ASL Practice Application

Inspiration

Per the foreign language requirement at UNC, I have been taking ASL classes online through Gallaudet University. I love learning ASL, and I'm extremely glad I get to take it for my requirement. However because ASL is a completely visual language, when I study I find it extremely tedious to have to look up each and every word. That is where this program comes in!

What it does

This program initially prompts the user to pick between receiving a random word or the ability to search for a word. If they choose random the frame will reset, a random word will be shown, and a see answer button will appear for when the user is ready to see the actual sign. After pressing the see after button the top Google search will open via Chrome. The search option works very similarly, but the user must enter a word to begin. Once they've chosen a word the see answer button will appear and operates the exact same way. In the random and search scene after the user makes their initial choice, there is a back button to return to the start. Similarly there is an exit button at every scene for convivence.

How I built it

Using python and many internet tutorials, I started by learning how to make a scene appear in the first place. I then created the two buttons that would be our choices when I could learn how to program that. I continuously built on top of these choices, while simultaneously learning.

Challenges I ran into

One of the things I really wanted to implement was a picture of the sign as the word appeared. However, as I tried this I found that I would have to set up my own search engine among other things, and even after I set it up I unfortunately could not get it to work. I also figured that this would be personal to my information and other people could not use my code. I am in ASL Club and I would love to share this with my peers, so I decided not to include images. Although, now I believe that not including images should have been my plan from the get-go! ASL contains a lot of motion, and I would hate for someone to get the wrong idea from my program after receiving just an image. I'm grateful that this challenge allowed me to realize one of my flaws in my design.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I am extremely proud of my programs ability to google search a link. As a first year computer science major, it was wonderful seeing what Python is capable of.

What I learned

The most important thing I learned was a real world coding problem. In my classes we have to create functions, classes, etc. but we don't ever create projects like this. That's why I had never even created an interface before. I am so grateful that PearlHacks gave me the motivation to create something like this.

What's next for ASL Practice Application

I would love to expand my knowledge on interfaces and make this application look better. As I learn ASL, I am also going to expand the random word/phrase list for more capability.

Built With

• python
• tkinter