I've Always Wanted to Learn ASL

Liisa Mendoza feels deeply honored to be involved in the Deaf community as a hearing person and privileged to be able to use ASL every day. She believes strongly in the power of education and its ability to make everyone a better person. Liisa brings more than 35 years of ASL experience and exposure to this textbook. She has been an ASL-English interpreter for over 30 years and an ASL instructor for over 25 years, in a variety of settings. While her full-time job is as an ASL instructor at Imperial Valley College in Southern California, she interprets in the community multiple times a week. Her specialties include theatrical, concert, and recovery interpreting. Liisa has interpreted for several famous Deaf and hearing people. Additionally, Liisa serves as the interpreter coordinator at her community college. Liisa holds a BA in deaf studies/interpreting and a BS in child development with a focus on language acquisition. In her “spare time,” she enjoys being with her family, traveling, and focusing on self-care.

Professor Christopher Cardona is certified by the National Certification Board of Medical Interpreters and is a member of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf and the National Association of Judicial Interpreters. He has also been evaluated by the Educational Interpreters Proficiency Assessment and the American Sign Language Proficiency Interview. Christopher has a great deal of experience as an instructor of ASL. Currently, he teaches part-time at Imperial Valley College and is a full-time Assistant Clinical Professor at Augusta University, where he teaches in the Interpreter Training Program. 

Professor Cardona holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, a Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics, and another in American History. He holds a PhD (ua) in Religious Studies, and is currently earning an EdD in Curriculum Development in Bilingual Education.