Customer Reviews

American Sign Language for Kids and Adults, Volume 1: Everyday Lessons

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

 

 

its a good video. Easy and fun to learn. This is a good practice for those who have done ASL but out of practice and those who just learning to do ASL is good for them to see how it is done with ASL.
Very Educational. =)

Because my 11 yr old (hearing impaired) daughter was raised using cued speech, she knows only a small amount of signing. I thought it was time for her to learn to sign better, so I purchased three videos:
this one (American Sign Language for Kids and Adults)
Getting Started in Signing
I Want to Learn Sign Language (vol. 1 and 2)

This one was the least helpful. A LOT of time is spent on animal footage (I could go to a zoo for that). We were frustrated as we watched a red panda roam for what seemed like 10 minutes between rapid signing lessons. Yes, red pandas are cute, but the purpose to this video is to learn sign language. I can get a National Geographic dvd on zoo animals if I want to study zoo animals.
The signing was given in spurts - rapidly between long periods of animal observation. The host is dynamic, which also means he signs rapidly. The subject matter is very narrow: all about animals, conservation, and the like. Not much about school, friends, life in general.

The other two programs I purchased were well watching. They cater to two different levels:
"I Want to Learn Sign Language" (both volumes)was great for a younger audience (maybe up to 10 or 12 yrs old). The program taught many signs relevant to childhood and is a great introduction to learning to sign. The format is a woman teaching three children many signs so they can welcome their deaf cousin. Almost the entire program is devoted to teaching signs. The rate of instruction is perfect for younger children - not too rapid, and not agonizingly slow (except during the teaching of the alphabet, which many kids know already).
If you already know a fair amount of signing though, this program is not for you. And don't expect to be fluent after it. It is only a grand total of maybe 2 hrs of simple instruction if you get both volumes.

"Getting Started in Signing" was my personal favorite, as a Mom with a hearing impaired child. It used the allotted time well and taught a lot of signs. It moved along moved along more quickly than "I Want to Learn Sign Language" but not at a frantic pace. I see that amazon has many good reviews on it, and I'm not surprised. But in the end, I felt it was too short! It is only 1 hr long, and you just can't learn as much signing as you need with only 1 hr of instruction. It's too bad there aren't more episodes of these (other than the one that is already out there which reviewers say repeats a lot of this one).

I have also searched online for ways to pick up more sign language - especially ways that will appeal to my daughter.
[...] is a great resource, but not exactly for young kids. The host does not move his lips, and my daughter is accustomed to receiving information with hands AND mouth, so I will save using these lessons for later. I applaud the creator of this website though! It is free, has videos (as opposed to just sketches), and very thorough.

For what it's worth, I will mention a site we found that has actually been extremely helpful. It is religious in nature, so if you don't go for that, then this is not for you. The LDS church has a site where you can watch ASL renditions of their songs for children. If you watch enough of these, you can pick up an awful lot of signing! Most of these songs seem to be fairly generic Christian songs. If another church or school did this, I would recommend it as well, but I haven't found anything like it. Try it and see:
[...]
If the link doesn't appear, google "lds church ASL songs for children"

Overall, I was disappointed in the video. The production quality was not great but I was more disappointed about how signing was being taught. The DVD did offer a lot of signs - weather, the persons, short phrases - but each sign was shown only once and very quickly. It was very difficult to pick up the signs in this fashion. Also, the way each sign was demonstrated (using a split screen with the narrator on the left with a picture and the word spelled out on the right) became rather boring after a few signs.

Also, while the video is long, it was filled with non-essential stock images and clips of New York City and the zoo where nothing was being taught. It just seemed like filler. There was also a section on zoo animals and the habits of seals. I'm not sure why this would be useful to a beginner learning signs? In this section,the narrator signs quickly using full sentences and new vocabulary. I could only understand what he said because of the subtitles. This DVD is definitely not for beginners in ASL.

My son loves this DVD!! He's been watching it over and over for more than a week. The first half offers lots of basic signs (about people, weather, communication devices, etc.), and the second half alternates descriptions of animals (narrated with ASL and voice at the same time) at the Central Park Zoo with footage of those animals. At first this focus on the animals seemed odd to me (isn't this supposed to be a signing video?), but my eight-year-old was very interested, so, as I've said, we've been watching it over and over, sometimes multiple times in one day. And -- what do you know -- I'm finding that I can start to understand what is being signed! (I don't have a great interest in ASL, to be honest; this is my son's passion. So I'm not really even trying to learn; it's just sort of happening. Repetition will do that. And of course you have to have something to sign *about*, if you're going to practice signing and interpreting, and the usual "my name is" and "what is your name" gets old fast, so ... why not animals?)

This, I've found, is the next step I've been looking for. Although it's not as helpful as speaking ASL with people in real life, it is a step beyond the rudimentary "ASL for Kids" videos, which keep telling us the same words -- "mom," "dad," "baby," "eat," "I want," "my name is" -- over and over, but not how to put them all together to say (or interpret) more complex things.

The footage of the sea lion rescue at the end makes me weep every time, and the bloopers make my son laugh every time. :) Since watching this DVD, too, my son has asked which animals live in different climate zones (which the host describes in his introductions to the animal footage), has drawn pictures of zebras and lions and penguins and red pandas and potbellied pigs etc. etc. in their proper zones, has asked what other stuff is found in those climate zones, has looked up where these animals live on our atlases, and has initiated ASL conversations with me (coaching me along the way; he knows far more than I do).

I'm now a fan of the host of this series, Avery Posner. I think it's awesome how he's joined up his love for animals and winning storytelling personality into this rather quirky, but really engaging, ASL video. I'll be looking for more of his stuff.

Off to buy Volume 2 now!

This DVD needs a serious update.
Not pleasing to the eyes and it did not keep my attention.
DVD is not for a beginner.
Signs are executed too quickly.
The zoo scenes are too lonnnnnnnnnnng.
My intention were to purchase a DVD to learn sign language not a DVD on animal planet.
I did not enjoy signing DVD and it took everything in me to complete one session.
I cannot recommend this DVD to anyone.

This is for really little kids, and that's it. It is boring for adults. There is a small little section on learning signs, that could only capture the interest of toddlers. It is a video fieldtrip mostly; focused on amimals more than teaching. How long do I want to watch a caged animal? I can go to the zoo for that and it be much more fun. Anyway... The narrator is Deaf, but there is voice over. So the only adults to watch to get anything out of this video would be the "signed narration" for interpreter students who want to practice their sign-to-voice by muting the sound.

I bought this dvd so my kids (6 & 10) could continue their sign language studies over the summer. They got nothing out of it! It is not a beginning course...it really teaches nothing...very disappointing.

I thought this DVD would help me with american sign language as I am a beginner. I felt like a child as I watched the illustrations. I couldn't quite understand the zoo stuff. It did teach some words but not enough, way to much focus on the field trips.