Our Queer ASL Classes
Queer ASL focuses on introducing American Sign Language and Deaf culture to 2SLGBTQQIA+ learners and their allies.
Our courses have a voice-off policy in order to both be respectful of signing spaces and to immerse ourselves in a signing environment. People who complete Queer ASL classes are able to carry basic ASL conversations and have a better understanding about Deaf communities.
Our classes are only taught by Deaf queer & trans folk for various reasons. The biggest two would be; creating a (safer) working environment for Deaf queer & trans folk to be themselves and a classroom where queer & trans people are being centered and celebrated.
Queer ASL runs on donations only. Our suggested donation sliding scale ($100-$400 per course) covers 8 sessions, all class materials, and weekly homework. However, nobody is denied access if they are unable to donate.
Our classes are fully online and we are in the process of figuring out logistics of offering in-person ASL classes in Canada and USA.
Our Queer ASL Levels
101
Queer ASL 101 is for people who have no previous (or very little) experience with ASL. This course covers learning the alphabet, fingerspelling, introductions, discussing likes & dislikes, language upbringing, our identities, where we live, etc. At our final class, students take turns telling an autobiography about themselves in ASL.
102
Queer ASL 102 for people who finished 101 (or have similar amount of ASL knowledge). We cover discussing activities, ages & birthdays, living arrangements, family & relationships, transportation, work, and much more. At our final class, students share and discuss pictures their chosen families with each other.
103
Queer ASL 103 is for people who finished ASL 102 (or have similar amount of ASL knowledge). This course digs into the world of time grammar, topic+comment structure, directional verbs, space use, and much more. At the end, our students do an overall ASL 101-103 review through activities.
104s
Queer ASL 104 Storytelling is for people who have completed ASL 103 or (or similar). We focus on storytelling which involves learning about ASL classifiers, mouth morphemes, role-shifting, and developing our storytelling skills. During the course, our students work on a children book of their choice and tell the story at the last class.
104c
Queer ASL 104 Conversational is for people who have completed ASL 103 (or similar) and want to focus on deepening their conversational skills. Our conversational classes are smaller in order to develop a more intimate community for conversing. We use a combination of games, main room conversations, and breakout rooms for smaller group conversations. We have three convo classes (A, B, and C) - each class has their own topics & themes.
Our Class Set-Up
We use a flipped classroom format which has three sections: before class, during class, and after class. Read on to learn more about what exactly this means!
BEFORE CLASS
Watch your lesson videos a few days before your zoom class. We encourage you to watch the videos a few times and practice copying the signs you learn.
DURING CLASS
Attend your zoom class to review what you learned from the lesson videos, ask for clarifications, and practice with your peers under the guidance of your teacher.
AFTER CLASS
Explore your homework folder, do the readings required and watch your homework video. Check to see if your answers are correct by comparing with the answers doc.
OUR CLASSROOM SPACES
We offer four classroom learning spaces:
our general classes, QTBIPOC classes, PWD classes, and QTBIPOC PWD classes.
GENERAL CLASSES
Our general ASL classes (titled as ASL 101 etc) are open to anyone interested.
Everyone is welcome to attend, you just need to be an ally if you're not a part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
QTBIPOC CLASSES
Our QTBIPOC ASL classes (titled as QTBIPOC ASL 101 etc) is for students who are Black, Indigenous, and/or otherwise a person of colour, and who are members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. This class is an intentional space for BIPOC folks to learn together and from a Deaf BIPOC teacher.
Half of the proceeds from our QTBIPOC classes go towards our scholarship fund that we are working on setting up for QTBIPOC students who want to continue their studies after Queer ASL with the goal of becoming an interpreter.
PWD CLASSES
Our PWD ASL classes (titled as PWD ASL 101 etc) is centered around disabled folks, chronic illness, and neurodivergent folks who are members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
This class will occur twice a week (one hour per session). We have an extra focus on sign modifications, going over stuff in a pace that feels most accessible for all participants, discussing access related topics when it comes to learning ASL, and basically just share space with each other!
QTBIPOC PWD CLASSES
We of course also at times offer classes that are centered around disabled & neurodivergent QTBIPOC folks. The class format is the same as the general PWD classes.
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