American Sign Language For Dummies

352 Pages·2016·14.53 MB·English

by  Angela Lee Taylor

American Sign Language For Dummies®
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ
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Copyright © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2016953540
ISBN 978-1-119-28607-3 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-28609-7 (ebk); ISBN 978-
1-119-28610-3 (ebk)
American Sign Language For
Dummies®
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Table of Contents
Cover
Introduction
About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1: American Sign Language and You
Chapter 1: You Already Know a Little Sign
Discovering Signs That Look like What They Mean
Building on the Basics of Sign: Gestures and Expression
Chapter 2: Signing Grammar Basics
Explaining the Parts of Speech
Talking Tenses
Structuring Sentences
Exclaiming in Simple Sentences
Signing Conditional Sentences
Personification: The Secret of Agents
Clarifying with Classifiers
Chapter 3: Starting to Sign Basic Expressions
Initiating a Conversation
Getting Acquainted
Acting the Part: Constructed Dialogue and Constructed
Action
Chapter 4: Getting Your Numbers and Times
Straight
Counting on Numbers
Talking about Time
Chapter 5: Signing at Home
Handling Signs about Your Home
Hanging Out for the Holidays
Teaching the Tots
Keeping Track of Your Subjects in Space
Part 2: Refining Your ASL
Chapter 6: Asking Questions and Making Small Talk
Signing Key Questions: Six Ws, One H
Discussing Family, Friends, and More
Using Possessives and Pronouns When Chatting
Chapter 7: Asking for Directions
Finding Your Way
Looking to Natural Landmarks
Searching the Streets
Transporting Yourself
Directing Your Sentences with Conjunctions
Chapter 8: Dining and Going to the Market
Eating Three Square Meals a Day
Dining Out
Attention, Shoppers!
Chapter 9: Shopping Made Easy
Clothes for All Seasons
All about Money
Shopping Superlatives and Comparisons
Chapter 10: The Signer About Town
Making Plans
Selecting Your Social Station
Chapter 11: Takin’ Care of Business
Occupying Yourself with Occupations
Sorting Office Supplies
Getting to Work
Chapter 12: Recreation and the Great Outdoors
Exercising Your Right to Recreate
Playing Indoor Games
Having Fun with Hobbies
Seeing the Night Sky
Getting the Weather Report
Asking Rhetorical Questions in ASL
Chapter 13: Here’s to Your Health
Going to the Doctor
Describing Ailments and Treatments
Pointing to Body Parts
Handling Emergencies
Part 3: Looking at Life through Deaf Eyes
Chapter 14: The Deaf Community and Deaf Etiquette
Digging into Sign’s Past
Examining When and How ASL began
Facing the Challenges of the Deaf Community
The Deaf as an Ethnic Group
Being Sensitive to Being Deaf
Participating in the Deaf Community
Interpreting for the Deaf Community
Chapter 15: Soliciting Social Justice
Oralists and Manualists Meet in Milan
The Deaf Have It
Rejecting Language Oppression
Movers and Shakers
Chapter 16: Using Technology to Communicate
Using Videophones: Can You See Me Now?
Using Other Communication Methods
Calling through Captioning
Part 4: The Part of Tens
Chapter 17: Ten Tips to Help You Sign like a Pro
Watch Yourself and Others Sign
Discover Multiple Signs for Communicating One Thing
Practice Your Signing — with Others
Always Fingerspell a Name First
Adjust Your Eyes; Everyone’s Signing Is Different
Use Facial Expressions like Vocal Inflections
Journal Your Progress
Get Some Signing Space
Don’t Jump the Gun
Watch the Face, Not the Hands
Chapter 18: Ten Ways to Pick Up Sign Quickly
Volunteer at a Residential School for the Deaf
Volunteer at Local Deaf Clubs
Attend Deaf Social Functions
Make Deaf Friends
Assist Deaf Ministries
Attend Conferences for Interpreters
Work at Camps for the Deaf
Attend Silent Weekends
Go to Deaf Workshops and Deaf Conferences
Watch Sign Language Videos
Chapter 19: Ten Popular Deaf Expressions
Swallowed the Fish
Train Gone
Pea Brain
Rats!/Darn!
I Hope
Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
Cool!
Oh No!
That’s Superb!
That’s Pretty Straight-Laced
Wow!
About the Authors
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End User License Agreement
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Begin Reading