First of all, you do not need to register to use this website.
Most students simply use this site as a support for a class they are taking at
their local college or as a way to self-study at home.
Registration costs money and is only for those who need documentation to provide to their employer, college, school district, or other organization to prove that they have successfully completed a sign language course or to satisfy a foreign language requirement.
What do you get if you register?
I or one of my instructors will provide you a syllabus, mail you the ASLU
Coursepack for your level,
send you a copy of the ASLU CD (which is a version of the Lifeprint.com site on
a disk), answer your ASL questions via email
(when you are indeed a tuition paying student) send a receptive final on CD,
evaluate an expressive video project, and provide full
documentation of your participation in the program including a letter grade.
If you feel you would like to register you should go to the
registration
letter and read it carefully.
If you have questions after reading the registration
letter,
please read through the Frequently Asked Questions
pages. Also, read my response to a student's question's below.
<<In a message dated 8/15/2003 10:40:36 PM Central Daylight Time,
thompsonrebirth@ writes:
If I take the free lessons how much is the certificate of completion? How
much does it cost if I decide to register? Do the registered classes cover
more info than the free ones. How long does it take to complete the lessons
and obtain the certificate? >>
Reply:
Let's do those one at a time:
Question: 1. If I take the free lessons how much is the
certificate of completion?
Answer: I don't give certificates of completion to students who take
the free lessons. (If I said that somewhere on this site, please let me know
where so I can update that information.) Lots and lots of people
self-study from this website (tens of thousands--according to the web statistics). I simply don't have time to
evaluate each one on a personal basis.
So, I only provide documentation to registered, tuition-paying students whom
have demonstrated to me through actual testing that they have achieved a
level of competency similar to that of the college-level courses I teach during my day-job as a college professor.
Question: 2. How much does it cost if I decide to
register?
Answer: Tuition per course is $483.
At the end of the course you will need to a blank disk (CD, DVD, or server upload,--I
can still do VHS but NOT 8mm), and then record your expressive video project and pay the postage to mail it to me,
(or upload it to a server).
There are no other fees. The price above includes the
coursepack for your level.
Question: 3. Do the registered classes cover more info
than the free ones.
Answer: No. The difference is, I'll evaluate your video, your receptive final, and your research paper.
I'll verify your completion of the quizzes. Plus you get documentation
of your results, (a transcript) including a letter grade.
Question: 4. How long
does it take to complete the lessons and obtain the documentation?
Answer: That is up to you. Most students seem to like to do
three lessons per week and finish a course in about two months. The
maximum time I allow is one-year per course.
If a person were in a hurry, you could complete a course in about a month by
doing a lesson per day plus a couple days for submitting your expressive
video. If
you have no other classes and are able to work on it "full time" you could
do two or three lessons a day and get done in two weeks, but I've never had
anyone attempt that.
Question: 5. So, you don't give credit, you just give me a letter from you that says I took your course and I
received a certain grade. Why should I register?
Answer: If you don't need that piece of paper, you shouldn't register. The paper is only valuable because
my signature is on it and many local colleges, high schools, and companies will accept my documentation because I hold a
doctorate in this field from an accredited university and I've been doing this for 20 years. Basically I
or one of my staff function as an "extension"
instructor for whatever school you are attending locally.
The Unit 1 CD (video test) corresponds to the first five lessons of the level 1
course.
Eventually there will be many CDs (and/or DVDs) available. (If they are available they are
listed at the ASLU bookstore). One CD for each 5
lessons. As you may have noticed, the Unit 1 CD contains many questions.
(321 to be exact.) Those questions are based on the vocabulary and practice
sheets from Lessons 1-5 of the online course.
Each week you email me answers to a certain number of questions.
You can go at whatever pace you would like.
The way it generally works is a student keeps in touch with me at least once
a week to be considered progressing. Three weeks without communication may
result in the student being dropped from the program. Once a week the
student needs to complete a receptive quiz. (Receptive quizzes are where you look at signing...sort of like being the listener in a spoken conversation.)
Near the end of each course level the student turns in a research paper.
At least once during the course the student makes a video of his or her
signing of a script provided by ASLU. The video doesn't have to be fancy. I don't care about the background
as long as I can see your signs
clearly.
Each course consists of 15 lessons. If a student does
one lesson per week, that will total up to 30 lessons in under 8-months.
College students typically do 15 lessons in 15 weeks (first semester) for Level 1, and
then 15 more lessons in another 15 weeks (second semester) for level 2. A
good pace for a college class is one lesson per week plus in-class practice
sessions and in-class testing.
Remember, you can progress at whatever pace you would like for up to a year.
Still want to register?
►Click here to go to the registration
letter◄