ASL in Three Dimensions
Move beyond isolated vocabulary cards and start using real spatial grammar. Learn to manipulate directional verbs, modify sign movement for nuance, and tell visual stories using classifiers and facial markers.
Like Duolingo, but for ASL in Three Dimensions. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
A short one: 12 levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes end to end, roughly 5 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Unlocking Spatial Grammar and Visual Storytelling and Texture. It assumes you already know the basics.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in ASL in Three Dimensions
- Setting a person at a specific spatial point assigns that point as their permanent pronoun anchor.
- Moving a directional verb directly between established anchors expresses who did what without extra nouns.
- A directional verb's starting location indicates the subject performing the action.
- A directional verb's ending location indicates the direct or indirect object receiving it.
- Two hands moving inward toward each other indicate mutual or reciprocal actions.
- Verbs like HELP, ASK, and INFORM are inflecting directional verbs that alter path trajectory.
- Body-anchored stative verbs like WANT and KNOW do not travel across space to mark grammatical objects.
- ASL grammar relies on spatial consistency; shifting an established anchor misassigns the grammatical subject.
- Minor handshape variations are easily understood from context, whereas broken spatial indexing reverses meaning.
- A non-dominant base marker stays stationary to ground the physical referent in space.
- The dominant hand moves through the predicate action relative to the static base marker.
- ASL verbs change rhythm, speed, and path to express duration or frequency directly.
- Adding separate English-style adverb signs is usually ungrammatical in natural ASL.
- Inflecting the verb sign itself produces temporal aspects like 'regularly' or 'all night.'
- A continuous circular path turns a base verb into a durative action meaning 'for hours.'
- The movement stays fluid without sharp breaks to convey unbroken duration.
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 ASL in Three Dimensions 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 set your friend on your left and your cousin on your right. How do you say 'she helped him' without repeating their names?
Get it right to open this lesson and 11 more in the app.
How to learn ASL in Three Dimensions, step by step
Go in order. 12 short levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes in all, five minutes a day.
- 1
Unlocking Spatial Grammar
- Directional Verbs and Spatial Anchoring
- Aspectual Inflection: Bending Movement for Nuance
- 2
Visual Storytelling and Texture
- Depicting Motion and Space with Classifiers
- Non-Manual Markers and Role Shifting
2 sections · 4 units · 12 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Questions about ASL in Three Dimensions
How do I learn ASL in Three Dimensions?
Go in order: start with Unlocking Spatial Grammar, then Visual Storytelling and Texture. On Tomo that's 12 short levels, about 24 minutes in all, played five minutes a day. Start free and play the first level in under a minute.
Is there a Duolingo-style app for ASL in Three Dimensions?
Yes. Tomo works like Duolingo: short daily lessons, streaks and quick quizzes. ASL in Three Dimensions is one of its free courses, and you can type any other topic to get a course of your own.
Is the ASL in Three Dimensions course free?
Yes. ASL in Three Dimensions is playable on Tomo's free plan, which doesn't expire. No credit card, no waitlist. Download the app and start your first lesson.
How long does it take to learn ASL in Three Dimensions?
12 levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes of play in total. It's built for five minutes a day, so you finish it a little at a time instead of all at once.
Do I need any background to start ASL in Three Dimensions?
No. It's pitched at an intermediate level, so it starts where you are and builds up. If you can tap a phone, you can start.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
ASL in Three Dimensions is taught in the Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. 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 ASL in Three Dimensions today.
Download Tomo, search ASL in Three Dimensions, and play your first lesson in under a minute.