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The Joy of Signing: The Illustrated Guide for Mastering Sign Language and the Manual Alphabet
by
Teaches sign language in senteces rather than individual words. Includes graphic drawings, index, and additional learning tools.
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
January 1st 1987
by Gospel Publishing House
(first published January 1st 1978)
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Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of The Joy of Signing: The Illustrated Guide for Mastering Sign Language and the Manual Alphabet

Mar 09, 2008
Lisa Vegan
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
anyone who wants to learn ASL-American Sign Language
I read through this many times when I first got it. It was by far the best resource for learning some American Sign Language. Of course, since I’ve had nobody to practice with or converse with for over 20 years, I’ve forgotten all I’d learned. But I still have the book and it remains a helpful reference book.

Dec 27, 2008
Bailey Jane
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
professors,speech pathologists,audiologists,hearing impaired,relatives of hearing impaired
Recommended to Bailey Jane by:
professors
This is the EASIEST book if you're wishing to learn ASL. It was what we used in college and it really does make the language simple (or as simple as it can be for a beginner) and fun to understand. A total must for the "communication disorders" major in all of us.
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Quite useful.
As it is an older edition, some signs have changed.
One small comment is the choice of signs. There are 17 pages devoted to Christian signs and much of that space could have been devoted to other signs. Also, not entirely sure a very beginner needs to know the sign for parliamentary.
Mostly, exceptionally useful.
As it is an older edition, some signs have changed.
One small comment is the choice of signs. There are 17 pages devoted to Christian signs and much of that space could have been devoted to other signs. Also, not entirely sure a very beginner needs to know the sign for parliamentary.
Mostly, exceptionally useful.

I think this book is very informational. I refer back to this book lots of times. I even though I marked that I finished the book, I still haven't learned all of the signs in the book yet. I haven't looked at a few pages yet too.
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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The Joy of Signing: A Dictionary of American Signs is a comprehensive guide 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.
This book serves as an entry (A book on a topic you know nothing about) in the Toronto Public Library Reading Challenge 2019. It was rather difficult to find a book that I know absolutely nothing about, but by chance, I found this book while passing by my loc ...more
This book serves as an entry (A book on a topic you know nothing about) in the Toronto Public Library Reading Challenge 2019. It was rather difficult to find a book that I know absolutely nothing about, but by chance, I found this book while passing by my loc ...more

I received this book as a gift while I was in high-school. That was the time when I started to be interested in deaf people and their sign language. At that time I was dreaming of starting to be involved in the small community of deaf people from my town but, against the fact that I tried, it didn't lead anywhere. Since than I kindda of abandoned this dream but the desire to have some kind of connection with death people, to enter in their world was still deep down in my heart. Starting with thi
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This book pieces together sentences for you somewhat. It is a help if you aren't sure how to really put together words but if you are trying to learn then a dictionary is more useful. I did go through this several times to see just how some stuff works. This is more of a bonus learning book though rather than something you want to rely heavily on. If you want to learn sign language though then I suggest you try several different books. This one is a decent one for sentence structure.
Happy Readi ...more
Happy Readi ...more

Went to a sign language class with the family and enjoyed it so much that I bought the Joy of Signing. My granddaughter and I had a great time learing new words and also taught ourselves how to do the Our Father. I've always liked shorthand and signing but have never spent the time it takes to make me profecient at either one. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. A little knowledge is better than none at all.
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This sign language reference book has occupied a spot on my shelves for over 20 years. It is set up similar to a dictionary, with chapters where related signs are grouped together. There is also a large index at the back of the book to enable the user to easily look up a specific sign, and the illustrations for each sign are well drawn and easy to understand. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in learning the basics of sign language.

This is a great book to learn sign language from; the illustrations are clear and well-explained, including origins of the signs to help you remember them. Instead of being grouped alphabetically, the signs are grouped by subject, such as people, pronouns, household, etc, so that you can get a sense of the similarites between related signs.

I think this book is a must have for anyone who is learning or wants to learn sign language. It is so easy to look up any word. The words are grouped by categories, and the illustrations are easy to understand. I have never become a pro at sign language like I wanted to about 20 years ago when I was a teenager, but sometimes I still look up words and figure out how to sign things!

Dec 06, 2016
Mary Root
added it
I first started using this book as a student of American Sign Language. I traveled with the Deaf for 3 years in a Deaf drama troupe communicating with the deaf around the country. The signs we used were the same ones this book has. It has been years since I have interpreted for the deaf and I have found this a good book to review my signs with.

Feb 28, 2009
Mario
added it
Extremely Helpful- A Must Needs!: Anyone involved in or interested in sign language, I highly recommend you purchase this book. I am involved in a sign team at our church & this book has been very helpful in looking up signs to our songs. It is a GREAT learning tool!

Completed class with an "A". Recommend the class at Atlantic Cape, learned a lot and had fun.
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Jul 21, 2011
Marts (Thinker)
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
anyone in need of acquiring the sign language skill
Shelves:
reference
This is a wonderful guide to learning the sign language art, however, I'm by no means a practitioner of it... I've always enjoyed perusing the volume though...
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This book is not a joy. The introductions are written in the driest language imaginable. There isn't any color.
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Dr.Lottie L. Riekehof has been associated with deaf people, sign language teaching, and interpreter training for many years. She was one of the first to promote the signing of music and has successfully trained a number of choral groups in the presentation of signed interpretations of well-known songs.
Lottie Riekehof was born 1920 in Germany to Henry and Laura Riekehof, and was the oldest of four ...more
Lottie Riekehof was born 1920 in Germany to Henry and Laura Riekehof, and was the oldest of four ...more
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