaf people when communicating among themselves."
"When hearing and deaf people sign together, they usually take the signs of ASL and put them in English word order. This is easier for hearing people."

It really should take the effort to state, "This book will not teach you ASL. This book is Signed English."

If you want to learn Signed English, this book is perfect. If you want to learn ASL, this book may still be of use to you: there is a lot of crossover with signs in Signed English and ASL, so you can use this book to build your signing vocabulary, and then later pick up an ASL book to learn the grammar.

There are a couple of things I would change. First, there is a section named 'Religion' which really only covers situations in which you may be signing with Catholics: This isn't useful, at least to me, and they might consider changing the topic of this chapter, or broadening it.

Second, it has a 'Computers and Technology' section, which is pretty dated, although hilarious. If you need to know the sign for 'palmtop', 'zip drive' or 'pager', this book has it.

Another criticism: the cover of this book claims that the book contains 3,400 signs. The book in fact contains at most 1371 UNIQUE signs. They shouldn't be counting the same sign used a hundred times over, so that's a little disingenuous.

I'm still giving this book 5 stars because it does exactly what it sets out to do.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is absolutely horrid. Not being deaf myself, I picked this book up at the store to communicate with my deaf friends. I wish I had leafed through it before buying it!

The book tried teaching you that you have to sign EVERYTHING, which is untrue. I don't need to sign 'a' or 'the' or a period. This book is an absolutely ridiculous waste of paper.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome way to learn the basics. It was recommended to me by a friend years ago, & is an ongoing read for me.... if you don't use it, you lose it.