Customer Reviews

Random House Webster's American Sign Language Dictionary

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a Deaf person, I frequently evaluate various ASL resources. I have found this particular book to have book positive and negative traits, but weighs more heavily on the positive side.

The pictures are good (not the best), the memory aids are a wonderful asset, but my favorite part is the fact that this dictionary shows many idiomatic ASL expressions in addition to simple vocabulary. Many dictionaries focus only on building sign vocabulary, but it is important to recognize various expressions in order to readily engage in an ASL conversation with a deaf individual. I think this book will serve you well until you have grasped enough knowledge to move on to more in-depth study. :o)

I totally agree with every positive thing I've read about this book in other reviews. The sign descriptions are really impressive, especially when they include the inspiration for how the sign came about. And I can appreciate how some of the more uncommon entries can be a godsend for those who use ASL every day. HOWEVER, I find the selection of entries a bit puzzling and disappointing. They have listings for "cannibis", "sordid", and "lesbianism", but nothing for "tiger", "purple", or "television". Obviously this book is geared toward the college level; but it's missing a lot of the basics that would be most useful to me.

As an educational interpreter, it is hard to find resources that are as complete as this one is. This ASL dictionary is a concise description of most uses for the same sign even if that sign can be used in a different context. That is important once you start teaching your student the differeces in multiple meaing words and signs.

I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting a complete and easy to use dictionary for Sign Language. Beginners as well as professionals can use this dictionary with the greatest of ease.

Random House Webster's American Sign Language Dictionary by Elaine Costello and Lois Lenderman is an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning and using American Sign Language (ASL). Not only do I use it, but recommend it to students at the local college where I serve as an ASL lab instructor. The step-by-step descriptions and memory aids (hints) help the reader understand the nature of the sign and better remember how it is made. The book is published in two sizes, the print type being the only difference. I highly recommend the larger print, but the smaller book is lighter weight and more convenient when transporting between home and school.

I highly recommend this to anyone interested in ASL.

I agree w/ previous reviews that this book has rarely used words like "premeditate" and "idiom" but not common words like "broccoli". It also says it has common phrases. Well, it has "close call" but not "your welcome". I find it easy to use for the words that I can find in there that I need but it is not the complete resource that I thought it would be.

This book is very informative! 5,600 signs, Information about proper spacing / movements of signs, it even tells you that alterative signs may be considered offensive. ( Important to know. Especially if you are traveling to foreign countries.) It also tells you origins / some histroy of ASL.

This book has many words, but is far from complete (does not include religious signs, most sexual signs, and most uncommon words/signs). The signs also semi-frequently differed to what I've seen and learned. However, the signs are fairly easy to follow (illustration accompanied by directions). If a sign has another meaning that is noted. If a word has several signs for different meanings, they are all also listed. This book also has a few pages dedicated to how to use the language (like classifier and NMM's), but it is mainly just a dictionary. This book was used as the principle dictionary for my ASL 1 class (at the University of South Florida. Overall, I think this book is worth buying, but, there are better (more complete) ASL dictionaries out there (like American Sign Language [UNABRIDGED]).

As a student of sign language this is the best ASL dictionary I have ever come accross. It has many words that other dictionaries do not including many, many words about technology that I would have had to fingerspell if it were not for the dictionary. (Although, as with any specialized sign, check for a regional sign before using one from a dictionary)

I just recently bought this book and found it to be wonderful. The extensive vocabulary was outstanding. For Example, I have many sign language books as I am an interpreter for the deaf and never would have found the word/sign "luggage" or "layaway" in any other sign book.

2 hands up on this one :-) !!!!!

I found this dictionary to be one of the best. It is a good supplement to learning ASL in the classroom. The signs are easy to find and learn. Although I haven't seen a perfect ASL dictionary, this is probably the best on the market today.