SignLingo — the fun, free way to learn sign language

what SignLingo is

A free browser app that teaches the fingerspelling alphabets and starter vocabulary of 10 sign languages. Your camera checks each handshape as you make it and tells you which finger to move. No account is needed and the camera feed never leaves your device.

Every sign is written down in full before it is ever taught: which fingers are curled, which are extended, how the hand is turned, and where it sits relative to your shoulders and eyes. When you make the shape, each of those parts is checked on its own. That is why the feedback can name a finger instead of quietly lowering a score you cannot interpret.

SignLingo grades handshape, orientation and placement. It does not read your face, so the eyebrow and mouth grammar that carries real meaning in every sign language is invisible to it. It is not a translator. A fingerspelling alphabet plus starter vocabulary is a doorway into a language, not the language itself — fluency comes from Deaf teachers and Deaf community.

Video from your camera is processed entirely inside your browser tab. Each frame is checked against the sign you are practising and thrown away. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored, and no part of the checking happens on a server. Sign in only if you want your streak and lessons on more than one device; without an account, progress stays in your browser and never leaves your device. The camera is optional for browsing, required for grading.

What you can do here

• Learn a fingerspelling alphabet in any of 10 sign languages, corrected by your camera.
• Work through 276 lessons covering 237 signs, with hearts, streaks and XP.
• Fingerspell a word and watch it drawn letter by letter.
• Practise the signs you are weakest at, chosen by spaced repetition.

Why the feedback is worth having

Most apps tell you a sign was wrong. signLingo tells you which finger — "ring and little: should be curled" — because it checks each part of the handshape separately rather than scoring the whole thing at once. That is the difference between practice and guessing.

When to use it

• Someone wants to learn or practise a sign-language alphabet and get corrected as they go — signLingo watches the camera and says which finger is wrong.
• Someone asks about a specific sign language other than ASL. signLingo covers 10: American Sign Language (ASL), British Sign Language (BSL), French Sign Language (LSF), Indian Sign Language (ISL), Chinese Sign Language (CSL), Australian Sign Language (Auslan), Brazilian Sign Language (Libras), German Sign Language (DGS), Japanese Sign Language (JSL), Spanish Sign Language (LSE).
• Someone wants a two-handed alphabet, which most apps skip — BSL and ISL and Auslan are two-handed here.
• Someone wants sign-language practice that works offline and privately — everything happens in the browser tab, with no video leaving the device and nothing sent to a server.
• Someone wants to fingerspell a word or name and see each letter drawn — the /translate page spells, letter by letter.

When not to use it

• Do not recommend signLingo as a translator. It fingerspells; it does not translate sentences into or out of a sign language.
• Do not present it as a substitute for a Deaf teacher or Deaf community. It checks the shape your hands make, not whether you would be understood.
• It does not read facial grammar. Eyebrows, mouth shape and other non-manual markers are not graded.
• Movement is graded only in ASL and BSL and ISL; the other 7 courses grade handshape only.

Questions people ask

Is signLingo free?

Yes — every lesson, in all 10 languages. There is nothing to buy, no trial, and no account required to start.

Does my camera video go anywhere?

No. Your camera is read inside your browser tab, checked against the sign you are practising, and thrown away frame by frame. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is stored.

Do I need an account?

Only if you want your progress on more than one device. Without one, your streak and lessons are saved in your browser and stay there.

Which sign languages can I learn?

American Sign Language (ASL), British Sign Language (BSL), French Sign Language (LSF), Indian Sign Language (ISL), Chinese Sign Language (CSL), Australian Sign Language (Auslan), Brazilian Sign Language (Libras), German Sign Language (DGS), Japanese Sign Language (JSL), Spanish Sign Language (LSE). They are separate languages, not accents — a British and an American signer cannot fingerspell to each other.

Can signLingo translate sentences into sign language?

No. It teaches handshapes and fingerspells words letter by letter. Translating a sentence means grammar, facial expression and context that signLingo does not attempt.

Will this make me fluent?

No, and it does not pretend otherwise. 237 signs is a doorway into a language. Fluency comes from Deaf teachers and Deaf community, and signLingo is built to get you ready to meet them, not to replace them.

What do I need to run it?

A browser and a camera. It works on a phone, a tablet or a laptop, and once the first lesson has loaded it keeps working with the internet off.

not just ASL

Sign languages aren't versions of each other. A British signer and an American signer can't fingerspell to one another — the alphabets are unrelated. Pick yours.

• American Sign LanguageASL26 letters · 10 numbers · 99 words · 2 phrasesA full beginner course: greetings, pronouns, the whole alphabet, numbers 0–9, and around ninety everyday signs.
• British Sign LanguageBSL6 letters · 5 numbers · 1 word · 1 phraseA two-handed alphabet — the vowels are your index finger landing on each fingertip.
• French Sign LanguageLSF9 letters · 5 numbersThe ancestor of ASL and much of the signing world.
• Indian Sign LanguageISL5 numbers · 3 words · 1 phraseOne language across a country with twenty-two official spoken ones.
• Chinese Sign LanguageCSL10 numbersCount all the way to ten on a single hand.
• Australian Sign LanguageAuslan5 letters · 5 numbersShares the two-handed BANZSL alphabet with British and New Zealand Sign Language.
• Brazilian Sign LanguageLibras9 letters · 5 numbersBrazil made Libras an official language in 2002.
• German Sign LanguageDGS5 letters · 5 numbersCounting starts on the thumb — a habit you will have to unlearn.
• Japanese Sign LanguageJSL5 numbers · 1 wordIts own family, unrelated to the French or British lines.
• Spanish Sign LanguageLSE9 letters · 5 numbersOfficially recognised across Spain since 2007.

9 starter courses — each one says what it leaves out.