What's the best place to find sign language lessons? Whether you have a friend or family member who is hard-of-hearing, or maybe you just want to expand your language horizons, starting off sign language lessons is a great way to level up your communication. Learning to sign is a fantastic way to be inclusive, allowing you to bridge communication gaps and build deeper connections with all individuals. Beyond the social benefits, it is also an essential skill for professionals in healthcare, education, or emergency services.
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ASL Deafined is a subscription-based course for sign language lessons primarily focused on teaching you ASL (American Sign Language). It is known particularly as a site that's often used by families that have deaf children so that all members of the family can communicate equally. The platform offers course material 24/7, so you won't need to worry about making time to attend synchronous classes.
Join with up to 6 days free
To start your course with ASL Deafined, you can either click the "buy now" button if you're ready to purchase, or you can click the "try it free" option on the dropdown menu to get a free trial of the course before you decide. This will prompt you to make an account for a 3-day trial of ASL Deafined before you can jump into the sign language lessons themselves. You can select your reason for learning, what level of ASL experience you've had previously, and whether you want a "community" account (which means you're around the deaf community but not deaf or hard-of-hearing) for general ASL students, a parent account for parents of deaf or hard-of-hearing children, or a deaf/hard-of-hearing student account. As a bonus, for customers who have already used their free trial for their account, they can get a "second chance" by re-entering their email in the provided field, and ASL Deafined states they'll activate your free trial one more time. So, you can get up to 6 total days free to try the program.
Cumulative course with full fluency
The courses at ASL Deafined are taught by deaf experts. It includes an 18,000+ word video dictionary for learning ASL, and 300-500 themed video lessons. The course includes not just words and communication, but deaf culture, finger-spelling, and more. There are also tailored resources for deaf students and parents of deaf children. During our research, we found that ASL Deafined's sign language lessons cover grammar and syntax as well as vocabulary, so you can head toward complete fluency.
Self-guided program with some quizzes and worksheets
ASL Deafined includes quizzes, retention activities, and a personal progress chart to help you track your work in the course. If you're brand new to ASL, you'll start at the beginner level one course. The lessons are laid out in clickable buttons where you can learn pieces of the lesson's vocabulary (taught by a recorded video). There are also downloadable exercises on lesson sheets that you can use after viewing all the video material. At the end of the lesson, there are quizzes to review what you've just learned in your sign language lessons. However, this is a mostly self-guided course, and it's up to you to stay motivated.
Pricing from $12 to $39.99 per year
ASL Deafined offers two types of pricing: personal user and educational user. The personal user package is $39.99 per year and includes full access to the entire website with all lessons, progress tracking, and access through the mobile app, too. The educator version is a discounted option for teachers or those in education at $12 per year. This includes all the features of personal user plans as well as unlimited practice options for fingerspelling, grammar, and deaf culture readings. ASL Deafined also offers group rates, but you have to fill out a form to get a quote for your group sign language lessons. There isn't an included family plan on the pricing page, despite this site saying it's great for families. But, from what we could tell during the free trial, any family member can use the single account. It just may mess up tracking a bit.
Promises a full refund for any reason
ASL Deafined's only refund policy is that if you're not satisfied for any reason, you can reach out via email and they will refund you the money you paid for the program. However, there isn't any detail about time limits or trials regarding the refund policy. So, if you're worried about getting your money back from these sign language lessons, you might want to reach out to customer service before you start the program.
Site doesn't work well on mobile
ASL Deafined currently holds a perfect "A+" rating from the Better Business Bureau. However, finding third-party reviews for this sign language lesson program was a little harder than with some of its competitors. There were no reviews for this service on Trustpilot or Sitejabber, so we had to rely on ratings from the mobile apps. ASL Deafined has a 3.8-star average across mobile reviews (but there weren't many of those either). The most recent review we could find for ASL Deafined was from back in 2023. In general, customers say the program itself is helpful and educational, but it's just not optimized for mobile use. Some customers had to remake a username and password for the mobile app specifically, rather than using the one that they already had for the desktop version. Others say that around half the videos don't load on mobile, so if you want to go with this service, you might want to choose to learn on your PC rather than your phone or tablet.
Affordable, but needs some updates
ASL Deafined does have some benefits. It's a low-cost program, and it's self-guided, so there is no pressure to attend synchronous classes. With a cumulative lesson plan and lesson tracking, you can work through the sign language lessons at your own pace. However, if you prefer to have more guidance or real-time practice with another person, these sign language lessons won't be for you. Plus, without a dedicated family plan, it can be harder to track progress if you have multiple users on one account. For these reasons, and the complete lack of reviews since 2023, ASL Deafined comes in a little below average in our review.
Continued from above...
Whether you have a friend or family member who is hard-of-hearing, or maybe you just want to expand your language horizons, starting off sign language lessons is a great way to level up your communication. Learning to sign is a fantastic way to be inclusive, allowing you to bridge communication gaps and build deeper connections with all individuals. Beyond the social benefits, it is also an essential skill for professionals in healthcare, education, or emergency services.
But trying to find a local, in-person class that fits your schedule can be a hassle. So, what are your best options for sign language lessons?
You're in luck. In today's day and age, not only can you find fully online programs for sign language lessons, but you can also find a range of language-focused marketplaces to meet up with a local tutor if you'd prefer that face-to-face practice. In general, modern platforms give you everything you need right on your screen (whether that's your laptop or a mobile device). This way, you don't have to worry about long commutes or feeling bad about your work schedule changing and shifting your ability to attend synchronous classes. The best online platforms include high-def video tutorials that you can pause and rewind to practice new signs, and most of the sites and programs allow you to learn at your own pace.
Depending on which course or site you choose, you may find very different approaches, teaching methods, and curricula. Lessons will usually be organized by skill level and focus on conversational fluency. Whether you have quizzes, one-on-one online meetings with a teacher, or just watch pre-recorded videos (or maybe a combo of all of them), that will depend on the sign language lessons that you choose. The best part is, if you don't like one teaching method, you can try another option and see if their sign language lessons will align better with your learning style. Whether you're a fan of virtual learning or need an expert teacher to guide you, there's something out there for everyone.
Better still, many online sign language lesson programs and courses don't have to be something you do alone. Many sites offer different subscription plans, including family plans or group rates, so if you have multiple family members who want to support someone deaf or hard-of-hearing, you can all learn under the same subscription package without any hassle. Interestingly, you can also select options like regional dialects like learning ASL vs. BSL (American Sign Language vs. British Sign Language). No matter how you're hoping to take sign language lessons, there's a style out there just for you.
If you still aren't sure about where to jump into your new language skills, don't sweat. We've put together a quick checklist to help you narrow down the ideal sign language lessons for your needs:
If you're ready to jump into a new language, sign language lessons are the way to go. We've done the heavy lifting, so to speak, to get you on the way to your course. To help you make the right choice for your learning style, Top Consumer Reviews has researched and ranked the best sign language lesson courses available today. This way, you can focus on your new language and enjoy communicating with deaf and hard-of-hearing friends and family!
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