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Conversational American Sign Language Part 2 - Teens

Students who have completed either Part 1 or ASL Review with me are invited to continue learning American Sign Language in this 8 week series. We will continue to build our vocabulary while also learning how to have conversations.
Sarah Bush
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:
(79)
Class

What's included

8 live meetings
7 hrs 20 mins in-class hours
Homework
1-2 hours per week. It is recommended that each student spend a minimum of 15 minutes per day practicing new signs, sentences and stories. This will allow them to keep up with the pace of the class and the other students in the class.

Class Experience

This class will be a continuation of Conversational American Sign Language Part 1.  Each week we will learn a set of vocabulary words, use practice sentences to learn how to use those vocabulary words and learn how to sign a story that will include grammar, sentence structure, body language, facial expression and vocabulary while also building on new ASL concepts.  Some of the topics we will cover are: 
indexing and referencing 
spatial signing
Directionality
Pluralizing
Possession 
Initialization
Negation
Grammar and syntax 
Classifiers 
While all of that sounds logistical and technical, I work hard to turn learning into a fun experience for each learner, engaging them in a variety of ways. 
This will be a highly interactive class with learner participation necessary.  Cameras will need to be on during the entire class to ensure the learner's skill level and accuracy.  Students will be interacting with each other as they practice sentences and stories together.  These classes will remain small so that we can learn at the pace of the group.  It is more important that each learner understands and learns the language than it is that we move quickly.  It is a requirement that learners complete my Part 1 series OR complete the ASL review (evaluation of skills) with me prior to taking this class.  My instruction style is to demonstrate each new sign, or sentence, or story, and ask each student to replicate the sign back to me.  As time allows, we will use fun songs or games or videos to aide in learning or memorization.  I will also spend some time in each class giving information about the Deaf community, their history and the history of ASL. Students of ALL abilities are welcome.  
Class Schedule:
Week 1:  Getting around BE verbs, Understanding facial expressions for "yes", "no" questions vs. "wh" questions.
We will learn a short list of vocabulary, common handshapes and put it all into practice sentences and stories to practice new concepts.

Week 2:  Understanding pluralizing and showing possession, learning how to incorporate directionality into a sign.
We will learn a short list of vocabulary and put it into practice sentences and stories to learn new concepts.

Week 3:  Learn how to establish tense, negation and dealing with suffixes -ing, -s and -ed.
We will learn a new list of vocabulary and work together to sign conversationally to help us learn the new concepts.

Week 4:  Understanding inflection, classifiers and working with Classifier V.
We will learn a new short list of vocabulary and use sentences and stories to learn the new concepts.

Week 5:  We discuss Eye-gaze, noun-verb pairs and agreement verbs, and put that into practice with new vocabulary, sentences and stories.

Week 6:  We will discuss the Time Line and the concept of "o'clock".  We will also learn about ASL word order and various ways to sign.
We will learn a short list of vocabulary and use sentences and stories to practice new concepts.

Week 7:  We will learn the importance of BodyShift and practice this technique with new vocabulary, sentences and stories with other students in class.

Week 8:  Learning how to use the Classifier H and practiciing this technique with new vocabulary, sentences and stories. We will discuss a bit of Deaf Culture and History.

Learning Goals

Students will work towards signing while "voice off", meaning without vocalization. This will give a true experience of the language.
learning goal

Other Details

External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined March, 2021
5.0
79reviews
Profile
Teacher expertise and credentials
Hello!  My name is Sarah Bush and I love to teach American Sign Language.  I have been studying and teaching ASL for over 17 years.  I attended Union County College Deaf Interpreter Program in New Jersey (#1 in the state) and got 75% of the way through before life interrupted.  So I started a company called Chatty Hands where I taught children, parents, teachers and therapists how to use ASL as a bridge to communication.  I developed my own curriculum modifying it according to the group I was teaching.  I have been teaching ASL to children as young as 6 months all the way up to adults.  It is such a great feeling to watch a 6 month old baby understand and use a sign to communicate.  It is also so rewarding to share this beautiful language with children of all ages and abilities.   In my classes, we use many different tools to learn how to sign....books, music, games....its called a multi-sensory approach to learning.  But that's part of what makes it so much fun to learn.  In my experience, when kids are having fun while learning, they will retain that information much longer.  Sign Language is a wonderful language to use for all sorts of reasons from communicating with Deaf or Hard of Hearing people to bridging the gap of communication during a speech delay in a child.  I hope you will join me in a class and at least learn the universal sign for "I love you" to share with all of your loved ones.  ** I teach both group classes and private lessons.

Reviews

Live Group Class
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$20

weekly
1x per week, 8 weeks
55 min

Completed by 15 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 13-18
1-2 learners per class

This class is no longer offered
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