TerpTopics: FINGERSPELLING (Manual Alphabet) An Introduction to ASL and Sign Language Interpreting

Some fingerspellers seem to have no trouble at all, while others of us have trouble with it.

Learning to fingerspell by repeating the alphabet over and over is not especially helpful in building fingerspelling skill because letters in English words do not naturally appear in A-B-C order, so a helpful approach is to practice letter-combinations (sequences) that do. Try focusing on common letter-sequence practice drills, fingerspelling them again and again. You might be delighted with how quickly you are able to pick up the mechanics of common letter-sequences, and gratified by how often they will show up in fingerspelled words.

Some two-letter sequences to practice are: th; he; an; re; er; in; on; at; nd; st; es; en; of; te; ed; or; ti; hi; as; and to.

Here are some three-letter sequences: the; ing; and; ion; ent; for; tio; ere; her; ate; ver; ter; tha; ati; hat; ers; his; res; ill; and are.

Remember to avoid bouncing or jerking each letter, as this wastes energy, can exacerbate repetitive-motion problems, and makes viewing comprehension extremely difficult. The goal is to produce smooth, fluid, and accurate fingerspelling.

Speed will come with practice, and is not a goal to take the place of accuracy and clarity.

This page was edited: 09/15/2009
This page has been visited Hit Counter times since: October 2008.
TerpTopics is a trademark and service mark of TerpTopics, LLC. © 2008; 2009. All rights reserved.
TerpTopics™ is an independent entity; as such does not claim or attempt to claim, represent, or imply by any means whatsoever that it is associated with any other entity that may or may not offer services, goods, or information of interest to interpreter, Deaf, or student communities. The opinions expressed here those of TerpTopics unless otherwise stated. Please keep in mind that, while every effort is made to present correct, appropriate, and reasonable information that is based on our experience, anecdotal experiences of others, or developed during the general course of study and professional development, we do not represent TerpTopics as having cornered the market on wisdom (heck, no!) or experience; one reason why links to several other good and reliable resources are made available throughout this site, and we hope that earnest seekers of knowledge will take advantage of them.