American Sign Language Green Books, a Teacher's Resource Text on Grammar and Culture

Deep... ASL as a language, a system for glossing, sentence structure... just what I needed.

I went through an interpreter training program in the early 1980's, and this book was considered our 'bible' for the entire program. It is not meant as a stand-alone for learning ASL, but as an adjunct when taking classes on ASL or enrolled in an interpreter preparation program. Even though it was written many years ago, the content is still salient today and is an important resource on my bookshelf. As a practicing interpreter for 25 years, I frequently look at chapters when I am mentoring someone or forget how to explain something in particular. The information on Deaf culture is especially valuable as well. The technical nature of the book is akin to explaining the linguistical nature of a spoken language, something critical to anyone learning ASL as a second language. I still see it used in programs today as a means of supplementing classroom lecture information. Only individuals serious about in-depth learning of American Sign Language will appreciate and benefit from this book. It is not fluff; learning the linguistic nature of ANY language requires dedication and time, and this applies to ASL as well. You cannot learn any language from a book, you learn it from associating with native users of that language. This book is excellent to use for the linguistic and theoretical basis for what you see and use when conversing with native users. You will not be disappointed if you use this in conjunction with classes and conversing with Deaf individuals whose native language is ASL. I highly recommend this book. It gives you a well-rounded education in the grammar of ASL in one handy reference. Forget 12 years of taking English classes from 1st. grade until you graduated high school. If you use this book as it is intended, it gives you all that information and more.

This book is designed for a teacher as part of the "Green Books" American Sign Language series; however, it is a very useful guide to ASL Grammar and Culture for anyone studying American Sign Language seriously (I, myself, am not a teacher, but have a copy of the book).I was introduced to the book when I first began learning sign language, and it was very confusing to me. I would have benefited, at the time, much better from an ASL dictionary or simpler sign book. My recommendation to those of you who have just begun learning (or would like to learn) ASL would be NOT to buy this book just YET! Start with something less daunting and sophisticated (after all, it is designed for those already familiar with ASL and preparing a class curriculum).What the book will give you is an excellent explanation of the sociolinguistic nature of American Sign Language--something you typically will not receive from a ASL Dictionary. For example: how sentences are structured, topicilization, rhetorical questions, relative clauses, expression of time, pronominalization, subject and object usage, the use of classifiers, locatives ... to name a few.All in all, this is a terrifically detailed, well researched, informative and valuable book; yet, not for a beginning student.