The Joy of Signing is one of the most comprehensive guides available for mastering the current basic signs used to communicate with deaf people in either the word order of the English language or in the American Sign Language pattern. It provides the basic vocabulary needed for persons entering interpreter training programs. Families as well as professionals communicating with deaf children and adults will appreciate this manual's conceptually based vocabulary.
Over 1500 signs have been clearly illustrated in this guide and are grouped by chapter into their natural categories. An enjoyable and rewarding experience awaits you as you study the line drawings and step-by-step descriptions of hand positions and movements. Helpful and interesting information is provided about the origins of signs as well as the correct usage of signs in context.
Included in this manual are sections on the history of sign language and fingerspelling, the art of signing, language patterns of signs, and an illustrated guide for fingerspelling.
The author's original publication The American Sign Language (1961) was later illustrated and became Talk to the Deaf (1963), still a best-selling manual of signs. The Joy of Signing is a completely revised and greatly expanded manual based on the author's original publications. In its First Edition it sold over 650,000. In this Second Edition, material has been updated, new entries added, and an Appendix included that gives the new signer helpful information on making sign communication more understandable to deaf people.
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