A Silent Voice is one of my favorite animes. Reason – its female lead, Nishimiya Shoko, is deaf, and the creators do an excellent job portraying her struggles, and most importantly, the use of sign language. I had never thought about sign language seriously before watching this anime, and it sparked my interest to learn more.

In this guide, I’ve selected the 10 best free and paid American Sign Language (ASL) online courses for you from the 50+ Sign Language courses on our catalog by following a well-defined methodology that you can find below.

But if you want to jump straight to the results, here are my top 10 picks. You can click on a course to jump to the corresponding section:

What is American Sign Language (ASL)?

American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language and is the primary language of the deaf community in the United States of America and in many parts of Canada. It is a visual language expressed by hand movements, facial expressions and body posture.

Sign language is not universal – different sign languages are used in different countries and regions. Some countries also adopt features of ASL in their sign languages. Like any spoken language, ASL has its own grammar and syntax that differs from English – its own rules for pronunciation, word formation and word order.

Why are American Sign Language (ASL) Skills Important?

In the USA, there are about 48 million people with hearing impairment, from which an estimate of 500,000 can sign language. Considering that service providers, educators, friends and relatives will also have some level of expertise, this number can be even higher.

Learning any language is not just about memorizing hundreds or thousands of words – you can also participate in a new community of people and better understand the Deaf Culture. Anyone can benefit from being able to communicate with the deaf and hard of hearing, parents, educators, first responders, and service providers, just to name a few.

And if you want to make a career out of it, there are thousands of jobs for Sign Language Interpreters on Indeed, LinkedIn, and Glassdoor with an average salary of $29 per hour.

What is My Experience with American Sign Language (ASL)?

I am a Guided Project Instructor and a Beta Tester at Coursera, having tested many courses before they’re officially launched. I have taken over 50 online courses in various subjects.

My experience as an online learner and teacher has given me some perspective on what to look for in an online course. I used my experience to evaluate each course in this list.

Course Ranking Methodology

I built this ranking following the now tried-and-tested methodology I used in previous rankings (you can find them all here). It involves a three-step process:

1. Research: I started by leveraging Class Central’s database with 100K online courses and 200K+ reviews. Then, I made a preliminary selection of 50+ Sign Language courses by rating, reviews, and bookmarks.
2. Evaluate: I read through reviews on Class Central, Reddit, and course providers to understand what other learners thought about each course and combined it with my own experience as a learner.
3. Select: Well-made courses were picked if they presented valuable and engaging content and they have to fit in a set of criteria and be ranked accordingly: comprehensive curriculum, release date, affordability, ratings and enrollments.

The end result is a unique selection of courses that combines a decade of Class Central data and my own experience as an online learner to try to get the best of both worlds. So far, I’ve spent more than 10 hours building this list, and I’ll continue to update it.

Course Ranking Statistics

Here are some statistics regarding this course ranking:

• Combined, these courses have accrued over 31.8K enrollments.
• 7 courses are free or free-to-audit and 3 courses are paid.
• The most-represented course provider in the ranking is YouTube, with 6 courses.
• All 10 courses are in English.
• The Sign Language subject is followed by over 4.2K learners on Class Central, and accounts for over 50 courses in Class Central catalog.

So without further ado, let’s get to my picks for the best American Sign Language (ASL) online courses.

1. ASL University: Lessons (ASL University)

My first pick for the best American Sign Language (ASL) online course is the free course ASL University: Lessons, offered by ASL University.

In this comprehensive course with hundreds of hours of engaging video lectures, interactive quizzes, and plenty of learning resources you’ll learn from scratch how to be a great communicator in sign language with the specialist Dr. William Vicars.

Vicars will build your confidence from the ground up, starting from spelling and simple daily sentences to more and more abstract concepts. He uses evidence based language learning with reinforcement, repetition, and a curriculum that covers the most frequent vocabulary from lesson one. 

Every lesson is given with an accompanying learner that will give you the opportunity to feel like you’re in a private class with the instructor and surely you won’t get bored while learning.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll cover 46 themed-based lessons:

In the first 30 lessons, you’ll learn the basics you need to communicate in ASL about yourself, your family, feelings, basic actions, food, clothes, animals, school and work, and traveling.

From lesson 31 to 45, you’ll learn more intermediate skills and start learning about more nuances in sign language to talk about more abstract concepts such as emotions and dreams. You’ll learn about sports, giving your opinion, gossip, hand tools, giving directions, holidays, and talking about your health.

Finally, you’ll learn more upper-intermediate and advanced concepts in the last 15 lessons: talking about numbers and money, travel, buying things/grocery, reading preferences, dating and relationships, academic, medicine and hospital talk, cars and driving, playing games, goodbyes, and social media.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 4 modules and 46 lessons. Each module involves about 23 hours of work. Concepts are taught through a combination of videos, readings and quizzes.

Fun Facts

• Vicars has a doctorate in Deaf Studies & Deaf Education from Lamar University and a masters in Deaf Education.
• He used to be a Professor of American Sign Language and Deaf Studies at California State University, Sacramento, and nowadays, he’s the president and owner of the Lifeprint Institute, a consultation business focusing on technology-enhanced delivery of ASL Instruction.
• He was born hard of hearing and has become progressively deafer.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

2. Beginner American Sign Language (ASL ) Course (Laura Berg Life)

My second pick for the best American Sign Language (ASL) online course is the free course Beginner American Sign Language (ASL ) Course, offered by Laura Berg Life on YouTube.

This free course has a good balance of lessons and practice. It starts with basic vocabulary and simple sentences, and gradually moves up to more complex sentences as you learn more ASL signs. At the end of each lesson, there’s a video dedicated to quizzes to test your receptive skills. By the end of the course, you should be able to sign basic ASL words and form simple sentences.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll cover ten-themed based lessons:

1. Introduction
2. Family
3. Describing people
4. Food
5. Home
6. Location and directions
7. Activities
8. School
9. Meetings and scheduling
10. Hobbies and interests

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 31 videos. Each video involves about 10 minutes of work. Concepts are taught through a combination of video lectures and video quizzes.

Fun Facts

• Gendron was born deaf and has been an ASL teacher for more than 25 years.
• His wife is also deaf and his kids are CODA (Child of Deaf Adult) which means their first language is ASL!
• Berg is the president and founder of My Smart Hands.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

3. ASL Basics (Learn How to Sign)

My third pick for the best American Sign Language (ASL) online course is the free course ASL Basics, offered by Learn How to Sign on YouTube.

Aimed towards beginners, this free ASL course is more of a collection or series of tutorials that teach you how to sign basic ASL words and phrases. The lessons will be helpful in your daily ASL conversations, starting with the alphabet and getting into simple words, common phrases,  greetings, feelings, situation-based signs, ASL sentence structure, and many more.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll understand the alphabet (ABCs), common and descriptive signs, numbers, questions, animal signs, greetings, farewells and introductions, days of the week and months of the year, affirmation and negation signs, and places around the town.

You’ll also learn about describing people, feelings and emotions, barista signs, meat and dairy signs, fruit and veggie signs, food signs, common phrases, summer signs, school signs, money, routines, sentence structure, and profession signs.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 48 videos. Each video involves about 5 to 10 minutes of work. Concepts are taught through video lectures only.

Fun Facts

• Meredith is a state certified ASL teacher and certified educational interpreter.
• She also holds a M.Ed. in Deaf Education.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

4. Learn & Master Sign Language (Udemy)

My fourth pick for the best American Sign Language (ASL) online course is Learn & Master Sign Language on Udemy.

One of the most comprehensive courses on this list, this course for beginners will help you master the receptive and the expressive components of ASL. The lessons are interactive, giving you a solid foundation in basic and advanced signing including vocabulary, sentences, narratives and dialogues. The course also contains enough practice opportunities as well.

What You’ll Learn

You’ll start with the basics which includes introductions, gesturing, the alphabet members of the family, and more. Then, you’ll progress to advanced techniques such as expansion features, classifiers, storytelling, and more. Other topics include how to communicate during emergencies, everyday activities, facts about the dynamic deaf culture, interacting at sporting events, and more.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 28 sections. Each section involves about 1.5 to 2 hours of work. Concepts are taught through a combination of videos, a lesson book and in-video practice quizzes.

Fun Facts

• Webb is a professional ASL interpreter and educator.
• This course used to be offered in DVD format, but now you can access it online from anywhere!
• Bridges is a deaf ASL educator, interpreter (CDI), workshop presenter, grandpa, father, and friend.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

5. American Sign Language Level 1 (Udemy)

My fifth pick for the best American Sign Language (ASL) online course is the American Sign Language Level 1 on Udemy.

This short course for beginners is a great way to get started with and learn the foundations of ASL. It will teach you easy and useful ASL topics such as the origins of ASL language, the alphabet and finger-spelling, family signs, feelings, verbs, key nouns, and much more. At the end of this course, you’ll also get to demonstrate a short story in ASL.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll cover the following:

1. Finger spelling
2. The ASL alphabet
3. Number signs
4. Colors
5. Animals
6. Food and drink
7. Family signs
8. Key verbs and nouns
9. Feelings and emotions
10. Sentences

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 10 sections. Each section involves about 10 to 30 minutes of work. Concepts are taught through a combination of videos and downloadable resources.

Fun Facts

• Manny Martin started learning ASL to communicate with his Deaf foster son in 1984. In 1992, he became an ASL interpreter and in 1994 an educator for kids and adults. 

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

6. ASL | Pronouns + Vocab + Practice | American Sign Language (Skillshare)

My sixth pick for the best American Sign Language (ASL) online course is ASL | Pronouns + Vocab + Practice | American Sign Language on Skillshare.

This course focuses specifically on the use of two types of pronouns – personal and possessive  – in ASL. You’ll learn to sign and recognize pronouns in ASL, increase your vocabulary and combine them to create useful phrases and sentences. And you’ll be able to achieve all this within a matter of a couple of hours.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll learn about handshapes, I/me vs. my/mine, you vs. your, he/she/it vs. his/her/its, pronouns 1st group, we/us vs. our, they/them vs. their, you (plural) vs. your (plural), pronouns 2nd group, and all pronouns.

You’ll also explore signs for apple, house, mom, cat, purse and shoes, noun vocabulary signs, pronoun + noun phrases, pronoun + noun (silent), signs for happy, sad, mad, scared, surprised and hungry, pronoun + adjective, and simple sentences (silent).

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 40 lessons. Each lesson involves about 2 to 8 minutes of work. Concepts are taught through a combination of videos and a final assignment.

Fun Facts

• When Michael was 3 years old, his brother got sick and lost his hearing, so Michael and his family decided to learn ASL and they all became fluent!

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

7. Learning Sign Language (Jack Hartmann Kids Music Channel)

My seventh pick for the best American Sign Language (ASL) online course is the free course Learning Sign Language, offered by Jack Hartmann Kids Music Channel on <provider>.

Whether you are a kid or an adult, songs will most surely not fail to hold a spot in your mind. Don’t be fooled by the course name; songs are a great way to learn sign language even for both kids and grown ups. This free course is well-suited for your kids or even yourself for learning ASL as well as Australian Sign Language and British Sign Language.

What You’ll Learn

This list includes the following songs you can follow (sign) along with Jack Hartmann and friends:

1. See It, Say It, Sign It (American Sign Language Alphabet Song)
2. We Are A Family
3. Greetings Song in Spanish with no subtitles
4. One Small Voice
5. Rap it, Read It, Say It, Sign It
6. We Are a Family
7. Auslan See it Say it Sign it (Australian Sign Language)
8. See it Say it Sign it (British Sign Language)
9. Animal signs (domestic and farm animals)
10. Sign the colors

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 20 videos. Each video involves about 2 to 5 minutes of work. Concepts are taught through video lectures only.

Fun Facts

• Hartmann has made over 55 albums with over 1,500 super fun movement songs for children.
• He is a 2016 Parents’ Choice Approved Award Winner for the CD, Brain Breaks.
• His music is research-based and teacher-approved to focus on helping children learn.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

8. Learn ASL in 31 Days (ASL Rochelle)

My eighth pick for the best American Sign Language (ASL) online course is the free course Learn ASL in 31 Days, offered by ASL Rochelle on <provider>.

As its name suggests, this free course will teach you ASL in 31 days, or more specifically, one topic each day. Within a matter of a couple of hours, you’ll be familiar with the alphabet, different words, numbers, fingerspelling, sentence structure, and much more.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll learn about the alphabet, questions, time, places, family, indexing, colors numbers 1 to 100, time, money, fingerspelling, emotions, food, animals, health, countries, states, agent signs, sentence structure, classifiers, idioms, and negatives.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 32 videos. Each video involves about 5 to 10 minutes of work. Concepts are taught through a combination of video lectures and video tests.

Fun Facts

• Rochelle has nearly 200K subscribers on her YouTube channel where she posts ASL content and tutorials.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

9. ASL Basics – All Lessons (Chris Gorges)

My ninth pick for the best American Sign Language (ASL) online course is the free course ASL Basics – All Lessons, offered by Chris Gorges on YouTube.

This fairly comprehensive free course is a collection of ASL tutorials on various topics such as the ASL alphabet, basic signs, words, phrases, colors, numbers, fingerspelling and more. You’ll also get a lot of practice through the practice lessons dedicated to certain sections, and tips to become fast and fluent.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll learn about high frequency words, basic signs and phrases to start a conversation, food and drinks, time, colors, days of the week, months of the year, numbers, animals, family signs (mom, dad, brother, sister), technology, outdoors, and words for winter.

You’ll also understand feelings and emotions, words for the beach while in oceanside, the alphabet, colors, pro-tactile ASL, best ASL dictionaries, interpreting stories in ASL, what a Rubiks cube can teach us about language learning, and office vocabulary.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 111 videos. Most videos involve about 1 to 5 minutes of work. Concepts are taught through video lectures only.

Fun Facts

• Chris Gorges is a certified sign language interpreter and educator in California.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

10. Starter Signs – Baby Sign Language (TalkBoxMom)

My tenth pick for the best American Sign Language (ASL) online course is the free course Starter Signs – Baby Sign Language, offered by TalkBoxMom on YouTube.

Babies pick up sign language fast. So it’s best to start teaching early. This short free course is specially made for babies (well actually their parents of course!) so that they can teach their babies simple words and phrases in ASL.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, you’ll learn different words and phrases in baby sign language such as finished, again, pretty, blanket, binky, banana, stop, beautiful, book, all done, change diaper, clean up, cold, cook, cup, cracker, come, want, like, doll, dance, dad, dirty, close, french fries, fall off, down, drink, eat, fall down, and fan.

You’ll also learn words and phrases such as stairs, go out, milk, more, music, runny nose, touch, and mix, medicine, gentle, give, go, grandpa, granddad or grandfather, hurt, juice, jump, kiss, laugh, library, brush teeth, grandma or grandmother, blocks, bubbles, bye, I love you, inside, look, love, dress (get dressed), car, and thank you.

More words and phrases include happy, hear, hug, listen, tissue, take turns, swing, sweep, stroller, stick, shoes, sick, sing, slow, and smile, snack, sorry, spill, spit, toilet, potty, poop, play, rice, coat, rattle, read, tree, you’re welcome, up, pray, spit up, ball, bath, toy, wait, wash hands, wet, heart, sleep, share, and hot.

How You’ll Learn

The course is broken down into 104 videos. Each video involves about 1 minute of work. Concepts are taught through video lectures only.

Fun Facts

• Olguin founded TalkBox.Mom to help families start talking in a foreign language (and ASL) the same day they start and reach their goals of becoming at least conversational.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.