golyplot wrote:I'm kind of curious what your study methods are like for ASL.
I don't mean to be discouraging, but ASL is to date the only language I've given up on, and that's despite being unusually motivated to learn it! I eventually concluded that it is impossible to get more than a surface level understanding of ASL through the internet no matter how hard you try. And before you ask, yes, I went to every Deaf event in the area I could find for almost a year, but I wasn't getting anything out of it. I'm introverted and didn't know anyone, and an hour or two per month of signing like a caveman isn't going to do anything under the best of circumstances anyway. I also took several in-person ASL classes but sadly wasn't able to continue them. If I ever am in a position where I can practice regularly with a skilled signer, I might try to pick it back up, but until now, I consider it a lost cause.
I would agree that I'm unlikely to get a deep knowledge of ASL from online only sources. But, I think that's largely true of spoken language as well. I find it ASL to be a very expressive language and as far as picking up initial vocabulary, for me personally it has been way easier than any other language I've studied. And for the early stages of learning, online resources are great. The way the ASL University courses are structured, the videos show a question-and-answer session between the professor and a student. I sign the answers before the student if I can, along with the student if I can't. If I miss something, I can replay it slower. Typically I'll go through each video at least twice. Then during the day, I translate things to myself; for instance whatever is being said or sung on the radio, things I need to remember to tell my mom when I call her later, or sometimes stories that I know really well. There's also a lot of dual-language ASL storytelling on YouTube that I've started watching sometimes. I miss a lot of signs, but I can fill in from context and it helps with grammatical context. The word order is a bit challenging to get used to, but I don't find it impossible.
And, once I've gone through at least a couple of levels online, I plan to reach out to a local sign language interpreter I know and ask her for more in-person resources; for instance if someone would be willing to tutor or if there are opportunities to volunteer with students, etc.
I do also have an activity that I participate in off-and-on where one of the other participants was learning ASL due to losing her hearing in one ear and having some hearing loss in the other, so she's another opportunity for me to use the language. She's just really intense and scares me a little bit (she's really nice, I'm just introverted and therefore intimidated).
