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-l-e-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
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDfnf96qz_4
http://asl.ms/
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
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNGXD5XOEzQ
With practice, practice, and practice, a signer will be able to:
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Knows proper placement of hand
Understands concept of simultaneous attention to lip & hand movements
Can recognize each letter of the alphabet when signed slowly
Can fingerspell each letter of the alphabet slowly
Can recognize at least one variation of numbers 0 - 31
Can sign at least one variation of numbers 0 - 31
Knows how to form double letters
Knows different forms of individual letters, specifically E, M, N, G, T, B, Z
Can recognize letters fingerspelled quickly and in random order
Can recognize variations in numbers 0 - 31
Can recognize numbers 0 - 31 signed quickly in random order
Understands principles and circumstances related to phonetically correct mouth movements while
fingerspelling (correct mouthing as if saying the word--rather than mouthing individual letters)
Can mouth name accurately while fingerspelling
Can rehearse the ABCs while mouthing alternate pronunciations other than the letter names
Knows how to sign variations of hundreds, thousands, millions, billions and so forth.
Can recognize letters in a two handed speed drill (simultaneous presentation)
Can recognize numbers in a two handed speed drill
Can sign numbers 0 - 1,000,000
Can recognize 3 letter words
Can play Bingo in ASL with little difficulty
Can fingerspell 3 letter words
Can recognize 4 and 5 letter words
Can fingerspell 4 and 5 letter words
Knows how to sign and recognize a decimal point
Knows how to recognize and produce fractions
Knows how to count dollars up to 9 and handle general money concepts
Knows how to sign ordinal numbers
Knows how to sign phone numbers, addresses, and long numbers
Knows how to keep score
Can recognize long words spelled at a moderate pace
Can recognize regionally common words fingerspelled very quickly
Can recognize long numbers (up to seven digits) when done quickly
Can recognize long words fingerspelled quickly