Hey signers! Welcome to Learn How to Sign. First off, thank you so much for joining us
in our journey so far. We're having so much fun making these videos, and we can't wait
to make more! Today we're going to learn how to sign the alphabet in ASL, but before we
get started, we need to practice the correct arm holding whenever we're signing the alphabet.
Make sure your arm is in a relaxed position next to you, and do it along with me whenever
I'm teaching it to you so that way you get tons of practice. So what are we waiting for?
Let's learn how to sign the alphabet!
A The letter A: make sure that your thumb is
to the side. Don't put it in front. Hey can you do the letter A?
A Good job!
B The letter B: all four fingers are together,
and the thumb is in front. B
Can you do B? B
Who do we know that starts with B? Brian! Brian--who's that?Daddy! Yeah!
C It just looks like the shape of a letter C
C Can you do the letter C?
C Awesome!
D Your index finger is pointing up, and all
other fingers are making a circle. D
You do the letter D. D
Very good! E
Now when you're signing the letter E, make sure all fingers are relaxed on your thumb.
Don't pull it out like this. E
Can you do the letter E? E
Very good F
Now whenever you're signing this, your index finger and your thumb are making a circle.
Don't relax it like this or it could look like the number nine.
F Can you do the letter F?
Very good! G
Your index finger and your thumb are pointed straight out.
G Can you do G?
G Good job!
H Your index finger and your middle finger are
pointed straight out. H
Can you do H? H
Very good! I
Your pinky finger is pointed straight up. I
Can you do I? I
Very good! J
You're making the shape of a letter J. Also think of dipping your pinky finger in a jar
of jam. J
Can you do J? J
Very good! Okay, now put your two fingers together. Split
them apart and put your thumb in between. That's the letter K
K Can you do K?
K Whose name starts with K? Me!
L You're making the shape of the capital letter
L L
Can you do L? L
Whose name starts with L? My brother's! Who's that? Lane.
M Think of the cursive letter M with three humps,
three fingers. M
Can you do M? M
Very good! Whose name starts with M? You. What's my name? Meredith!
N Think of the cursive letter N with two humps,
two fingers. N
Can you do N? N
Very good. O
It just looks like the letter O. O
Can you do O? O
Very good! P
P is an upside down K. P
Can you do p? Very good!
P Q
Q is an upside down G. Q
Can you do q? It's like a G. Q
Very good! R
Your fingers are twisted together. R
Can you do R? R
Very good. S
Make sure your thumb is in front, not to the side like the letter A.
S Can you do S?
S Very good!
T Your thumb is in between your index and your
middle finger. T
Can you do T? T
Very good, and if you shake it, it means you have to go to the toilet!
Okay bye! U
Your index finger and your middle finger are squeezed together pointing up.
U Can you do U?
U Very good!
V It looks like the letter V.
V Can you do V?
V Very good!
W Now a lot of people might confuse this with
the number three, but the number three in sign language is this.
W Can you do W?
W Very good.
X I like to think of Captain Hook and X marks
the spot. X
Can you do X? X
What does it look like? Captain Hook! Y
Your thumb and your pinky finger are sticking out.
Why can you do Y? Y
Very good. Z
Make the shape of the Z in the air. Z
Can you do Z? Z
Yay! Good job! ALL DONE
Great job! Now it's important to note that knowing the ASL alphabet is going to help
you so much. Knowing these letters and putting them together is called fingerspelling. You're
going to use fingerspelling when you want to sign something specific, such as names,
places or people. For instance if I'm wanting to sign a specific color, I would sign
PURPLE And then fingerspell
V-I-O-L-E-T That way I'm showing the specific kind of
color that I'm wanting to talk about. Okay let's put this fingerspelling into practice!
Meredith M-E-R-E-D-I-T-H
Meredith Kate
K-A-T-E Kate
Brian B-R-I-A-N
Brian Lane
L-A-N-E Bennett
B-E-N-N-E-T-T Bennett
Now side note: Bennett is our dog, but I wanted to bring up his name because he has double
letters. When you're signing double letters, you're going to slide the letters across.
You don't want to bounce it, and you don't want to open it because it then looks like
you're making a different kind of letter. So
N-N Slide it across. Now that you've learned how
to sign the alphabet it's so important to keep on practicing. A great way to start is
to practice finger spelling your name in ASL. If you'd like, you can go back through this
video and practice signing each of those letters. To go even further, you can practice fingerspelling
the names in your family or your favorite restaurants. This way you can keep on practicing.
The more you practice fingerspelling, the better you're going to get! Repetition is
the key. Whenever you're fingerspelling you don't even want to have to think about it.
You just want it to become second nature. Thanks for learning how to sign the alphabet
with us! Be sure to go to our website learnhowtosign.org and don't forget to like subscribe and be
notified. See you later! We interrupt this learning sign language today
to say that the Boomer Sooners have made a touchdown.
We're almost done okay?