The Art of Sign Language: Phrases

When I saw only one review of this book and it was so negative I had to write one myself. Unfortunately I am afraid Emily (the previous reviewer) is one of those who was probably born deaf and take offense at putting sign language in English word order. Everyone must realize that about 80% of us who are deaf are defined as late-deafened. That is, our native language is English. Those born deaf use a different type of sign language called ASL. Although we share many of the same signs our thoughts are not ordered the same. Signed English is obviously in an English word order. I have been deaf and using signing for about 25 years now but like most of my late-deafened friends have never been able to become fluent in ASL. The word order is just too foreign for me. Now on to the review of this book. Yes it is based on Signed English. It is a good book to use for helping hearing people learn signing as it is in their native language. And putting signs in phrases is helpful in remembering them. Whether Emily wants to admit it or not most people who know ASL and can read English at at least a rudimentary level can understand Signed English. And of course for the other 80% of us deaf people it is our preferred type of signing. So, if you are trying to help your work colleagues or church members to learn some sign language this book will definitely help with them. Another book I would highly recommend is "The Joy of Signing" by Lottie Riekehof. These two books together are a good start for beginning signers.