Category: About ASL

Welcome to our list of Start ASL articles about American Sign Language! Here you will find all of our articles about ASL including charts, usage, and general information.

If you are looking for our American Sign Language courses, please visit our Start ASL Courses page.

Start here with our main article: American Sign Language


How American Sign Language has Changed Over Time

How American Sign Language has Changed Over Time Change is clearly a characteristic of every language. For instance, in 2022, the Oxford English Dictionary added 650 new words, senses, and sub-entries. But American Sign Language (ASL) has several qualities that can cause change more quickly than in English.  Around the world, digital media are constantly […]

American Sign Language Increases Deaf Awareness and Touches Hearts

More and more people are learning American Sign Language to be able to communicate with their loved ones or friendly strangers to make someone’s day. There are many great stories to tell. Check out how these stories have an impact on the Deaf community and make a difference in people’s lives. Meteorologist Goes Viral After […]

How to Understand and Learn American Sign Language

Have you added learn American Sign Language to your to-do list? It can be fun, but it can also be scary to learn a new language. You may wonder how and where to get started. When you make the decision to learn ASL, your first thought is probably to jump online and find out where […]

Help Your Baby Learn Sign Language

Learn Sign Language For Babies Learn sign language basics such as eat, sleep, more, play, milk, etc. These basic signs are called baby signs. Many people get confused between Baby Signs and American Sign Language; they are not considered the same thing. According to the Baby Sign article, “As a result, this encourages a number […]

Learn American Sign Language like Fans of Makkari (Eternals Star)?

Learn American Sign Language From Big Hit Movies More and more people are wanting to learn American sign language. Now, people can learn ASL from big hit movies such as Eternals, Quiet Place Part 1 & 2, Godzilla vs. Kong, CODA, and many more. Have you noticed that American Sign Language and Deaf roles are becoming […]

Can AI learn American Sign Language? Just Ask a Student Developer in India

  Learn American Sign Language From AI How cool would it be if artificial intelligence (AI) could learn American Sign Language? Is it even possible? Well, a student in India named Priyanjali Gupta developed an AI model that turned sign language into English. Gupta was a third-year engineer from India’s Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT). […]

How to Immerse Yourself in the Deaf Community?

It is exciting to learn American Sign Language and now you are ready to use it in the real-world, but you do not know where to go or how to meet people. Do not worry, this article will help guide you towards the right direction of stepping foot in the Deaf community. Firstly, you can […]

Where do you start when you want to learn American Sign Language (ASL)?

When you make the decision to learn ASL, your first though is probably to jump online and find out where you can learn. Some people use social media, and others look for a course to get them through more than just how to say hello. American Sign Language (ASL) is one of a kind. It […]

Deaf Communities Across the World

My fiancé Vlad and I are Deaf. We recently took a trip to Italy and Israel. We visited Milan, Dolomites Mountain, and Venice while in Italy. In Israel, we explored Be’er Sheva, Dead Sea, and other cities in Israel. I will share my experiences when traveling as a Deaf traveler with my Deaf fiancé. At […]

Do You Speak American Sign Language?

Have you ever been fascinated when people say, “Do you speak sign language?” Sign language isn’t a spoken language, so it does not really make sense to say “speak” as oppose to “know”. American Sign Language is a developed language that is made of hand movements, body language, gestures, and facial expressions. Many foreign languages […]

Associations by, for and of the Deaf

Deaf Associations are businesses and Deaf organizations that provide services for Deaf people so they can be independent and successful, and there are so many. Have you heard that term before “by, for, of”? These are organizations that are established by the Deaf, For the Deaf, such as resources, and consist of mostly Deaf people. […]

April 15th is ASL Day!

There are a lot of holidays we celebrate in the United States. Some of them are national holidays while others are religious holidays. Other countries have their holidays which also are celebrated in the US if the family is from that country. There are also important dates such as awareness days, weeks, or months; for […]

Cued Speech

Cued speech is not American Sign Language. Cued speech and ASL are two totally different forms of communication. People who communicate in ASL usually turn off the voice. Also, ASL has its own grammar, sentence structure, idioms, phrases and jokes. ASL is more widely used in the Deaf Community. There are often ASL/Deaf events where […]

A Beginner’s Guide to Learning American Sign Language

It can be fun, but it can also be scary to learn a new language. You have always wanted to learn American Sign Language (ASL) but have always wondered how and where to get started. The article below will have tons of tips and tricks on what you need to know to get you started […]

The Origins of American Sign Language in the United States

There are many Deaf actors and movies that have American Sign Language. Not only are Deaf people have a successful career in acting. Deaf people are successful in other ways not just in the media industry. There are several Deaf people and hearing people who have supported the Deaf community that have made Deaf history. […]

Did You Know the Facts About American Sign Language, Deaf Culture, and Deaf Community?

American Sign Language is its own language that is used by the Deaf community. American Sign Language has its own history of where it derived from and the Deaf community has it own culture.  Here are some facts that make American Sign Language (ASL) unique as its own language: ASL is not universal as it […]

American Sign Language vs Israeli Sign Language

Did you know American Sign Language is not universal? In the article, “Is American Sign Language Universal”, it talked about whether or not American Sign Language is universal, in other words, ASL is used in all countries all over the world. The answer is no. American Sign Language is only unique to the US whereas […]

Language Deprivation in Deaf Children

A person shared that she heard so many stories of parents being told that their baby or child has failed their hearing tests and how sorry the doctor is to inform them. Imagine being told a newborn baby has hearing loss, or that they aren’t “perfect”. It is devastating for some parents to receive news […]

How to Converse with Deaf People During the Holidays

Holidays are times of the year where families and friends gather to celebrate a warm and cheerful time together. Family members who live in other states will fly to meet, or friends will come together to celebrate the Holiday. Some parties are small and intimate, which usually consist of family, relatives, and partners whereas other […]

Deaf Friends or Deaf Dating | Social ASL

In general, have you noticed it is hard to find the love of your life, or you just moved to a new area and are craving to make new friends? Especially if you just started learning American Sign Language and there are not a lot of Deaf people to find as a practice partner in […]

History of American Sign Language

by Faith Ekart | 29 September 21 Sign language has been around for a really long time. People don’t know exactly when it started, but people have been using types of sign language since the beginning of time. Just like how babies use hand signals to communicate before they can talk, that’s what deaf people […]

Top 10 & 25 American Sign Language Signs for Beginners – The Most Know Top 10 & 25 ASL Signs to Learn First

  Have you been wanting or thinking about learning a new language? You’ve come to right place! American Sign Language (ASL) is a beautiful visual language to learn and it is a form of communication that bridges the gap between the Deaf and hearing communities. There are many questions such as if ASL is hard […]

Deaf Relationships and Dating

There are a lot of interracial dating of various ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, and languages. This concept is very similar to dating within the Deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing communities. Many people may wonder how that works. Well, if a Deaf person dates a Deaf person, there is no problem with dealing with cultural differences […]

Hit of COVID – Communication Barriers For the Deaf/Hard of Hearing and How to Handle It

Ever since the pandemic hit in February 2019, people began masking up to protect themselves from catching and spreading the deadly virus. The mask and a few additional protections such as double masks, plastic face coverings, or plastic walls between the speaker and receiver have created huge communication barriers between the hearing and the Deaf […]

American Sign Language Syntax

The definition of homonyms in spoken English mean two or more words having the same spelling or pronunciation meanings or origins, but they all have completely different meanings. Instead of “homonyms” in American Sign Language (ASL) there is a concept where a single sign has multiple meanings. In order to understand the actual meaning of […]

Is American Sign Language Universal?

  Many people ask, “Is American Sign Language (ASL) universal?” Well, the answer is no, it is not universal. American Sign Language is unique and is commonly used within the United States and Canada. Canada actually has two official sign languages known as American Sign Language and Quebec Sign Language (LSQ). However, people from outside […]

Fingerspelling in American Sign Language

As you are learning sign language, you need to master the skill of American Sign Language fingerspelling (spelling out words by hand one letter at a time). In American Sign Language, fingerspelling is used to indicate places, names, or ideas for which there is no official sign. Fingerspelled words can also be used if you […]

Free Basic Sign Language Chart

Below is a high quality printable free basic sign language chart image and PDF. Keep in mind that you will need Adobe Reader in order to view the PDF. You can get it free here. This American Sign Language chart outlines a few common signs and explanations that may help with communication where fingerspelling can […]

American Sign Language Symbols and Letters

There are many different American Sign Language symbols and letters that are used in a variety of ways. There are symbols used for writing ASL signs, glossing ASL sentences, and fingerspelling in ASL. Symbols for Writing ASL Signs American Sign Language symbols were developed in order to write how ASL signs are signed. This is […]

American Sign Language

American Sign Language (ASL) is the natural language of around 500,000 deaf people in the US and Canada. A “natural” language is a language that is learned as a first language in childhood. However, not all deaf people learn ASL as their first language. Many use it as their second language and some only use […]