Has anyone here used www.signingonline.com? I'm was looking for a college course on ASL at the local community college, but they didn't have one, so I decided to see if I could find an online course and came up with this website in my search. Do you think it looks like a good website / is it worth the cost of enrollment per-course? Any info will be great!
A question about a website...
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guido
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rabbit said:
Interesting concept. I had wondered if there were any such online courses since no local colleges in my area have ASL courses. I'd be worried about the necessary interaction and how they would expect you to achieve that. Webcam? I just don't see it being a beneficial experience.
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I have my doubts about this. First of all, guy signs "ON LINE" for "online." That's not ASL, that's English; doesn't make a good first impression on me. Secondly, there's no mention under system requirements of a webcam, which says to me that the class is all receptive and no one is evaluating your production. Maybe I'm wrong and you have to send in videotapes or something.
My guess is that you'd do just as well with a well-established book/video course like Signing Naturally. (Of course regular classroom courses are the best, but if those aren't available, at least you know people who can judge your ASL production.)
My guess is that you'd do just as well with a well-established book/video course like Signing Naturally. (Of course regular classroom courses are the best, but if those aren't available, at least you know people who can judge your ASL production.)
Soonersseth
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you can also look at www.aslpro.com
gnulinuxman
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Same here---I learned from my ex-girlfriend and signing dictionaries. My Deaf friends also helped me get things right too.Your Mom said:
LuciaDisturbed
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Reba said:
Well, how do YOU sign "online"?
It seems a strange thing, that sign-language isn't offered as a freebie to those that want/need to learn it. In the UK we argued families of deaf people and even future and aspiring interpreters should have lessons free,or at least subsidized via the state. It's a vital communication form that enables people to escape isolation and get work. I approached the deaf organizations here asking them to offer support to this idea, they said NO, because they made money out of it.
They also turned DOWN a free online set of courses, which is a practical proposition for the same reason. I don't really understand why they are hindering wider sign awareness on pure cash basis, the state should cover this. Is sign language only to be the privilege of those with a big enough wallet ? Offering free interpreter courses is also vital a way, to improve the availability of them, as here in the UK there is a huge shortage, a lot again, down to the fact of excessive fees to take the courses. When did deaf language become a commodity ? A product to be sold ?
I was called idealistic, I just wanted to raise the issue of support and how it could be improved, the same issue was mooted for lip-reading as well, which suffers badly in the UK because funding was diverted to sign instead, which annoyed a lot of people ! Online is a half-way house but better than none at all. BSL/ASL is fast becoming the language of the elite... and the wealthy. I was concerned deaf groups were not interested in widening the availability of sign, while grass-roots are crying out for more to learn it..
They also turned DOWN a free online set of courses, which is a practical proposition for the same reason. I don't really understand why they are hindering wider sign awareness on pure cash basis, the state should cover this. Is sign language only to be the privilege of those with a big enough wallet ? Offering free interpreter courses is also vital a way, to improve the availability of them, as here in the UK there is a huge shortage, a lot again, down to the fact of excessive fees to take the courses. When did deaf language become a commodity ? A product to be sold ?
I was called idealistic, I just wanted to raise the issue of support and how it could be improved, the same issue was mooted for lip-reading as well, which suffers badly in the UK because funding was diverted to sign instead, which annoyed a lot of people ! Online is a half-way house but better than none at all. BSL/ASL is fast becoming the language of the elite... and the wealthy. I was concerned deaf groups were not interested in widening the availability of sign, while grass-roots are crying out for more to learn it..
One way to by-pass the cash-in merchants on sign language and lip-reading, is for someone already well-versed in, or trained (And with our interests at heart !), to use a vidblog to Do it themselves, thus making it free, I'm sure a sponsor would help too. It would also settle the argument about differences between the official version of ASL/BSL and what grass roots actually use. In one instance in the UK a very basic 'class' in sign, (Letters/numbers/colours etc), was mooted as over £300 per DAY, about $500 ? (Albeit you got a swimming pool access as well !). There ws no lip-reading equivelant at all. You also got a 2 hour lecture on deaf history, is that REALLY relevant you think ? I understand there is no replacement for personal interaction with the user, but most classes in the UK have next to NO deaf people anywhere near them anyway. Is it the same in the USA ? sign classes/tuition is for hearing students, and they never meet 'real' signers until they qualify ?
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HoHGuyOhio
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The signer on the video content was David Stewart, a cofounder of the company. He died in June of 2004 it says on their website.
I agree. When I saw how he signed "online" I cringed. That isn't ASL.
You ask, "How would you sign 'online'?" I think in THAT particular context I would fingerspell it. I do use the 'internet' sign where your middle fingers touch while your hands move back and forth.
Like with any 'how do you sign' questions, the answer is, "It depends."
I agree. When I saw how he signed "online" I cringed. That isn't ASL.
You ask, "How would you sign 'online'?" I think in THAT particular context I would fingerspell it. I do use the 'internet' sign where your middle fingers touch while your hands move back and forth.
Like with any 'how do you sign' questions, the answer is, "It depends."
many of my friends who are asl signers do use the same sign as shown in the video. *shrug*HoHGuyOhio said:
no one signed that before America Online emerged... and when that happened. I had to discuss with those asl folks and we came up that way.. "on line" sign because there is no asl sign for "online" in ages... and also the word "online" is two syallable which make sense to sgin "on line"
(Yes, they started out as "America Online" then later on evolved to "AOL" but the corporate name is "America Online" owned by TimeWarner and their online service is "AOL" which I have been member since 1991/2)
I have signed that way since the internet boom. circa 1991/2 and rode it till now.
I have used VAX before the internet boom and no one said "online" when it comes to saying "let's get on VAX" now after the boom we says "let's get on internet" or "let's get online"
LuciaDisturbed
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rabbit said:
Oooh. I thought that was for "internet"?
guido
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I think the logic in signing "on" and "line" is to pervay a proper title, that being "Signing Online." Since in ASL one sign may represent several different words and meanings, it is sometimes necessary to use English to display a proper title or be specific.