The Complete Idiot's Guide to Conversational Sign Language Illustrated (The Complete Idiot's Guide) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Carole Lazorisak, Dawn Donohue
Publisher: Alpha
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
Buy New: $12.27
You Save: $9.68 (44%)
New (30) Used (14) from $9.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 9010
Media: Paperback
Edition: Pap/DVD
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 10 x 8 x 0.6
ISBN: 1592572553
Dewey Decimal Number: 419.7082421
UPC: 021898572554
EAN: 9781592572557
ASIN: 1592572553
Publication Date: September 7, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
How to say it in sign.
With over 500 photos and an instructional DVD. Focusing on the less formal and more popular PSE (Pidgin Sign English), this is the perfect guide to the fundamentals of communicating through sign in a variety of everyday situations. Inside, readers will discover how to sign for small talk, emotions, directions, weather, family and friends, special occasions, recreation, travel, around the house, dining out, shopping, education, at the workplace, emergencies, and more.
Includes more than 500 photos
First and only book on sign language that contains a DVD
There are approximately two million deaf people in the United States
90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents, and PSE is the form of signing most often learned and taught by parents
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| Customer Reviews: Read 23 more reviews...
 Sign language instruction book includes a very nicely produced DVD. September 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The first part of the book, which provides background and explanation on deafness and deaf culture, is painful, answering questions such as: 'Can deaf people drive?' These are the usual dumb questions that hearing people ask about the deaf. Yes, they drive better than you do, moron, because they don't have a cell phone glued to their ear. However, the author fails to mention the heart-pounding thrill of being a passenger in a car driven by a deaf person who is in the midst of a highly animated signed conversation.
I do highly recommend this book: the sign language explanations, photographs, and illustrations are first-rate, and the companion DVD is an additional positive to make this book highly recommended for someone who needs a casual introduction to deafness and sign language.
 disappointing... September 18, 2008
this book is nothing like i thought it would be. i was looking for something that would give me more on conversation style than actual vocabulary words/signs. i got more out of a dictionary than this. it was a complete waste of money, for me. the pictures are decent. they lack variation & real life feel (well, maybe that is the disappointment of the overall book). i do not recommend this book for someone trying to learn another language and not just the subtle niceties.
Excellent Deaf culture and PSE/CS learning tool! May 20, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Having taken 2 semesters of ASL, I must admit that I was disappointed to see a vocabulary list that I knew 95% of...but this book is definitely an excellent source for those with no or very little prior ASL knowledge. NOTE: THIS IS NOT ASL. The book is Pidgin Signed English (now called Contact Signing) which is easier to learn if your first language is English. That is, the grammar of ASL is absent in the presence of English word order. But the way the book is laid out, it's easy to learn! There's little bits of cultural information, how to engage and end a conversation, "do"s and "don't"s, and more! I like the little anecdotes, too.
Pros: Easy to follow, comes with a DVD to reinforce and clarify signs, decent amount of information for a beginner
Cons: NOT ASL (ASL "words" but not the grammar) and not terribly helpful for those with moderate exposure to sign language
Overall, it's a handy cultural tool that helps you learn a little language :)
USPS review May 7, 2008
We have a program in the Las Vegas mail processing center where we find solutions for better communication with all employees. To our hearing impaired employees, we had training held in our facility by a certified interpreter who taught both craft and management employees to finger spell words and phrases. We were going to order another sign language book to be given by our plant manager to those who completed the training sessions as his appreciation to them, but there were those who read the reviews on this "Idiot's" book, hence, this is what I ordered. They use it as a refresher, it's well illustrated and easy. Everybody was happy with the book. For the next training group, I'll be ordering some more of this book.
ASL in two days January 1, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
My wife works at a doctors office where they have a couple of deaf patients. She has always wanted to learn sign. She couldn't put the book down. After two days she was signing non-stop. Originally she only wanted to buy the DVD instruction but I encouraged her to use this book too. Now it is the other way around. She goes to this book first and uses the DVDs as a backup. I also got her some ASL flash cards that work well for practice.
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