Tools and resources
for students
outside the classroom.

Click here for a printable alphabet page.  

Click here for a list of Loan Signs to practice fingerspelling.

Click here for online fingerspelling practice.

Introduction
Fingerspelling does not have to be drudgery! With practice and dedication fingerspelling proficiency will develop. Time and commitment are necessary to develop your receptive and expressive fingerspelling skills. It is said that fingerspelling is often the first thing learned when acquiring ASL, but the last thing mastered. In this lesson strategies for improving fingerspelling will be discussed.

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When Do I Fingerspell?
In general, fingerspelling is used for:

                           1)   Proper nouns (names of people, cities/states, etc.)
                           2)   Titles of movies or books
                           3)   Brand names
                           4)   Loan signs

"Fingerspelled loan signs" are two-to-five letter, commonly used words that have their own unique patterns of movement. These movement patterns are different from ordinary fingerspelling in that the words have become ASL signs rather than fingerspelled words. Some of these you may already know: OK, bus, apt.

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The Three C's
Joyce Groode provides the 3 C's of fingerspelling in her videotape Fingerspelling: Expressive and Receptive Fluency. I feel these are particularly useful to keep in mind. Fingerspelling must be an active process, with your mind engaged at all times! There are many clues provided in a signed conversation to make your job easier; when fingerspelling, remember the three C's:

Configuration
Understanding a fingerspelled word by shape.
Focus on  seeing  the word as a whole unit. For example, there's lots of shape change in the fingerspelled word LAWYER. It will be easier to read compared to the fingerspelled word SEAT, which does not have much shape change.

Closure
Understanding a fingerspelled word by filling in the missing letters.
We use our knowledge of the English language to fill in the blanks. An example of this is, if a person fingerspelled a word to you and you only caught the letters--elphnt, by using your knowledge of the English language you could make closure and fill in the missing letters, thus understanding the word "elephant". We do this all the time when we read misspelled English words. Our brain makes closure automatically. We tend to panic when we don't catch every letter, but every letter is really not necessary. Read the whole word as a unit, just as you read a printed word.

Context
Understanding a fingerspelled word by using conversational clues.
When you see a fingerspelled word always keep in mind the topic of conversation. This is what I call active fingerspelling. So, back to the earlier example, if someone was signing about their visit to the zoo, and you saw the fingerspelled word--elphnt, you could use the conversational clue of a visit to the zoo to help you make closure and figure out the word.

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Strategies to Remember
1) Keep your hand slightly to the right of your face (or left if you're a lefty), and below your chin. Keep your elbow down, close to your body with your arm relaxed.

2) Avoid "bouncing" each letter. Fingerspelling should have a natural flow of movement and the blend of the handshapes should be into a whole word, rather than an articulation of each letter. If you struggle with this, try holding an index card under your armpit to keep your arm from moving.

3) Don't look at your hand when fingerspelling or turn it so you can see the shapes you're making. Although I find this one humorous to watch in class, it's distracting to both the signer and the audience. Always maintain eye contact with the person(s) you're signing with and always keep your palm facing out (with the exception of the letters P, Q, G, and H). 

4) When reading someone else's fingerspelling, focus on the signers face, not the hand. I know this sounds impossible, but work on this skill gradually as you become more comfortable with fingerspelling. It's important to focus on the signer's face for two reasons. First, so you don't miss facial expression (remember this is necessary for ASL communication). Second, so you don't miss letters in the time it takes to look at the signer's hand! The fingerspelling can be finished in the shift of an eye gaze.

5) When fingerspelling more than one word, for example, a first and last name, hold the last letter of the word for an extra beat before spelling the next word.

6) Practice your lip-reading skills! Sometimes a phonetic approach is extremely useful; it's not cheating. Do whatever it takes to catch the word.

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Study Tips
1) Make index cards focusing on a restricted set or category. The reason to keep it restricted is for easier recognition. Your brain will know what to expect. An example would be the category flowers. Write as many types of flowers as you can think of and make a match for each card. Find a study partner, shuffle and play "Go Fish", fingerspelling to each other, attempting to find a match. If your partner doesn't have a match, then draw from the pile in the center. This game is particularly fun in groups because you need to pay attention to each person signing to find a match.

2) Fingerspell in front of a mirror. This is a good way to monitor yourself to practice the above techniques.

3) Start with 3 letter words and work on your natural rhythm. I suggest using sequences of letters like cat, bat, hat, rat, etc. This way you get comfortable making letter combinations.

4) Practice the vowels A, E, I, O, and U. Vowels make up every word that will ever be fingerspelled! If you're comfortable reading and making these letters you will be a step ahead.

5) When you are practicing fingerspelling with a partner, choose someone who's fingerspelling pace provides a sufficient challenge.  If you learn to always read fingerspelling at a slow pace you may form a habit and fast fingerspelling could throw you into a panic! With this said, never compromise clarity for speed.

6) Don't be tempted to write each letter down as you see it spelled. This is cumbersome and does not teach reading of the word as a unit. Another bad habit.

7) Practice, practice, practice... and take a Fingerspelling Class!

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