---
title: American Sign Language (ASL)
description: ASL is the visual language of the Deaf community in North America. You will learn its grammar and vocabulary, fingerspelling, facial grammar, Deaf culture and how to practise with fluent signers.
category: languages
subcategory: other-languages
difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced
url: /subject/american-sign-language
---

# American Sign Language (ASL)

ASL is the visual language of the Deaf community in North America. You will learn its grammar and vocabulary, fingerspelling, facial grammar, Deaf culture and how to practise with fluent signers.

## Available Resources

3 Books • 2 Websites

## Books

### 1. Linguistics of American Sign Language: An Introduction, 5th Edition

**Author:** Clayton Valli, Ceil Lucas, Kristin J. Mulrooney, Miako Villanueva

Gallaudet University Press textbook treating ASL as a full natural language: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, sociolinguistic variation including Black ASL, bilingualism, discourse and ASL in art, with exercises and accompanying sign video.

**Difficulty:** Advanced | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1563685078?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** american sign language, linguistics, asl grammar, sociolinguistics, deaf studies

### 2. Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture

**Author:** Carol A. Padden, Tom L. Humphries

Carol Padden and Tom Humphries, both Deaf scholars, describe Deaf culture from the inside through everyday talk, shared stories, humour and performance, and explain the capital-D distinction between deafness as audiology and Deaf as community.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0674194241?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** deaf culture, deaf studies, american sign language, ethnography

### 3. Signing Naturally: Units 1-6 Student Set

**Author:** Cheri Smith, Ella Mae Lentz, Ken Mikos

The curriculum most US college ASL programs teach from, by Deaf authors Ella Mae Lentz, Cheri Smith and Ken Mikos. Workbook plus video drills conversational function, grammar and narrative through recorded Deaf signers, with culture notes and Deaf biographies.
Supplies the one thing free web curricula lack — sequenced, task-based homework built on comprehension of Deaf signers rather than vocabulary memorisation.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1581212356?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** american sign language, asl curriculum, conversational asl, deaf culture

## Youtubes

### 1. The Daily Moth

**Author:** Alex Abenchuchan

Deaf host Alex Abenchuchan signs a weekday news bulletin in ASL with English captions. Native-speed signing on unpredictable subject matter, which is what turns a few hundred memorised signs into actual receptive comprehension.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://www.youtube.com/@thedailymoth

**Tags:** american sign language, deaf culture, receptive practice, asl news

### 2. Bill Vicars — ASL University lessons (YouTube)

**Author:** Dr. William G. Vicars

The video half of ASL University: full recorded classroom sessions from Vicars' Sacramento State courses plus fingerspelling and vocabulary practice, giving hours of a Deaf instructor signing continuously rather than one-word dictionary clips.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://www.youtube.com/@sign-language

**Tags:** american sign language, asl lessons, receptive practice, fingerspelling, video lectures

## Websites

### 1. Handspeak

**Author:** Jolanta Lapiak

Reference site built by a Deaf native signer: a video dictionary of thousands of signs plus written tutorials on ASL grammar, classifiers, non-manual markers, fingerspelling and Deaf culture, so lookups sit inside linguistic explanation.
The one dictionary worth keeping: unlike Signing Savvy or app dictionaries it wraps lookup in grammar and culture articles, and the core site is free (an optional patron tier only removes ads).

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://www.handspeak.com/

**Tags:** american sign language, sign language dictionary, asl grammar, fingerspelling, deaf culture

### 2. ASL University (Lifeprint)

**Author:** Dr. William G. Vicars

Deaf professor Bill Vicars posts his entire university ASL curriculum free: dozens of lesson pages across four levels, each pairing vocabulary video with grammar explanation, fingerspelling drills, practice sentences, quizzes and Deaf culture notes. Teaches grammar and culture rather than isolated signs, and is completely free — the paid instructor-tracked version adds only documentation, so the free path loses nothing.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/index.htm

**Tags:** american sign language, asl curriculum, asl grammar, fingerspelling, deaf culture

---

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