American Sign Language For More

Getting Started With American Sign Language For More

Learning American Sign Language requires consistent practice and the right resources. American Sign Language For More is a comprehensive online program designed to take you from basic greetings to fluent conversational signing. The curriculum covers grammar structures, facial expressions, and cultural context that most beginner courses skip entirely. The first thing you need to understand is that ASL is not just English with hand gestures. It has its own syntax, spatial grammar, and non-manual markers that completely change how sentences are constructed. When I started teaching this material to students, I noticed many came in with the misconception that signing was just gesturing English word-for-word. This approach fails almost immediately because ASL grammar allows you to set up topics in space and refer back to them using location alone. The program starts with alphabet and numbers, which seems obvious but actually takes most people three to five days to build decent speed. From there it moves into basic sentence structure, where you learn the difference between subject-verb-object ordering and topic-comment structure. I found that students struggle most with classifier predicates early on. These are handshapes that represent objects or people moving through space, and they require significant wrist flexibility and coordination. One student of mine kept confusing the B-clasifier for handling objects versus the 5-clasifier for free handling. The workaround was having her practice each one separately with different object sizes before combining them.

American Sign Language For More Curriculum Breakdown

The course material spans approximately 120 hours of video content organized into four main sections. Section one covers the manual alphabet, digits zero through ninety-nine, and basic greetings. Section two introduces present tense verbs, questions, and negation. Section three gets into past tense, future tense, and conditional sentences. The final section covers advanced topics like role-shifting, blending, and pro-forms. What makes this program different from free YouTube tutorials is the structured feedback system. You record yourself signing, upload the video, and receive corrections from certified instructors within forty-eight hours. The attention to detail in these corrections caught several recurring mistakes I had in my own signing. Specifically, I was dropping my facial expressions during relative clauses, which made my sentences sound robotic and confusing to native signers. The video quality is decent but not perfect. Some recordings are shot against busy backgrounds that make tracking hand movement slightly harder. This is especially noticeable in the advanced sections where signing speed increases. I recommend watching these at 0.75x playback speed when first learning complex clauses. Once you understand the structure, you can watch at normal speed.

Technical Requirements and Setup

You need a device with a working camera, preferably a laptop or tablet positioned so your full upper body is visible. Phone cameras tend to be too low and only capture your hands and face, missing important body language. The platform also recommends using a plain background. Patterned wallpaper or busy rooms create visual noise that distracts from signing movements. Storage requirements are minimal. The entire course downloads to roughly 8 gigabytes, and individual video lessons range from 100 to 300 megabytes depending on length. Most students complete the program within six to eight months of regular practice, assuming they study at least four hours per week. Faster learners who dedicate six to eight hours weekly finish in about three to four months. The mobile app works adequately but has limitations. You cannot record high-quality video through the app, and the feedback system does not function on mobile devices. I recommend doing all practice sessions and video uploads through a desktop browser instead. The app is fine for reviewing vocabulary and completing quizzes, but not for recording practice videos.

Common Mistakes Beginners Make

Most people rush through the alphabet phase because they think it is too simple. This is a critical error. The alphabet builds the foundation for finger-spelling, which you will use constantly when you encounter new words, names, or technical terms. Students who skip proper alphabet practice typically reach a plateau around month three when they encounter vocabulary they have not learned yet. Finger-spelling fluency directly impacts your ability to communicate in real-world situations. Another frequent issue is inconsistent facial expressions. ASL uses eyebrows, mouth movements, and head tilts as grammatical markers. Raising your eyebrows signals a yes-or-no question. Furrowing them indicates a wh-question. Dropping your chin marks past tense. Missing these non-manual signals makes your signing grammatically incorrect even if your hand movements are perfect. I spent an entire month with my first tutor working exclusively on facial expressions before she felt comfortable moving on to more complex grammar. Over-relying on English word order is the third major pitfall. In English you say "I went to the store yesterday." In ASL you would typically sign STORE YESTERDAY I GO, setting up the time and location first before mentioning yourself as the subject. This topic-comment structure is fundamental to ASL and takes several months of practice to internalize naturally. My workaround for this was shadowing native signers on a regular basis, watching videos of Deaf speakers and pausing to repeat their exact structures until the patterns felt automatic.

Pricing and Access Options

The full course costs approximately 299 dollars for lifetime access. There is a monthly subscription option at 39 dollars per month if you prefer not to pay upfront. Both options include access to all current and future course materials, instructor feedback, and the community forum. A free trial period of fourteen days gives you access to the first two modules, which is enough to determine if the teaching style works for you. Some users report that customer support can be slow to respond during peak enrollment periods. I experienced a three-day wait for a technical issue with my account login last year. Email support is available but response times range from twenty-four to seventy-two hours depending on volume. Live chat is not offered, so patience is required if you encounter platform problems.

Who Should Use This Program

This course works best for motivated self-learners who can commit to a regular study schedule. It is less ideal for people who need hands-on correction from an instructor in real time. If you prefer live classes with immediate feedback, a local community college course or Deaf community meetup would serve you better. The program also assumes basic computer literacy. If you struggle with video uploads, file management, or navigating online learning platforms, you may find the technology barrier frustrating. Deaf adults looking to learn ASL as a second language can absolutely benefit from this resource, though they may find the pacing slower than they need. Hearing adults with no prior language learning experience will find the structured approach helpful. Heritage learners, those with Deaf family members, often already have some exposure to ASL and may want to supplement this course with in-person practice to refine their skills. The program does not certify you in any official capacity. If you need ASL certification for employment or academic credit, you will still need to pass additional assessments through recognized organizations like the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf or the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care. This course prepares you for those exams but does not replace them.

Where to Download or Enroll

You can access the program at the official website by creating an account with your email address. Payment is processed securely through standard credit card or PayPal options. Download links for offline viewing are sent to your registered email within minutes of purchase. Some users report delays during high-traffic periods like holiday weekends, so patience may be needed if you are trying to start immediately. There are also authorized resellers who offer the course through third-party educational platforms. These occasionally run discounts or bundle deals, though the core content remains identical. Always verify that any seller you purchase from is an authorized distributor to ensure you receive legitimate course materials and access to instructor feedback. The course platform runs on most modern browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. Internet connection speeds of at least 5 megabits per second are recommended for streaming video content without buffering. Offline downloads are available for all lessons if you prefer to study without an active connection, which is useful for travel or areas with unreliable internet.