You've been studying American Sign Language for a while now, but suddenly all your progress has ground to a stop. Isn't practice and hard work supposed to pay off? Why aren't your ASL skills taking off? What's going on?!

From learning to drive and struggling to learn to park, to playing basketball and being frustrated by your lay-ups, learning something new often comes with times of frustration. The important thing to remember is that these moments have nothing to do with your overall ability to learn. They are just a challenge to overcome.

Think of your ASL learning journey in the same way. A time of struggle is simply an opportunity to change things up and make a new breakthrough!

But what kind of changes should you make? Aren't you already working as hard as you can?! I've got you. Here are five strategies to change up your ASL learning and make immediate progress now:

Stop with the nouns!

When you first start learning ASL, becoming a Word Collector is overwhelmingly tempting. You learn sign after sign and pride yourself on the length of your word lists. You, Word Collector Supreme, can name hundreds of random things. You are a Noun Boss! Sound familiar? The problem is that nouns are not very useful for conversation. Imagine this conversation, "ME GIRL RED SHIRT. YOU BOY BLUE SHIRT." Not exactly poetic.

Get some verb action going! Verbs form the basis for communication that is interactive. ASL verbs are also a lot more complex to use correctly, and they deserve your time and attention. Take note of this awesome dialogue starter, "ETERNALS MOVIE, FINISH SEE? ME GO TOMORROW. WANT JOIN?" Much better!

Become a specialist

Another problem with being an ASL Word Collector is that you may know lots of signs, but not enough to chat about any one topic very well. Your random knowledge makes it hard for you to ever feel confident in any one conversation. Time to make a big change. Pick a topic you want to talk about and focus all in on the vocabulary you will need for this topic.

If you want to talk about your love of reading, you need to learn signs related to books. You need to be able to express your opinions and share feelings. You also need to be able to ask related questions to interact with others. By becoming a specialist in one topic at a time, you boost your ability to have a real conversation and you build your confidence and skills.

Think like an athlete

Athletes can be a great example for us as language learners. When they get stuck on a skill, they react by breaking down the skill into its core parts and training intensely. They don't assume the sport isn't for them and give up! You need to do the same with your ASL!

Instead of thinking of language fluency in terms of levels, think of it in terms of skills. Having trouble with questions? Break down that one skill and train. Practice raising and lowering your eyebrows in the mirror. Work on your body language and facial expressions. Watch video clips with question examples and video yourself as you sign them. Make sure to incorporate questions in your daily practice until you nail them. Train with a focus in order to overcome a skill-based obstacle!

Make friends

Languages are meant to be used! Unless you are studying an ancient dead language, the whole point of your study should be to interact with other users of that language. Take advantage of opportunities to join ASL Hangouts online and in person, work with a teacher to get expressive and receptive support, and then check out your local Deaf events and go meet people.

American Sign Language is the heart of the Deaf community. There is no better place to learn new skills and make connections with Deaf people (and other ASL users), than at events hosted by the Deaf community.

Do less, with more intent!

Our natural reaction to a challenge is often to just work harder and do more of the same. I am challenging you to do something different...Work less, but work smarter. Instead of thinking about your ASL study time in terms of word lists and timers, think of it as a highly goal-oriented mini-session. Establish small goals that move you forward in your sign knowledge, ability to express yourself, understanding of Deaf culture, and conversational confidence.

Small goals move you forward and provide more structure to your study. Then, cut down your study time while increasing how often you study. Research shows that your best work on a hard learning task can only be given for about 10-30 minutes at a time. Language learning is hard work! Set aside 15-20 minutes DAILY for your ASL study and start making real progress!

Need some help with your ASL goal setting? Want to study smarter, not harder? My FREE Step-By-Step Guide to Stellar ASL Study was designed with you in mind! Grab it now by clicking here: https://wiermanstudycenter.ck.page/study-guide