American Sign Language Grammar and Flow
Move past vocabulary lists into authentic visual communication. Learn to use 3D space, non-manual markers, classifiers, and character role shifts to express complex ideas naturally. Build the grammatical foundation needed to follow rapid signing and participate fluently in the Deaf community.
Like Duolingo, but for American Sign Language Grammar and Flow. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
22 levels across 3 sections, about 44 minutes end to end, roughly 9 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Constructing Visual Sentences; Expressive Visual Mechanics; and Fluency, Discourse, and Cultural Nuance. It assumes you already know the basics.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in American Sign Language Grammar and Flow
- In ASL, topic-comment structure marks the topic headline with raised eyebrows and a slight forward head tilt.
- Eyebrows must lower back to a neutral position when transitioning to sign the new comment.
- ASL lacks English verb tense suffixes, establishing temporal context at the very start of the sentence.
- Time signs precede the topic and action to anchor the entire utterance along the imaginary ASL time line.
- ASL uses contrastive structure by shifting the upper torso slightly left and right to compare two entities.
- Spatial body shifting replaces English coordinating conjunctions like 'and' or 'or'.
- ASL uses rhetorical questions (signed with raised eyebrows) to express causal links like 'because' and 'so'.
- Rhetorical signs like WHY or FOR-FOR bridge a cause and its effect without needing an actual answer from the viewer.
- ASL negation relies primarily on a side-to-side headshake synchronized directly over the verb predicate.
- Relying solely on an isolated manual sign like NOT without simultaneous headshake creates unnatural signing.
- Indexing an anchor point in signing space establishes a durable pronoun for that person.
- Pointing back to an established spatial anchor refers to that specific person throughout a narrative.
- Moving an action between established anchors preserves pronoun clarity without re-spelling names.
- Aligning eye gaze with a spatial referent disambiguates who is being indicated.
- Looking at the addressee while pointing vaguely into space creates grammatical ambiguity.
- Eye gaze serves as a deliberate non-manual grammatical marker for spatial referencing.
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives American Sign Language Grammar and Flow the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
You just raised your eyebrows to sign the topic BOOK. What should your eyebrows do when you sign the comment FINISH READ?
Get it right to open this lesson and 21 more in the app.
How to learn American Sign Language Grammar and Flow, step by step
Go in order. 22 short levels across 3 sections, about 44 minutes in all, five minutes a day.
- 1
Constructing Visual Sentences
- Topic-Comment Structure in Motion
- Spatial Referencing and Directional Verbs
- 2
Expressive Visual Mechanics
- Depicting Action with Classifiers
- Role Shifting and Constructed Dialogue
- 3
Fluency, Discourse, and Cultural Nuance
- Non-Manual Signals as Adverbs and Adjectives
- Visual Discourse and Group Turn-Taking
- Idioms, Conceptual Accuracy, and Register
3 sections · 7 units · 22 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Questions about American Sign Language Grammar and Flow
How do I learn American Sign Language Grammar and Flow?
Go in order: start with Constructing Visual Sentences, then Expressive Visual Mechanics, then Fluency, Discourse, and Cultural Nuance. On Tomo that's 22 short levels, about 44 minutes in all, played five minutes a day. Start free and play the first level in under a minute.
Is there a Duolingo-style app for American Sign Language Grammar and Flow?
Yes. Tomo works like Duolingo: short daily lessons, streaks and quick quizzes. American Sign Language Grammar and Flow is one of its free courses, and you can type any other topic to get a course of your own.
Is the American Sign Language Grammar and Flow course free?
Yes. American Sign Language Grammar and Flow is playable on Tomo's free plan, which doesn't expire. No credit card, no waitlist. Download the app and start your first lesson.
How long does it take to learn American Sign Language Grammar and Flow?
22 levels across 3 sections, about 44 minutes of play in total. It's built for five minutes a day, so you finish it a little at a time instead of all at once.
Do I need any background to start American Sign Language Grammar and Flow?
No. It's pitched at an intermediate level, so it starts where you are and builds up. If you can tap a phone, you can start.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
American Sign Language Grammar and Flow is taught in the Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start American Sign Language Grammar and Flow today.
Download Tomo, search American Sign Language Grammar and Flow, and play your first lesson in under a minute.