Customer Reviews

Signing Illustrated (Revised Edition): The Complete Learning Guide

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Being a Deaf American Sign Language instructor, I spend much of my time searching for resources regarding ASL vocabulary, syntax, and non-manual communications. "Signing Illustrated" is the perfect book to start you out.

This book includes 1500 signs, very clearly illustrated with memory aids, as well as help tp practice fingerspelling. Like any ASL book you'll come across, there are some regional differences in the signs, but they're few and far between.
The vocabulary is listed in categories instead of alphabetical order. This means that you can learn all of your feeling words or all of your action words without having to sift through the book and find each one. I love that about this!

Along with this book, you can purchase a board game called, "Sign It!" which uses this text as its reference. There are also a couple of books that are the exact same pictures and descriptions, exact same author, but different format.

No matter what your reason is to learn ASL, this is a wonderful book to get you started. HIGHLY recommended from a deafie! :v)

This book is absolutely the BEST in its class! As a Deafie myself, I would tell anyone without hesitation that this is the book to get if you want an easy and readable access to sign langauge. A definite MUST- READ!

This book is wonderful! The illustrations and the descriptions are very clear and easy to understand. I have not found a book so far that is more clear and easier to use. This book is great because is it so user friendly and packet with signs.

I am a beginning student of ASL, and I found this book to be of great help. I have a deaf friend, and wanted to communicate better with him, and I feel this book will really help me do that.
It would be best as an add-on to a course or to practical one-on-one conversation, but it is great on it's own too.
I loved the quizzes to keep checking myself.

I'm deaf and they're is only 1 person in my school that is deaf also. All of our friends don't understand what we're saying, and on days that our translater isn't there, they're totally lost. Our friends all found out about the book and are learning to sign and understand what we say. We don't feel like we're in a hole and nobody can hear us. Everything is illustrated clearly and it's very easy to learn. This book is a definate must-read.

ASL (Amercian Sign Language) is not just a different language but is also a culture. I am a hearing person currently enrolled in a Beg. ASL class, and for anyone who is starting to learn this art form, this book is very useful as both a learning and especially a reference tool. After combing thru other options, I thought this book is the most efficient one that a beginner like me can use. The book, unlike most others, organizes the signs categorically instead of alphabetically. Emotions, food, actions, etc...For someone who seeks a quick word by alphabet, there is also the index at the end. In addition, there are signing tips under each illustration to help to memorize the signing gesture with word or thought associations. Signs that require repetitive motion are pointed out clearly with arrows. I find it easy to use and comprehensible, but for someone who has some basic signing knowledge, they would probably be better off buying a smaller reference guide to carry around. Overall, the book should be the 1st option among the other offerings currently on the shelves.

It seems counter-intuitive that you would be able to learn a lot of sign language just by looking at pictures in a book. But if you have this book by Mickey Flodin (as well as Barron's American Sign Language the Easy Way), you are well on your way to becoming fairly communicative in ASL.

ASL purists will immediately jump on this statement, but please allow me to explain. Unless you are enrolled in a class taught by a certified instructor, you will not be proficient enough to be a sign-language interpreter.

However, if you want to be fairly conversant; if you want to be able to communicate with the hearing impaired, this resource (as well as the Barron's book)can have you well on your way. By using /studying these two books I was able to conduct an interview in a social services-setting with a hearing-impaired person, who used ASL, by using the ASL I learned from these two works. Also, I was able to tell my daughter what two deaf individuals were talking about one day while shopping in an office supply store. It can be done! You can learn this wonderful language!

The illustrations are simple, and crystal-clear. Definitions for signs are given along with memory aids that all but ensure memorization by the learner. The author has written this book by categorizing the over 1400 signs in this book by concept as this has proven to be the most efficient, thorough,and quickest way for individuals to pick up signs.

To top it all off, there is a comprehensive index which includes all entries and synonyms for easy-cross reference. This is the type of book that you can (1)spend a focused, concerted amount of time studying, and/or (2)you can carry it with you (like, let's say, to the doctor's office)to study on the fly.

I love this book and I would highly recommend it. Mr. Flodin has performed a great service to those of us who wish to serve/and communicate with those persons who have limited or no hearing. As a hearing impaired individual myself, this book has given me a lot of encouragement that I will be able to continue to communicate, should my hearing deteriorate.

This book is not ASL as other reviewers have noted, it's signed english! I've taken a few ASL courses and now I am using this book for a signing course (not pure ASL). The teacher has to review each chapter before we study it because there are modification and corrections to many sign forms or synonyms. The book does include a nice amount of vocabulary and it is organized by categories. The vocabulary words learned in this book are not reinforced with any type of actual language/sentence formation. I would use this book more as a dictionary instead of a learning tool.

I had just finished my ASL 4 class and still had 2 years to go in college and I was afraid that I would forget the language. The summer after my ASL 4 class, this book jumped off the shelf and into my arms at Barnes and Noble. It's a great review for anyone not wanting to forget!!

The best thing about this book, is it gives you a reason WHY you are making the particular sign instead of making you just trying to memorize everything. Once you read the reason, the sign stays in your head. Very good book, I would recommend it to anyone.