The 7 Best Online Courses to Learn American Sign Language (ASL)

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This article compiles the best online courses to learn American Sign Language (ASL). We put together the most reputable and effective options to help you learn ASL from the comfort of your own home. Whatever your language goals, budget, and schedule, you’re sure to find something helpful on this list. 

There are more than 500,000 people in the United States that are deaf or hard of hearing. In the past, learning American Sign Language could be challenging due to a lack of resources, but now, there are more ways to learn ASL than ever before. The online courses on this list are a comprehensive way to study because they put together video lessons and written material to help you learn how to communicate in ASL quickly.

American Sign Language, as the name suggests, is only used in the United States. If you travel to another country they use a different type of sign language. Even within certain regions in the United States, there can be variations for some signs.

Sign Language is a visual language and has a unique set of grammar rules just as a spoken language does. While the grammar is somewhat similar to English, there are quite a few differences and it must be studied and practiced. The courses on this list will teach you important signs, but also how to combine those signs into correct phrases and questions.

What Are The Best Courses To Learn American Sign Language?

To find the best online American Sign Language courses, I looked at well-known language programs and recommendations from the deaf community. Next, I examined every course to see if it was useful and determine what it excelled at. 

Below is the table of the 7 best online American Sign Language courses and what they are best for. Scroll down to read more about each one.

Best Overall ASL Course	Start ASL
Best Course on a Budget	Rocket Sign Language
Best for flexibility	Udemy
Best for Families	ASL Deafined
Most Entertaining Course	Sign It! ASL
Best for Beginners	ASL Meredith
Best for Intermediate/Advanced Learners	ASL Connect

Start ASL is a developed platform that features 3 levels of online ASL courses It’s a comprehensive site that puts together all the resources you need to study ASL effectively. You learn the grammar and sentence structure to sign fluently, not just vocabulary.  It’s a reputable platform and some high schools and universities accept the Start ASL course for credit

The courses are self-paced so you learn at your own speed. There are video lessons, quizzes to check progress, and much more. The Start ASL platform has quite a few additional resources available for free such as an ASL dictionary, options for live tutoring, and access to the ASL social community. 

Key Features

• 3 levels of courses
• Many resources that make learning interesting
• Possibly earn high school/college credit

Pricing

There are a few different pricing options. A Silver membership costs $24.95 per month, and a Gold membership costs $49.95 per month. The benefits of a Gold membership include video feedback on your assignments and additional practice material. Both Silver and Gold memberships are cheaper if you buy a longer subscription.

Rocket Languages has a developed American Sign Language course that is perfect for complete beginners. The course structure is well-defined and walks you through every step of learning ASL. Each lesson features videos of people signing and detailed explanations of how to combine signs into sentences.

Rocket also includes tons of information on deaf culture, such as how to join a conversation with people who are signing and the importance of signing space. This takes their course a step further than other courses that only teach the signs, but not about the context in which they are used. Learn more about it in this Rocket Sign Language review.

Key Features

• Detailed lessons that walk you through every step
• Videos that show you how to sign words and phrases
• Learn about deaf culture and the ASL community
• Video flashcards to help you practice

Pricing

The Rocket Sign Language course costs $99.95, but the price is almost always discounted. This one-time payment gives you lifetime access to the entire course and all the content available. You can test out the first few lessons for free to see if you enjoy learning with Rocket. with a 7-day free trial.

Udemy is a massive online platform that has all types of educational courses and has almost 100 options for ASL courses. Some of the most popular options are “Learn & Master Sign Language” and “First 500+ ASL Signs.” Udemy is the best for flexibility because there are so many options to choose from, and you can study whenever it’s convenient for you.

Each course has a detailed description, including how many hours of video lessons are included and what is covered in each unit. You can also read past student reviews and see how many people have taken the course to make sure you are getting a quality option. Watch a preview video of each course on the Udemy website, or read more about the overall platform in this