Sign Language Made Simple

I LOVE Sign Language Made Simple the black book. Had it in college where I learned 1,000 signs in three months. I probably have a dozen sign language books. In 1981,1982. I loaned it out to a friend against my better judgement. He promised it back. That never happened. So replacing it. This is my FAVORITE by far!! It teaches in sentences not just words. In everyday conversation. You can't find a better book. I tell everyone if they want to learn sign language get this book. There are more by the same name. MAKE SURE IT'S THE BLACK BACKGROUND WITH WHITE OUTLINE OF HANDS!! Anyone interested in learning this book is A MUST NEED!!! I had wanted to learn sign language as a little kid. As far back as I can remember. But was never allowed to become we didn't know anyone dead. PLEASE DON'T DO THIS TO YOUR KID ARE YOURSELF. Learn it as young as possible!!! Learn it your kid so they will have someone to practice with. And keep it up. Don't put it back and forget it like I did because I had no one to talk to are no place to use it. I do now each Sunday Morning at church.

I own many Sign Language books (textbooks, dictionaries, etc.) and I found this book a wonderful resource to help beginners to sign sentences right away instead of looking up each word in an sign language dictionary.

I teach ASL at a college level. I would still recommend this book to everyone who is interested in learning sign language, but who does not have constant contact with Deaf people, or limited occassions at a work place. The format of learning elementary to more complex sentences (and the vocabulary along the way) puts the didactic and practical together in one easy to use resource. It comes with a comparatively inexpensive DVD with all of the chapters in visual format. I think it's one of the best for non-ASL users.

This book is great. We were able to communicate with a deaf person (limited of course) with just the first two lessons. Rather than learning each word individually, like you would with a dictionary, you learn in sentences. We really enjoy our sign language class using this book. It makes learning SL fun. A Student of SL

My daughter had the first edition of this book and we had enjoyed working with that. Yet, when we received the second edition it was more compatible to American Sign Language, deleting many of the incidental words (the, to, a, etc.)The review exercises at the end of each lesson offer focused practice on the signs already learned. This enables the reader to quickly use the new words in actual conversation. Although just learning, I have been able to converse somewhat with hearing impaired friends.

This book has been in my personal library for 10 years. Rather than learning words independently, signing is learned in sentence form. This greatly aids in the retention of the signs. You can begin conversing from lesson one. Easy to follow directions and graphics show how to make the signs. Fingerspelling practice drills are given at the end of each lesson. This book will put you on your way to being a proficient signer.