Pros & Cons
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- Library of easy-to-understand sign language video tutorials.
- Free.
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- Most lessons must be purchased separately.
- Limited ways of interacting with the material.
- No Android version.
Learning another language is one of the best ways to better yourself, and we've covered plenty of services to help you branch out beyond your mother tongue. But not every language is spoken, and a technique designed to teach you how to write and pronounce foreign words isn't exactly compatible with a gesture-based system like American Sign Language. The ASL App is a free iPhone and iPad app specifically made for learning the basics of American Sign Language, and it's a welcome introduction. But its immediate limitations prevent you from getting a thorough education.
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A Good Sign
The ASL App is essentially a library of video tutorials demonstrating ASL signs for various words and phrases. Even for a free app, the number of videos in the initial batch feels noticeably small. There are five courses: Know Your ABCs, Know Your Numbers, Universal Gestures, The Basics, and Handshape Exercises. The first two are for learning letters and numbers, respectively. Universal Gestures and The Basics cover a decent number of motions for everyday words and phrases like rubbing your stomach to show that you're hungry and signing your name to introduce yourself. Instead of being a collection of new signs, Handshape Exercises exhibits various ways to stretch out your fingers so you can sign fast and fluidly. I never imagined something like that would be necessary, but I guess if your fingers aren't strong and limber enough to accurately form the right shapes, it'd be like speaking with slurred speech. Enunciate!
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The ASL App (for iPad)
The ASL App is a welcoming, but noticeably limited introduction to learning American Sign Language.