Customer Reviews

American Sign Language 10th Anniversary Edition

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I first wrote the following review, this package included SignLink 1.0. They since changed the dictionary in this package, so I can't vouch for this dictionary. This review applies only to SignLink 1.0.

I have taught ASL at college level for over 25 years and I recommend Signlink 1.0 to all my students. This is vastly superior to a printed dictionary. It is also much faster and contains many more signs that the online dictionaries. ASL is three dimensional and my students have a difficult time deciphering the arrows and drawings in a two-dimensional printed dictionary. The signs in Signlink are authentic, accurate and clearly modeled (with appropriate facial expressions and body language) by native signers. I especially appreciate the several different models so that you see slightly different styles. Another great feature allows you to stop the signer or slow him/her down to analyze the movements in detail. True, you won't learn syntax or grammar here - For that you'll have to make friends with a Deaf person or sign up for a class (which are now offered for credit at most colleges and universities and some high schools). But this is a very valuable reference tool for anyone who wants to learn ASL.

One thing I can say about this software, having involved in the deaf community, it's more accurate than other software that I have used. Unfortunately the software is extremely buggy with sporadic crashes and unfortunate problems with logic. The search tool seems to have been written by an beginning programmer. Some signs are visually incorrect from their description (check out kitchen and notice the video shows him using the "K" sign, but the description says to use the flat hand. Some signs don't even match the video so use with caution. The links to the website don't work (they are old) and the support is non-existent. I suspect that ASL needs to really take off before people take the language software seriously. Also note that ASL has its own structure. You would never say I am going to buy a blue car. You would say something to the effect of "Car blue me buy". Use it as a reference but not as a teaching tool to learn ASL. That is best reserved for the classroom.

This product cannot be installed on a computer, therefore it has to be run from the CD. There are several "flaws" in the software, for instance, the most basic element is the ASL alphabet, but several of the letters (in the alphabet), do not display, so I don't know the signs for the letters: Q, R, J, P, and M. There are 4 disks (Hypersign, Fingerspelling & Numbers, Sign Language Dictionary and Basic Signs) but since the Sign Language Dictionary has to be inserted in the drive for the program to run, it is impossible to use the other disks. There isn't a manual, and I can't find directions, instructions or guidelines (on the disk) to explain how to use the program. After spending nearly 2 hours going through all the FAQ's, I finally sent an email to Technical Support, and the reply I got, was "Check the FAQ's". I will never make another purchase from "m-2k". This purchase is "Money down the drain".

I purchased this CD-Rom for my family member's Christmas gift. As a person who works daily with people with disabilities and occasionally with people who are deaf, I can honestly say I have never learned how to (or taken enough interest to learn) sign. I thought it was cool that she would so enthusiastic about learning sign language, so I bought it.
It's wonderful! Not only is she learning how to sign, she is teaching her family how to as well. This is working well for the whole family. The only downfall is, she shares all of her newly perfected signs with me...every, single time I see her! I think I'm learning from her through discreet trial methods or maybe osmosis! No regrets though, it's always great to see someone still interested in their Christmas presents two months later!

I think this CD ROM is a good ROM to learn how to sign.