Establishing Attention:

There are several ways to get a Deaf person's attention, but it is important that you try to be as polite as possible in any of them. For example, you likely know that it would be impolite to yell across a room to get your friend's attention. Use your judgment and remember that if the method gets the attention of persons you are not trying to talk to, it is probably rude.

Waving – Waving is an easy and acceptable way to get attention when you are in the other person's line of sight. In this case, you can use a small wave held close to the body to get the attention of someone sitting or standing nearby. If you are signaling someone who is further away, you can extend your arm away from the body and use your shoulder to produce an exaggerated wave. Keep in mind that speed signals urgency. If you are waving frantically, you might give the impression that something is wrong or it is an emergency.

Physical Contact – If you are in close proximity to a Deaf person but not in their line of sight, it is typically permissible to tap them lightly on the arm or shoulder. Most people learning ASL are uncomfortable with this method because it is often considered rude outside of close friends and family circles, but it is more acceptable in the Deaf community. However, you should not usually use this method on someone you have never met or are not on good terms with. You also want to tap just hard enough to get their attention, which isn't hard.

Vibrations – Another common way to get attention is to pound your hand or foot on a hard surface the Deaf person is in contact with. In this case, it is important to use your judgment on how hard to pound. You want to create vibrations that get attention, but you don’t want to cause damage. Examples include pounding on a table just hard enough to cause vibrations to get the attention of everyone seated there, or stomping on a wood floor to get the attention of someone near to you. Most importantly, this method requires a hard surface. Most English speakers are very uncomfortable using this method because it is rude or conveys anger in spoken languages, but it is acceptable and common in many ASL communities.

Line of Sight

Once you have established attention, it is crucial to create and maintain a line of sight. The closer you are to the person you are signing with, the easier communication will be. ASL users often sit in circles around each other, so that each person has a clear view of everyone else. Eye contact is crucial to ASL because without it, you will not understand the message. This can be somewhat difficult when speaking to multiple signers, but in the case that eye contact cannot be maintained among all parties, it is acceptable to walk between them repeating signs. However, this is inconvenient, so maintaining eye contact between each party is the best method. To do this, try standing or sitting in a circle, with each person a few feet from the others.

Personal Space – It is important to respect personal space. While the accepted amount of space varies from region to region, you should normally leave a few feet between each person when signing to ensure that each party has a clear view of what the other is signing. While you can communicate ASL over greater distances than you can spoken language, it's also impolite to stand too far away. Consider keeping a few feet between you and other signers, unless they close the distance.

Conversations

Conversational etiquette is crucial to carrying on a conversation in any language. ASL signers are expected to maintain the eye gaze, offer visual cues to inform the signer that they are following and understand the conversation, and take turns and interrupt conversations politely.

Back channeling – Back channeling is a form of discursive agreement where you alert the signer that you are following the conversation. Nodding the head says that you are following and you agree with the conversation. Shaking the head means that you are following and you disagree with the conversation. You can add additional emotion and character to these signals using facial expressions.

Interrupting – Generally, the best practice is to wait for the other person to finish talking before saying anything. However, if you don’t understand something, or it is necessary for you to interrupt in order to contribute to the conversation, you may do so. Raising your hands is an easy way to indicate that you want to contribute or ask a question.

Making mistakes – If you make mistakes, and you likely will when you first start signing, it is important to let others know and to retrace and re-do your sign.

Describing others – It is very common to use physically descriptive signs to describe or indicate other people when you do not know their names. This is often considered rude in English and may take some time to get used to, but is fairly common in ASL.

Basic etiquette will help you with starting a conversation, maintaining it, and ensuring that you are not being rude when you do so.

Facial Expressions

Learning to use your facial expressions as part of normal communication is one of the biggest learning factors involved with ASL other than memorizing and becoming fluent with signs. Where English speakers rarely use their facial expressions deliberately, ASL signers do so as part of speech. Facial expressions are an essential part of sign language, especially ASL.

While it might seem strange and forced to create expressions with your face as you talk, you already do so to some extent. English speakers naturally widen their eyes, smile, grimace, furrow their brows, and otherwise create shapes with their faces without ever thinking about it. This level of fluency will come to you slowly with ASL, but if you practice, you will get to the point where you can fluidly express what you are saying with your face. 

If you frequently study other languages, you can compare learning to use your facial expressions as part of communication to learning sounds (known as phonemes) in other languages not found in English: for example, the rolling R in Spanish, the Sch and G in Dutch, the umlaut in German, or the ch in Hebrew and Scottish. While the facial expressions used for ASL may seem exaggerated or forced at first, you can train your body into using them fluently and fluidly with practice.

Many people are easily distracted into dismissing expressions and body language in favor of the lexicalized signs, but without the first two, signs are not as expressive or meaningful as they would be with the expression and body language. In fact, without facial expressions, you can lose essential and meaningful parts of grammar that add critical context to a sign.

In essence, not studying the facial expressions and body language of the signs would be similar to learning Russian in your own accent. Not only would you only be learning only one part of the language, native speakers would find you difficult or even impossible to understand in many cases. 

ASL requires you to use facial expressions to convey grammatical information, emotions, and general information. Therefore, you should approach facial expressions in the as part of the signs.

Gender Distinction

Some ASL words use gender distinction, which is important for you to remember. English also has these gender distinctions, and some common examples include words like "Mother" and "Father." In some languages, gender distinctions apply to objects and places as well as to people, but ASL mostly uses gender distinction for people. Most importantly, rather than having to remember a part of speech, you just have to remember a location.

Masculine – Masculine or male pronouns are located on the forehead area. Any personal or family pronoun located on the forehead is discussing a man or a boy.

Feminine – Feminine or female pronouns are located on the cheek area.

This distinction allows you to easily see the gender of the person being referred to in the sign even if you do not know the sign or the person, and if the person is not available for reference in the context of the discussion.

ASL is not a universal language. In fact, most continents have their own variations of ASL. In addition to this, you will find regional variations and dialects of ASL around the United States and Canada.

SIGN LANGUAGE WORLDWIDE:

While most members of the Deaf community in the USA will use ASL, someone from the UK will likely use British Sign Language, a French person will most likely use French Sign Language, and someone from Australia will use Auslan (Australian Sign Language).

The most important thing to keep in mind about different sign languages is that they are often fundamentally different from each other. While you might be able to understand some signs, and will likely be able to move through simple yes/no questions and basic introductions, you won't be able to have a conversation without significant issues with communication.