Communicating in Sign: Creative Ways to Learn American Sign Language (ASL)

Having been involved in the Deaf community and Deaf education for 23 years, I found Diane Chambers' book to be a great alternative to the myriad of "Sign Language" books available. I use this book to teach beginning ASL and Deaf Culture. The information is presented in logical sequence. First-time students have commented that even without lots of pictures, the great descriptions make it easy to learn the Signs. Incorporating Deaf culture in the book was sheer genius since without background knowledge of Deaf community and culture you might as well sit on your hands. Add this book to your collection!

Although I have only been trying to learn sign language for a few months, I was very relieved to find this book. I have learned a few other languages and have never seen the willingness to take short cuts that I've seen in so many sign language books. A German text would never assume that learning vocabulary but using English sentence structure is good enough, however, that is what most supposed "ASL" books do. This book is refreshing in that it explains that American Sign Language does NOT equal American English in form. Chambers even goes further in explaining the etiquette of certain social situations... that there are necessary cultural differences between Deaf and Hearing worlds and also gives suggestions on how to become less of a "tourist" in the Deaf community.Many of the exercises require a partner or group, but if you are learning alone, this in no way devalues the information here. You won't find what you are looking for here if you are only looking for a lexicon, but it is a valuable addition to a beginner's American Sign Language library. I feel much more comfortable in communicating after reading this book.My one disappointment was that the promised "further reading and resources" section at the end was not as comprehensive as I was expecting. I was hoping for more resources for beginners, including videos.

How-to books on ASL, like any other how-to book, must ultimately be judged on their practical results. Using that standard, Diane Chambers and her amazing book must receive the highest accolades.Our company recently decided to teach ASL to all employees because almost five percent of our workforce was deaf, and there was a noticeable communication gap between us. In a company of 200 employees we had only two who were fluent in ASL. Without them to translate and act as a buffer, the uneasiness we already felt through our communication gap changed into outright panic as we became reduced to passing written notes back and forth. Our deaf employees never took part in any company activies, perfering to associate with themselves. Our personnel director asked if anyone would be interested in learning ASL and practically the entire company expressed such an interest. As one of our ASL signers had ASL teaching experience, he volunteered to give the course. I suggested Diane Chambers' book and he used it as the text. Using one of our deaf employees to practice on, the class was held on company time for an hour a day. The chapters on ASL helped us to "speak" to them, and the chapter of deaf culture helped us to understand them. The quickest among us learned in a little over a week, the slower among us took three weeks. But all can, and do, make use of the ASL they learned and we have a much more happy, and more productive, office as a result.Many other books of ASL have nicer covers and nicer illustrations. This one has nicer results.

Can you honestly believe that anyone would rate this book at one star -- obviously someone who only read up to the first chapter. We had the opportunity to use Diane Chamber's book for a course taught by none other than the author herself at the church where I am currently serving. The book received rave reviews. The book contains practical exercises that can be practiced at home in study or in a class environment. The course was a great success, it built confidence in the students who are now enthused about continuing their education of ASL who knows, it may even become a new ministry in the church. The chapter on Deaf culture is extremely helpful in explaning and opening the doors of dialogue between deaf and hearing worlds. This book also covers an understanding of deaf grammer - obviously very different from english - something that took me three years to finally get a handle on - thanks to Diane's book. Finally, one book where deaf culture, grammer, vocabulary is captured! If you are interested in deaf ministry, this is a must buy!

Most of us work with or know someone who is hearing-impaired (excepting your spouse, who only pretends to be hearing-impaired). Communicating with that person is of utmost importance if any sort of relationship is to be established and maintained. Unfortunately, after reading most books on sign language, the only thing you'll learn is the signing for "never again." (The last book I read before this on the subject was the most pointless since "How to Learn German" was translated into German.) Diane Chambers has managed to write a book that not only teaches you the basic techniques and grammar of sign language, but also does it in a style that makes it easy to learn and absorb what is being taught. The reader will walk away from this book with purpose and confidence rather than a sense of ennui and the haunting feeling of having just wasted time and money. Chambers also takes the reader into the world of deaf culture, changing our point of view from a spectator to a participant. If you read only one book on sign language, read this one, you'll need no other. And if you want to communicate with a hearing-impaired person, definitely read this one.