ASL in the Real World: Textbook vs. Casual Signing

ASL in the classroom and ASL in everyday life can look very different! In this video, we break down the key differences between textbook ASL and casual signing, including sentence structure, fingerspelling shortcuts, and natural variations in signing style. Learn how to make your signing more natural and fluid while understanding why the textbook version is still important.

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*NAVIGATION*
0:00 - Mini-Intensive on Classifiers
0:25 - Intro
1:25 - Sentence Structure (Casual vs Textbook)
3:17 - Examples of Formal vs Casual Phrases
5:22 - Sign Production (Casual vs Textbook)
7:00 - Textbook vs Casual Signs Examples
7:30 - Casual ASL Fingerspelling
8:27 - Using Shortcuts in ASL
9:05 - Why Even Learn Textbook ASL?
10:13 - Encouragement

#asl #learnasl #learnhowtosign

[susanhenley]

Am glad you clarified the importance of learning ASL correctly first.
I'm teaching my young grandchildren to sign 'correctly'.

[robertma]

Glad to see this! Most of what I've seen of ASL for awhile is asl song covers, but I'll be watching Dr. Vickers soon. You're right, you need a solid foundation, but in everyday life, it's good to keep in mind that like spoken english, the signing will be more casual. I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for pointing that out! I'm a beginner, and I know that the different grammar will be hhhhaaarrddd.

[lmcr]

Welp. ASL was my 1st language in a deaf school, but I think I was taught by a deaf teacher so I do both formal and casual in one sentence. Like mixing your cursive and printing writing together.

[hasanyoneseenmyark]

This video has helped me a ton. Thank you for this clarification!

[mikemeyer]

I don't know anyone deaf to communicate with, but I'm really drawn to ASL for some reason. Your videos are great and I use Dr Bill Vicar's site as well. It's really an amazing language to learn. Thank you!

[trumpet]

It is so helpful of you to share this. It took me a while to realize this difference. I'm STILL learning to make this adjustment.

[BriannaMoss]

Fascinating and I appreciate the aide by side examples and comparisons. Thank you so much.

[labbrockington]

Thank you for sharing this it will definitely help me as I get back into ASL. God bless you and keep you.🤟🏻

[Onuj_junO]

Now I’m confused I just started learning ASL….It’s difficult as it is. Not being able to speak because of medical reasons….this old mind of mine needs to reboot😂 I guess I better stay with the normal ASL for now….any ideas?

[karenkkelly]

Love these videos so much! Thank you Meredith!

[ColorfulIsland]

Hope you can try to sign “HOT TO GO” (song) in ASL as well.

[tracykeeney]

This is SO fantastic and so helpful!!!
Different subject -- Is there a "rule" or anything to judge by, to explain which verbs you sign to demonstrate that YOU'RE doing something, vs someone is doing TO you? For example, I know that if I want to say "I'll give it to you tommorow", I'd sign 'tommorow" then make the sign for "give" starting with me and moving my hands out to them. Whereas, if I wanted to say "Give it to me tomorrow"- I'd sign tomorrow, and start the "give" sign out toward them and bring it back to myself. Would that same rule apply to the verb "answer" for example? If I wanted to say "I need you to answer me by tomorrow" or "God answered my prayer" would the answer sign START out at the other person and move back to me, or in the case of God answering a prayer, start kind of 'up' toward God and come back toward me? Do you have a video I've missed that goes over this?

[sazji]

Would you say constant exposure to English and its structure is affecting ASL in that direction?

And is Official ASL a static standard, or does it also adapt as a certain sign or sign variant becomes overwhelmingly more common in the real world? (Thinking of ASL equivalents of English words like “whom” which still exists but hardly anyone actually uses anymore.)

[susanhenley]

QUESTION for you, Meredith..
My 4 year old grandson is right-handed, however he is suddenly trying to sign left-handed. Is this common for kids?
What, if anything, should I do when teaching dominant-hand and non-dominant-hand movements?

[GuillermoLópezMoreno-bh]

Hi I’m a kid 11 year old and my mom want me to learn sign language but I don’t know if I should do it because is to hard 😢😢😢

[kldunkin]

I would love to learn how to do this.

[spydirsbite]

I'm autistic and have a hard time with eye contact, but I'm learning for my wife who is losing her hearing. Is it ok to not look at someone in the face and instead mostly watch their hands, or is that normally considered rude?

[stevenridings]

If it's alright, I'd like to assign the classifier course to my students

[gladysrod-san]

Interesting video! Can you recommend me a textbook, please?

[BUStudentX]

ASL has very similar grammar to Chinese