Hello!

My name is Michael Honkanen.

I'm the creator of Able Lingo and the ASL Bundle For Beginners. The ASL Bundle helps you start signing immediately with a combination of ASL Online Courses, ASL Daily Email, and ASL Digital Downloads. Enrich your sign language journey. Sign. Smile. Be delighted.

Watch the videos below.

Peek inside my life, professional background, and sign language journey.

Click here if you're curious about world travels with my wife and daughter.



Deaf Connection

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When I was three years old, my younger brother got sick with spinal meningitis. In the process, he became deaf with an almost complete hearing loss. This difficult situation provided a unique opportunity for my family and I to become fluent in American Sign Language (ASL).

My brother was not sent away to a deaf or hard of hearing school. He grew up with us, his hearing family, and we were active in the Deaf community.

Image: Michael (hearing) and his brother (Deaf) signing in their awesome treehouse while growing up in northern Minnesota.

How I Learned To Sign

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My incredible Mother was the main driver in creating an ongoing environment where my whole family learned to sign fluently. She pushed us and then pushed some more. Challenging in the moment but, wow, what incredible skills we soaked up throughout the journey.

My Mother's steadfast determination ultimately allowed for high level sign language communication within our family and with the Deaf community.

Images: Michael with his family throughout the years.
Click here for pictures from world travels with my wife and daughter.

My Name Sign

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Watch the video above to learn how I got my name sign. I also talk about how each of my siblings got their name signs. Learn the meanings behind the signs.

Professional Experience

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As a former police officer and federal investigator, I often used ASL to communicate with and serve members of the Deaf community. I decided to create simple, step-by-step ASL courses because sign language is a useful and fun skill to have. Like learning any language, it opens your mind and creates the ability to communicate with a whole new group of people.

I was a police officer with the Arlington County Police Department in Arlington, Virgina, USA.

I was a federal investigator with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Images: 1) Michael's degrees and professional experience. 2) Various pics of Michael and his supervisors and co-workers at the Arlington County Police Department.

Why I Create ASL Content

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Watch the video above to see why I create American Sign Language (ASL) content.

My Current Life

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Watch the video above to peek into my current lifestyle, what I do, and how I do it.

Learn more about my family (wife and daughter) and what we do.

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Explore my family's world travels

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Explore ASL Books we've created

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View and download the PDF catalog

Check out our ASL shirt collection