ASL | Tom Loves Ruth | American Sign Language

IN THIS COURSE, you're going to use American Sign Language (ASL) to sign a narrative about a unique situation. To achieve this, we’ll learn the ABCs, review fingerspelling rules, learn individual vocabulary words, see English translated into ASL, create complete sentences, and learn to sign the entire narrative. Along the way, there will be tests to review your ability to sign correctly and understand what I’m signing. We’ll also use a timer to improve your signing speed.ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:Hello! My name is Michael. When I was three years old, my younger brother became sick with spinal meningitis. In the process, my brother became deaf with an almost complete hearing loss. This difficult situation provided a unique opportunity for my family and I to become fluent in American Sign Language (ASL). Unlike some deaf children, my brother was not sent away to a deaf or hard of hearing school. He grew up with us, his hearing family, and we were active in the deaf community.
As a police officer and federal investigator, I often used ASL to communicate with and interpret for witnesses, victims, and perpetrators. I decided to create ASL courses because it’s a useful and practical skill to have. Like learning any language, it opens your mind and creates the ability to communicate with a whole new group of people.