For this week I chose to brush up on the basics. Getting caught up in learning new signs can be tricky when the fundamentals are what allow you to move forward. Although I love learning new signs every week, I find it hard to keep up with new ones while also making sure that I still know the ones I have previously learned.
Learning the ASL alphabet is a crucial part of understanding ASL. Any time that you are stumped on a word, and do not know how to sign it, means you have to resort to spelling it out. Fluent ASL speakers are able to sign the alphabet at “sonic speed”; meaning that they are also able to mentally spell out words extremely fast, as well. Brushing up on your alphabet, as well as spelling out words is similar to learning how to read and write again.
Signing the alphabet is pattern based, similarly to spelling out the alphabet fairly quickly, signing is the same with practice. Signing the alphabet quickly does not help, however, when it comes to spelling out words, because your brain is used to the pattern of movements of the alphabet.
So here’s to going over the basics!
This is a website that provides different length words to practice Finger Spelling.
https://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/fingerspelling/fingerspelling6.htm
