The Idiot’s Guide to ABC Fingerspelling
Fingerspelling is a part of ASL. It is used only for names and titles. Please do not use it as your sole
method of communicating – it can become cumbersome to the signer to watch you f-I-n-g-e-r-s-p-e-le-v-e-r-y-l-e-t-t-e-r.
The rationale in teaching you the alphabet immediately is so you can fingerspell your name when
being introduced to a Deaf person or your ASL classmates. The signer sometimes has to fingerspell
when you can’t find the sign for something. However, rather, the signer should resort to gestures and
other methods of communications to express a message if he does not know the actual sign. Just try to
be creative.
The names comprises of:
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names of people (Joel, Suzanne, Charlie, Peter, etc)
brand names (cars, restaurants, food, etc)
names of locations (towns, schools, stores, etc)
titles of books, publications, and movies
You could learn and practice fingerspelling on these following links.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMQHd1UBkeI – kid’s alphabet handshapes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDfnf96qz_4 – how to fingerspell properly
http://asl.ms/ - fingerspell reading game
Tips on How to Fingerspell Words Smoothly and Clearly:
When fingerspelling, your hand should hang naturally at your side, and your hand should parallel your
shoulder. Keep your hand steady, and do not bounce your hand from letter to letter (not should you
nod your head in rhythm with each letter). Just like any other part of ASL, practice is key in learning
how to fingerspell smoothly and clearly.
When going from one fingerspelled word to the next word (as you would with your first and last
names), you should pause ever so slightly between words, then keep going. Some signers have a slight
movement when they go one word to the next, but the standard is to pause, and slightly nod your head
once.
Always have your hand face toward the other person as you fingerspell. Do not look at your hands as
your fingerspell. Look at the other person instead.
Aim for clarity rather than speed. With practice you will gain speed and fluency, but clarity should
always be the goal.
Here are some terrific activities you can do to practice fingerspelling.
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Surf the Internet (news, movies, music, and email) and fingerspell the names.
Fingerspell anywhere you see words
Fingerspell words you see off billboards, traffic signs, books, TV.
Play words games with classmates and friends.
Tips on How to Read and Recognize Fingerspelled Words:
Many people talk to me about their frustrations with fingerspelling and want suggestions on how to
improve their receptive skills when it comes to reading fingerspelling.
My suggestions tend to follow a lot of the same rules that apply to teaching a child to read:
1. Practice, practice, and practice...the more you work on reading other people's fingerspelling, the
better you will get. Everyone's fingers are different so it is important to practice with many
different partners in order to experience all the styles of hands. (Unfortunately not everyone has
long easily read fingers!)
2. Don't get stuck on reading each letter as an individual letter. Instead think of it and the "shape"
of the word. Watch for double letters and the beginning and ending letters. You should be able
to fill in the rest with the contextual clues (much like you do with reading an unknown word in
a sentence in a written English).
3. Instead of saying each letter as you are seeing it, say each SOUND. (You are basically
sounding it out.) This will help as you are trying to figure out the word. That way when you
miss a letter here and there, by sounding it out you will be able to fill in the blanks.
Fingerspelling, hands-down is one of the trickiest parts of the language. Don't get too frustrated. Take
it slow at first. Don't be afraid to ask a deaf person to "spell it again please", they more than likely will
be happy to repeat themselves.
Here are some terrific fun games you can do to practice fingerspelling.
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Boggle
Any word games
Scrabble
Sesame Street on TV