Back in August I started learning American Sign Language in order to have more fluent conversations with one of my co-workers. Having someone to talk with five days a week really helps out when learning a new language, and in the same way, having a native signer to practice with helps with learning ASL. At the moment I know basic words and phrases, I can joke around a bit, and I’m fast enough with finger-spelling that spelling a new word does not interrupt the flow of the conversation (thought it may slow it down a bit).

In my day during my free time, whenever there’s something I would like to talk about to my co-worker, I first check out HandSpeak.com, an online ASL dictionary with resources for people who want to learn ASL. The good thing about this website is that it was created by a native signer, and therefore, seems to be very accurate. The dictionary is also very complete, in my opinion, and so far I haven’t run into a word I couldn’t find (with the exception of technical and engineering words which my co-worker usually spells out for me).

If you’re interested in learning sign language, I suggest you check out HandSpeak.com. It includes a dictionary, a finger-spelling guide, and some grammar guides for formulating phrases. It also has a “translator” but it seems like it only has predetermined phrases and therefore, does not exactly work as a translator as of yet. But on the bright side, the signs for words are presented as videos, instead of images, so you can have a good idea on how to sign them.