Anyone else know that song that goes ‘do, re, mi, A, B, C, 1 2 3?’ Well, that’s all I could think of this week as I was learning the ASL alphabet. I must have learned the ASL alphabet forever ago because some of the signs came naturally and I could guess most of them as I worked through an online video to help me learn sections with quizzes at the end.
Some of the signs were a bit more difficult to learn, and were admittedly the ones that I was never able to learn all those years ago when I tried to learn the alphabet for fun. But this video I watched really helped me with the differences on the letters, like how you put your thumb between your ring and pinky finger for ‘M’ because it has three points for the bottom of the letter, and how you move your thumb in by one to have two points for the letter ‘N.’ It even helped me learn ‘P,’ which I’d always found most difficult, but is really only an upside-sown ‘K.’
This week I also tried expanding my online sources by looking through apps on my phone. That’s when I came across ASL Bloom, a free app with in-app purchases to help you learn ASL. In the app some of the first lessons you’ll see are the alphabet, holidays, numbers, and family basics. There are almost forty different categories to learn signs for free, and you have the option to pay for flashcards and quizzes. I clicked on the alphabet category and got to working on all the signs. I noticed that one of the signs, ‘G,’ was different from any other video or picture I had come across. In sign language, many people have different ways of doing certain signs. I did some research on ASL variation and found out that there are a few main reasons why there is variation, including how ASL signs evolve over time, regional variation (like slang or the different ways to say ‘to’), and international influence from other sign languages. With my ‘G’ sign, both ways are correct, and it is up to the user (myself, or other people) to decide which we want to use.
Learning the alphabet was a lot of fun, and my dorm-mates often make fun of me for going through the alphabet really fast during conversations. With the alphabet, any beginner can communicate by spelling out words before learning the specific sign for them. Now that I can do the ASL alphabet, I’ve decided to expand my knowledge to numbers. See you all next week for my progress!
Wow! You really mastered the ASL alphabet fast! I was learning a few letters in sign language during my internship in Kindergarten, and I had a lot of trouble remembering them and telling the difference between S, A, and T. Having this skill would be a great asset if you’re planning on being a LRT or even a classroom teacher. Looking forward to seeing your progress.
Some of the letters are so similar that I do struggle when I do it fast, but the video I watched really helped explain some of the differences. Thank you!
Wow! This is so intriguing. Congratulations on being able to quickly learn the alphabet. I commend anyone willing to learn a new language. It can be so a fun and interesting process. I found myself getting quite discouraged with Cree when I could not remember all the rules when speaking and writing. But you seem to be very eager and committed. Good luck with your journey learning numbers! I’m excited to see the result!
Thank you so much! I honestly just try to find the patterns. Like with the alphabet, I sing the song to memorize, and even with the English alphabet I still have to sing the song to find out what comes after a certain letter lol. And I’m taking Cree 101 as a class and it can be super difficult to try to remember everything. I just keep little ‘note reminders’ whenever I try to learn!