Product Description

Open up a whole new world of communication through ASL

You can easily learn ASL with help from The American Sign Language Phrase Book. With more than 500 phrases, this is the reference guide to everyday expressions in American Sign Language, providing a quick way for you to converse with deaf people.

Clearly illustrated with hundreds of line drawings, this book focuses on areas such as health, family, school, sports, travel, religion, time, money, food and drink, and small talk. This edition's new chapter on technology boasts 50 phrases to help you communicate about the Internet, computing, video relay, and more. There is even a chapter that gives you phrases for communicating about signing: asking people to sign slower, indicating your fingerspelling ability, and requesting help with your fledgling skills.

From asking simple questions (“How are you?”) to more complex phrases (“There's no sign for that, you have to fingerspell it.”), The American Sign Language Phrase Book gives you the power to communicate easily and comfortably in ASL.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8654 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780071497138
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author

Lou Fant (1931-2001) was heralded as a leading expert in the ASL field and an ambassador between the deaf and hearing worlds. He was a teacher, interpreter, consultant, sign language coach, and actor. Fant cofounded the National Theatre of the Deaf in 1967.

Barbara Bernstein Fant has taught beginning and advanced ASL at Seattle Central Community College since 1990. On occasion, she contracts with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation and Seattle Diversity Words in providing ASL classes and tutoring to various corporations. She has served as the chairperson of the Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services board.

Customer Reviews

really helpful for the ASL student
I love this book! If you are trying to learn ASL, you will probably learn a lot from this book. It is divided into chapters by subject, like "Health" "Travel" and "Animals and Colors." So, you are able to build your vocabulary as you are learning basic grammar.

ASL syntax is quite different from English, so I have found it very helpful to use this book. All of the phrases and sentences are shown in ASL, so you are able to learn how to piece your signs together.

Also, the drawings are great - the character who models the signs looks very amiable.

I'm just a beginner in ASL, mostly I know vocabulary. I have just begun to try to grasp the grammar, and this book has been a big help. I highly recommend it!

Good but not the best!
This book is a good resource for learning ASL signs. While it does do a good job introducing beginners to ASL phrases and also displays the difference between ASL and Signed Exact English (often mistaken for ASL), it does not explain the grammar rules of ASL. The point being that, after one has learned the signs in the book, one has no way of knowing how to form other phrases on their own. Instead of teaching the method, this book teaches memorization. This is okay sometimes but for those who REALLY want to learn the language and become fluent, it is not enough. To learn ASL grammar, I would recommend "American Sign Language: A Teacher's Resource Text on Grammar and Culture" by Baker-Shenk and Cokely. All in all, this book is pretty good and is much better than many other resources out there, it's just not enough.

A very good place to start
This book is a very good starting point for learning ASL, because it emphasizes that ASL is NOT English. The introductory discussion of ASL points it out repeatedly, and the organization as a phrase book rather than a dictionary drives the point home. I wish I'd had this book from the beginning.

(Besides, I always grin when I see the illustrations, because they look to me like Colin Machrie of _Whose Line is it Anyway?_ fame.)