Please read through the following websites/blogs/resources!

The History of ASL in America - GoReact Blog

History of American Sign Language - DawnSignPress.com

QUESTION: Is ASL a "real language"?

ANSWER: The actual name "American Sign Language" answers a lot of your basic questions! Let's look at the acronym backwards—L, S, A:

• LANGUAGE - yes, ASL is a bona fide, researched, and verified living LANGUAGE! There is a specific community in America (and places where America has influence) of native and non-native users (like you!).

• SIGN - instead of words and sounds like spoken languages, ASL is comprised of manual signs (handshapes and movements) that are produced with the hands, in tandem with body language and facial expressions. Spoken languages rely on clarity in pronunciation and the ability to hear the speaker. Signed languages rely on clarity in sign production and the ability to see the signer!

• AMERICAN - this language is the culmination of French Sign Language (LSF [Langues des Signes française], brought to America in the early 1800s by Laurent Clerc) and all of the native systems, modes, and signed languages in use by pioneering Americans* from east to west, up to the early 1800s. But ASL became 100% "American" after the establishment of the first School for the Deaf in Hartford, CT, 1817, when students all over America finally received an education.

*Because Americans were so spread and isolated, especially in the newer Western territories, if families had a deaf child or deaf relatives, they used a mixture of "home signs" and gestures—created and maintained by just that family. Once American School for the Deaf (ASD) opened and welcomed students from all over America, each child brought with him/her their own systems and modes of communication, in addition to LSF, and created modern ASL as we know it!

Typically, you will fingerspell with the hand with which you write. So if you're a righty, Fingerspell with your right hand! If you're a southpaw, Fingerspell with your left hand! This is called your "strong hand" or "dominant hand". The other one is "non-dominant".

(There may be occasional exceptions for those who are ambidextrous OR feel more comfortable using the opposite hand from which you write. In that case, CHOOSE one hand for Fingerspelling and stick with it. Being able to master consistency in using one hand regularly creates good habits and fine-motor skill fluency. Switching back and forth at this stage delays your competency and clarity.)

Question: Where do I Fingerspell?

Answer: Keep your hand about 8" - 10" in front of your body, allowing your shoulder to be the "background" for your Fingerspelled letters and numbers. The palm will typically face the viewer (or camera) for most letters. Exceptions will be G, H, J, P, Q, and Z. Avoid "throwing" letters/numbers towards your viewer. Imagine your hand like an old-fashioned typewriter, where your hand creates each letter fluently as you slightly move away from your body (Lefties towards your left, Righties towards your right).

Question: I learned to Fingerspell a long time ago. Have there been any changes, updates, or differences?

Answer: When you Fingerspell words, you want to chunk your words into their component syllables, trying to spell each syllable clearly. JASON = J-A, S-O-N. JENNIFER = J-E-N-N, I, F-E-R. MARIA = M-A-R, I, A.

Fingerspelling takes practices and deliberate focus. Choose your dominant hand. Chunk into syllables. Produce your letters/numbers clearly every time.

Question: Some of these letters are hard to produce/make! What pointers do you have for Fingerspelling letters?

Answers: The more you practice producing your letters clearly, the less stress and confusion you create for your viewer. If you focus on calmly, clearly, and accurately making each handshape, you will attain fluent and rhythmic fine-motor skills over time. Fingerspelling takes practice and focus at first. Eventually it becomes easier...but only if you practice as often as possible!

• A - When you fold over the four fingers, the viewer should see a flat, horizontal line created by your fingers, and the fingernails should be visible. The thumb should point up (slightly at an angle), but not wrap around the fingers.

• B - Make sure your fingers are pushed together, without any gaps (otherwise it looks like the number "4"!). The fingers should point straight up, with the palm facing outwards to the viewer. The thumb bends across your palm, horizontally.

• C - Keep the fingers together, with the palm facing outward to the viewer. Don't twist your wrist to the side (to show a "C" shape). The viewer can see you're making a "C".

• D - Similar to number "1", the point of contact is just the thumb and the middle fingertip. The index finger should be pointed up, with the palm facing outwards to the viewer. The fingers should be together, nails aligned next to each other.

• E - Rest all 4 fingertips on the horizontal thumb. When produced correctly, the viewer can see your 4 fingernails, but not the thumbnail. Relax the hand, so as not to over-strain the muscles in your fingers. (Resting the fingers on the thumb ensures that the viewer sees an "E" and not a strained "C".)

• F - Think of the gesture "OK", where the middle, ring, and pinky fingers are separate and pointing upwards. The thumb and index touch at the fingertips, palm is facing outwards to the viewer.

• G - Think of the gesture "un poquito"/"a little bit!" with the thumb and index finger. The hand is turned sideways, pointing towards your non-dominant side, and horizontal (as if you could balance a piece of paper on top of the hand).

• H - Similar to "G", but with the index and middle fingers turned sideways, pointing towards your non-dominant side, and horizontal (as if you could balance a piece of paper on top of the hand). The thumb pushes down on the ring fingernail and stays unseen.

• I - Use the pinky finger only! All other fingers are curled, with the thumb wrapping around the front of the fist, showing its fingernail.

• J - Start with the "I", but then just draw a "J" in the air (correct way for righties, opposite way for lefties [start with "I" and then draw down and towards the mid-line of your body, twisting the hand palm-up).

• K - Index finger sticks straight up, the middle finger is at a 45° angle, palm is facing out, towards the viewer. Your thumb supports the middle finger at the 2nd knuckle. Ring and pinky fingers are curved, flat against the palm, showing their fingernails. (Don't twist the hand/wrist.)

• M - The thumb rests under the ring finger (sometimes the thumbtip can peek out between the ring finger and pinky, but not necessary). Show the Index, middle, and ring finger curves as the 3 "legs" of an "M".

• N - The thumb rests under the middle finger (sometimes the thumbtip can peek out between the middle and ring fingers, but not necessary). Show the Index and middle finger curves as the 2 "legs" of an "N".

• O - Keeping the palm facing towards your viewer (there's no need to twist the wrist so they can see the hole in the "O"). Instead, all of the fingers curve, with the thumbtip only touching the index fingertip—no other fingertips!

• P - This is a "K", but turned down. The index finger points towards the viewer. The palm is facing downwards. And the middle finger is still at a 45° angle to the index finger, thumb supporting the middle finger's 2nd knuckle. If you feel the wrist bending too much (to where it hurts!), slightly raise your elbow away from your body and keep the hand/arm plane flat without a bent wrist. Signing shouldn't hurt, just like pronouncing words in a spoken language shouldn't hurt.

• Q - Like a "G", but the palm is turned down. (Similarly to "P", if you feel the wrist bending too much (to where it hurts!), slightly raise your elbow away from your body and keep the hand/arm plane flat without a bent wrist.)

• R - Index finger and middle finger are crossed (1-handed "wish for good luck"/"I hope" gesture). Palm should be facing the viewer, both crossed fingers are pointing straight up, not angled to right/left or forward/backward.

• S - Make a punching fist, with the thumb wrapped around all of the fingers. The palm should be facing the viewer. (You should be able to balance something on the flat/horizontal knuckles.)

• T - Remember the old "I got your nose!" game? This is the same handshape - with the thumb poking up between the Index and middle fingers (of a fist). The palm faces the viewer. The thumb pokes up in varying depths (sometimes a lot, sometimes very little), so when looking at this letter, look for the location of the thumb tip).

• U - With the Index and middle fingers together and pointing upright, keep the other fingers down (in a fist) with your thumb. Keep the palm facing the viewer.

• V - Probably one of the easiest letters, since it looks like a "V". Index and middle finger stick up, in the shape of a "V" (must have space between the fingers, or you're singing "U"), with the palm facing the viewer and the thumb holding down the ring and pinky fingers.

• W - The other easy letter - Index, middle, and ring fingers pointing up (with just enough angle/space between them so it doesn't look like a weird "B"). Thumb pushes down on first knuckle of pinky finger.

• X - Stick up your Index finger (like #1), but then bend/crook the Index finger. Another perspective - make the "S" (fist) letter, but raise up the Index finger into a crook/hangman's gallows. Keep the palm facing the viewer.

• Y - Keeping your palm to the viewer, stick out your thumb and pinky (similar to "shaka!" surf-dudes/dudettes!). From behind, it looks like the backview of baby Yoda's head!

• Z - Using your Index finger, draw the "Z" in the air (keeping it relatively small). Righties, draw the "Z" just like you would on paper. Lefties, you'll have to adjust and draw it backwards, since the start/top and the tail-end/bottom of the "Z" need to move away from you (towards your Dominant side/left).

Signers will usually give you a few “hints” and prep signs to let you know that FS is about to occur—

NAME…

YEAR…

AGE/OLD…

PHONE NUMBER…

ADDRESS…

Once you see any of the above signs, most likely there will be FS that occurred just prior to it or right after it. Now, how do you actually catch and understand the word or numbers?

Understanding Fingerspelled Words

Fingerspelled words in ASL are not just single letters that are strung together. The Signer is actually putting them all together into one discrete package. Think of all the fingerspelling as a single unit. That unit is a word or phrase. The Signer will usually mouth the word s/he is spelling, although it will not be over-exaggerated or completely similar to what a native English speaker might mouth.

Native ASL users, when fingerspelling, will always hold the first letter for an extra beat/millisecond and always hold the last letter slightly longer than other letters. Additionally, they may even support their FS hand with their non-dominant hand, or they will point at their FS hand. They may also look directly at their FS, to emphasize the concept and to draw the viewer’s attention to that word/phrase.

So, just like Wheel of Fortune or Hangman, our brains can figure out words even if the words are missing parts! For example:

BOY-FRIEND NAME D-VE.

Most likely you thought his name was DAVE. The simple reason being that our vast knowledge of English (spoken and written), as well as American culture, allows DAVE as the only possible consideration. DEVE, DIVE, DOVE, and DUVE are not typical American male names. Our brains know that. So let your brains cycle through all the possibilities as you watch fingerspellers.

We have to learn to see past only single units of information, especially SIGN…SIGN…SIGN…LETTER…LETTER…LETTER…LETTER. Or

BOY-FRIEND NAME D - A - V - E.

We have to learn to “chunk” visual information into useful packets. Don’t allow your brain to freeze or balk. Instead, focus on what letters you got and relax, letting your brain make the necessary connections and intuitive jumps.

P.S. Oddly enough, longer words are easier to catch than shorter words. Your brain has more time to put the pieces together and other alternatives quickly remove themselves the longer the word continues.

1. Always use the hand you write with. (In rare cases, your writing hand may not be your dominant hand. If this is true for you, discuss this with your teacher first!)

2. Keep your hand (palm out, towards the viewer, as letters allow) in front of your shoulder, using the shoulder as background.

3. Do not pull the hand in close to your shoulder; it should be between 8"-12" away from your shoulder; comfortable but not fully extended.

4. Except for the letters G, H, J, M, N, P, Q, and Z, all the other letters should be produced with your palm facing the viewer. G’s palm faces to your non-dominant side; H’s palm faces you; J has the palm starting off facing the viewer, but ends up facing upwards; M, N, P, Q, and Z’s palm orientations are downwards.

5. Work at improving the clarity of the handshape first. If you keep your letters at strict angles (i.e. L is produced with a 90° angle between the index finger and thumb), your letter clarity will be greatly improved.

6. Study each letter (both printed on the paper and as you fingerspell it). Don’t force your hand. Teach your hand that that shape is natural and relaxed.

7. Look at the handshape from all directions as you produce it. Use a mirror. Practice with a videocamera, smart phone recording, or a partner (who knows sign or doesn't know sign!). Use your eyes to compare what you are producing with what’s printed in the book/computer screen, in videos, or what you see from other signers.

8. Close your eyes and feel the muscle movements in your hands as you fingerspell. Notice the overall movements of your fingers, thumb, and hand. How does each letter feel? How does the transition feel between different letters? (Use your own name to start!)

9. Keep a regular rhythm when fingerspelling and divide your words by syllable. Spell each syllable clearly, and adequately mouth that syllable. DO NOT MOUTH EACH LETTER AS YOU FINGERSPELL! (i.e. My name is JAY-AY-ESS-OH-EN. = JASON) NO! This will really throw off the viewer, and create really bad habits you'll have to break later on.

10. Finally work on speed. NEVER RUSH! Once your hands and muscles are used to doing the movements, speed will come. Don’t force it—you’ll just sign sloppily, no one will understand you, and you will probably be forced to FS the word/phrase again. (Don’t be overly slow, either! )

(Compare this to speaking: If you speak a word or sentence quickly, you’re not showing off your amazing English skills. On the contrary, you’ve probably confused the listener whose ears couldn’t keep up with you. But if you enunciate each word and give it the proper emphasis due to it as part of the sentence, you are more clear, better understood, and there is less of a chance for miscommunication or misinterpretation.)

Finally–Don't sweat it if you're not perfect for your first, second, or third class! It may take you 1-2 years of continuous, daily practice to fluidly fingerspell small words. This is not a race or a competition. Speed isn't your goal… yet!