I'm gonna take a formal ASL class next semester and I've been teaching myself the first 100 signs to prepare (which is probably a bad idea if I'm learning them wrong...) and grammar is like the hardest thing ever...

Alright, so, if you’re going to start teaching yourself you gotta keep something in mind.

Grammar, and sentence structure are two entirely different things (I’m not an expert here, so let me just tell you what I learned and what I remember).

What’s confusing you is most likely ‘sentence structure’ in the sense of how objects are signed followed by their descriptors. In that sense I would wait until your actual course to learn that from your instructor because if you learn wrong, you’ll spend months trying to rewire your brain and that can get exhausting.

The grammar in ASL is all in the eyebrows. Raised brows and wide eyes are for yes/no questions, and furrowed brows and narrowed eyes are for your wh/how questions. Mix them up and people will be like….huh?

It’s okay to learn some signs and commit them to memory. It will definitely help you to recognize stuff if you want, but honestly, starting the course from scratch is a lot of fun.

Now what I would recommend, and what you can get a head start on, is fingerspelling. That shit is haaaaaaard. Memorize the alphabet, and then work on your transitions. Fingerspelling will get you out of so many binds when you forget a sign, and for names and stuff.

So if you want to learn some signs, absolutely. Go for it. I just wouldn’t try to put them into phrases yet because that’s where things can get a little confusing. Focus on fingerspelling instead.

I'm hearing and I'd like to learn ASL but I don't know if it's going to work out. I know facial expressions are a big part of it and I have never been able to do that at all. Idk why but my face just. Does not make expressions. I've tried to a little but every time I do it just feels fake and like I'm lying or something, so I stop. Is that going to be a problem?

Short answer: no, not necessarily.

Long answer: Consider the spoken English language. Not every person speaks the same way, right? Some people have lisps, or are very expressive, or are very sarcastic. Some people stutter, some people barely raise their voice enough to be heard, some people have an accent, etc. But as long as we can understand each other, there isn’t really (from a descriptive linguistic standpoint) a “right” or a “wrong” way to speak English.

The same holds true for ASL! Some people sign really fast, some people sign “sloppily” or “slur” their signing. On bad pain days when I’ve only got use of one hand, I sign one-handed. Some people, like you perhaps, aren’t as expressive as others (or expressive at all), and that’s okay! Some neurodivergent people have what’s called a “flat affect,” which basically means that they’re not so expressive, and sure, it might take a little extra effort on your part to convey your emotions or on your conversational partners part to understand your intention, but that doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong or should stop learning ASL.

As long as people can understand you and you’re signing to your best ability, your specific, unique brand of ASL is perfectly good!

-Mod C