Sign Language Grammar and Interpreting
Like Duolingo, but for Sign Language Grammar and Interpreting. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.
21 levels across 3 sections, about 42 minutes end to end, roughly 8 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Spatial Grammar and Visual Mechanics, Mastering the Numerical Systems, and The Art of Interpreting. It assumes you already know the basics.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Sign Language Grammar and Interpreting
- Sign the noun once and index a specific point in your signing space to establish that person's locus.
- Pointing back to that established locus lets you mention them later without repeating their name or title.
- Non-present referents stay bound to their spatial coordinates until deliberately cleared.
- Directional verbs embed subject at the starting coordinate and object at the end coordinate.
- Modifying hand movement between loci eliminates the need for standalone pronoun signs.
- The palm orientation and trajectory tell the viewer who initiates and who receives the action.
- Contrastive structure splits two options by shifting the torso between opposite sides of signing space.
- Shifting the shoulders clearly separates comparing two choices without needing conjunction signs like 'or'.
- A neutral center alignment acts as the baseline before moving into either comparison pole.
- Eye gaze naturally glances toward an established locus right as the hand targets it to lock clarity.
- Looking only at the viewer while aiming into space causes grammatical vagueness for the recipient.
- Gaze shift signals to the conversational partner exactly which spatial referent is being modified.
- A transition marker or time indicator signals the previous scene has ended.
- Hands drop or sweep naturally, releasing previously established spatial loci.
- A new topic or referent is introduced and assigned to fresh physical coordinates.
- WH-questions require lowered or furrowed brows to ask for specific information.
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 Sign Language Grammar and Interpreting 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 want to talk about your doctor in a story. How do you first set them up in your signing space?
Get it right to open this lesson and 20 more in the app.
Where Sign Language Grammar and Interpreting takes you
Bridge the gap between isolated vocabulary and true visual fluency. Expand your grasp of complex ASL numbering systems, master spatial syntax, and discover the foundational skills of professional interpreting.
- 1
Spatial Grammar and Visual Mechanics
- Establishing Space with Referents and Directional Verbs
- Non-Manual Markers as Core Grammar
- Classifiers for Dynamic Visual Description
- 2
Mastering the Numerical Systems
- Number Incorporation across Time, Age, and Money
- Navigating Complex Numerical Data
- 3
The Art of Interpreting
- Message Processing and Meaning-Based Translation
- Professional Boundaries and Cultural Mediation
3 sections · 7 units · 21 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Sign Language Grammar and Interpreting is taught in the The Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. 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 Sign Language Grammar and Interpreting today.
Download Tomo, search Sign Language Grammar and Interpreting, and play your first lesson in under a minute.