Signing: How To Speak With YOur Hands [Paperback]

Elaine Costello Ph.D. (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0553375393 | ISBN-13: 978-0553375398 | Publication Date: August 1, 1995 | Edition: Rev Upd Su

American Sign Language is a wonderful silent language of hands, face, and body that is rich with nuance, emotion, and grace. Bantam is proud to present the newly revised Signing : How To Speak With Your Hands, a comprehensive and easy-to-use guide that has long been the invaluable and definitive guide for families, friends, and professionals who need to communicate effectively with deaf children and adults. Now this expanded edition, with redesigned interiors and updated material, includes even more signs; large, upper-torso illustrations clearly show formation and movement of the hands, and their relation to the face and body. All the beautifully illustrated signs are accompanied by precise, easy-to-follow instructions on how to form them. This complete guide includes chapters on common phrases, the alphabet, foods and eating, health, recreation, and the newest chapter covering technology, politics. education, and music.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

American Sign Language is a wonderful silent language of hands, face, and body that is rich with nuance, emotion, and grace. Bantam is proud to present the newly revised Signing : How To Speak With Your Hands, a comprehensive and easy-to-use guide that has long been the invaluable and definitive guide for families, friends, and professionals who need to communicate effectively with deaf children and adults. Now this expanded edition, with redesigned interiors and updated material, includes even more signs; large, upper-torso illustrations clearly show formation and movement of the hands, and their relation to the face and body. All the beautifully illustrated signs are accompanied by precise, easy-to-follow instructions on how to form them. This complete guide includes chapters on common phrases, the alphabet, foods and eating, health, recreation, and the newest chapter covering technology, politics. education, and music.

From the Inside Flap

American Sign Language is a wonderful silent  language of hands, face, and body that is rich with  nuance, emotion, and grace. Bantam is proud to  present the newly revised Signing :  How To Speak With Your Hands, a  comprehensive and easy-to-use guide that has long  been the invaluable and definitive guide for  families, friends, and professionals who need to  communicate effectively with deaf children and adults. Now  this expanded edition, with redesigned interiors  and updated material, includes even more signs;  large, upper-torso illustrations clearly show  formation and movement of the hands, and their relation  to the face and body. All the beautifully  illustrated signs are accompanied by precise,  easy-to-follow instructions on how to form them. This complete  guide includes chapters on common phrases, the  alphabet, foods and eating, health, recreation, and  the newest chapter covering technology, politics.  education, and music.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 262 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; Rev Upd Su edition (August 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553375393
• ISBN-13: 978-0553375398
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 0.8 x 10.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,390 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Sign Language
  • #34 in Books > Medical Books > Allied Health Professions > Audiology & Speech Pathology

More About the Author

Dr. Elaine Costello has been an educator and author associated with the field of deafness for more than twenty years. For ten years she was a classroom teacher and supervisor in schools for the deaf. She is now the director and editor in chief of the Gallaudet College Press at Gallaudet College in Washington, D.C., the world's only liberal arts college for the deaf.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully thorough book teaching ASL, August 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Signing: How To Speak With YOur Hands (Paperback)

I use this book to teach Sign Language classes and think it is great. Dr. Costello has a thorough introduction to the language in the beginning of the book. The chapters are broken into "families" of signs, with clear illustrations. At the beginning of each chapter are three "basics" of ASL useage, which introduce the student to not only the vocabulary in the book, but also the way in which the language is used. It's a great book, and her background gives her every right to write a book like this. BTW, if you're interested in a children's Sign Language video, contact me. I am producing one that you may love!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great "Basic Training", August 4, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Signing: How To Speak With YOur Hands (Paperback)

This book was chosen as the textbook for the "Basic I" sign language class in the signing ministry that recently started at our church. In the six weeks that we have been using it, along with having a gifted teacher, we have progressed to the point where our class was able to understand most of the signs that were used at a play we attended and we have been able to sign parts of the service at church with confidence. The pictures that go along with the signs are clear and the directions are easy to understand and follow. There are enough signs that you will be able to hold conversations in a very short time. The only thing missing are practice quizzes and fingerspelling exercises. This would be a big help in practicing the vocabulary. There is nothing that can replace a good teacher, but this book is a great way to learn the basics. If you happen to have the great teacher also, it is an unbeatable combination.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clear illustrations, helpful grammar notes - Great all-round intro!, May 30, 2006

By 

Jennifer M. Macleod "yiddishe supermama" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Signing: How To Speak With YOur Hands (Paperback)

"Signing: How to Speak with your Hands" will serve many purposes on your signing bookshelf: it's a jam-packed dictionary, introductory grammar text, thorough guide to the non-manual aspects of signs, plus a little historical background thrown in for good measure.

Each dictionary-style entry not only depicts the sign clearly (both starting and ending handshapes), as most books do, but describes the handshape(s) and actions involved in text. PLUS, there is a written "hint" provided for many of the words defined (wherever possible, ie the more iconic or literal signs).

Example:
For EGG, the definition shows a picture of the start and end handshapes for the EGG sign. Text reads: "Begionning with the middle-finger side of the right hand across the index-finger side of the left "h" hand, drop the fingers down and apart from each other." The accompanying hint reads, "Hint: Breaking an egg into a bowl," which this motion resembles.
For SYRUP, the hint is "wiping syrup from the lips"; for FIRE, "shows flames rising."

This book groups words thematically into sections, not alphabetically, but rather in categories, like Health, Food, etc. Each section is a treasure-trove of signs, which may be overwhelming to the beginner, but which means the book will not quickly outlive its usefulness.

Each section begins with a few quick grammar points, and grammar is also integrated into the definitions wherever applicable. Grammar points cover topics like the signing space, symmetrical signs, placement and the nonmanual aspects of signing like repetition, emphasis and facial expression.

This book uses an extremely durable binding, which is perhaps its best feature, as you'll be referring to it again and again. It's built to last and will be a lasting addition to your ASL bookshelf for years to come.

NOTE: A previous reviewer has commented that this book over-emphasizes English grammar. I haven't seen that tendency in the book, however, it does perhaps under-emphasize ASL grammar. There is some discussion of noun-adjective order, and some discussion of use of tenses, but nothing I could find about ASL sentence order. I feel the book sidestepped this issue altogether so as to focus on imparting the basics of sign.

You will learn to speak with your hands, as the title suggests, however, if you're new to ASL, you'll probably need to move on eventually to a book that more comprehensively covers ASL sentence structure and "conversational" ASL.