For those who want to practice Finger-spelling

The problem with these practice sites is that it's a series of still images, so each letter is distinct. Real-life fingerspelling is vastly different because people don't always form their letters clearly, and even those who do, the movement from one letter to next can sometimes obscure letters.

Still images also change the "configuration" of the word, that is the shape of the letters and the movement of the hand as it forms them. Some words have such a distinct configuration that you can recognize them without actually seeing the letters, but you don't get that effect with a series of still images.

This site could also train you to focus on the hand which is a bad habit because you're so rarely looking at the hands while communicating with someone in sign (and if you are, stop it! Be polite and look them in the eye!). If you're not trained to catch fingerspelled words in your peripheral vision then you'll have to change your point of focus, by which time you will have missed the first few letters -- or even the whole word if it's short -- and then the person goes right back to signing, and you're lost.

In short, I'm not convinced these fingerspelling practice sites have much value.
 
Anything that helps people practice has value. That's cool, Rain, that you found something to practice ASL and fingerspelling from!
 
ASLPRO.com has a fingerspelling quiz that you can choose the pace of the spelling and I like it
 
That is cool-more fingerspelling needed. Will it replace ASL? Time will tell!


Advanced Bionics-Harmony Aug/07
 
That is cool-more fingerspelling needed. Will it replace ASL? Time will tell!


Advanced Bionics-Harmony Aug/07

*snorts* bawaahhhaahaa.... Nope, it will never replace ASL. ASL is like 2000 times faster than fingerspelling, literally.
 
*snorts* bawaahhhaahaa.... Nope, it will never replace ASL. ASL is like 2000 times faster than fingerspelling, literally.

Worst part of this is, I have already posted this website in another thread for people who want to learn ASL. Guess they don't read the sticky ones first.

My son likes to fingerspell, but does say that it is tedious. He may begin to pick up ASL or PSE from me soon.
 
Fingerspelling does seem a "bit slower" than BSL/FSL etc especially with long words!


Advanced Bionics-Harmony activated Aug/07
 
Fingerspelling is a bit slower-as it uses only the 26 letters of the English alphabet. Not sure about Chinese. Every word is "signed" one letter at a time- okay for real slow readers.

Implant-Advanced Bionics-Harmony activated Aug/07
 
drphil.......... I would advise you not to argue about sign language because its quite obvious that you're in the dust regarding sign language..
 
Is "finger spelling" the same as "sign language"? Recall a discussion in an ASL class-long time ago.


Implant-Advanced Bionics-Harmony activated Aug/07
 
That is cool-more fingerspelling needed. Will it replace ASL? Time will tell!


Advanced Bionics-Harmony Aug/07

They already done this method:
Rochester Method-Manually Coded English - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

... plenty of deaf people still prefer ASL.

deaf people who never heard sounds, English order probably don't always make sense to them (they need an accessible language to help them decode English). The way my son tried to communicate with me without my CI.. He couldn't put his gestures in English order (believe me, he tried) . If he did, I wouldn't know what the heck he is talking about. He had to gesture the object first, so I can form a picture in my head. then ask his question about that object. This is his attempt to get me to understand him (homesign) because neither of us know ASL. Right now, I'm using Westwood ASL for us to learn together. Most classes in my area will not take any kids under 12 years old, and if they did, I can't join them because it is for kids only.
 
Does SEE 1,SEE 2, Manually coded, Total Communication as well as various fingerespellings suggest something about learning ASL? Never dull.

Implant-Advanced Bionics-Harmony activated Aug/07
 
Is "finger spelling" the same as "sign language"? Recall a discussion in an ASL class-long time ago.


Implant-Advanced Bionics-Harmony activated Aug/07

Only in the same respect as the "Roman Alphabet" is the same as English....

Fingerspelling is used in ASL (and other sign languages) for spelling a person's name, Titles of books/movies etc, "loan signs" (BANK, BACK, OWN, NO, SO, DOG, WHAT!! etc) emphasis or clarification etc ... for example if someone is really shocked about something they would use the fingerspelled (loan sign) for "WHAT!" or spell "CHOOSE", "BE", "LOVE" etc for emphasis.

Likewise, someone might (especially in an educational/interpreting setting) sign then spell a word to clarify the exact ENGLISH meaning they wish to convey.


The concept of fingerspelling every word out is called the "Rochester Method" and never caught on ... it is slow, frustrating, not especially suitable interpreting if the interpreter is much of a distance awa (say on a stage/in front of a gathering etc) etc.
Medically using RM also puts a lot of strain on the hands/wrist even for "native signers" (leading to RSI and CT) and greatly reduces the length of time that an interpreter is able to interpret for.
 
Perhaps the real "interesting" question-why so many variants to actually using ASL? Is it that ASL is difficult to learn?

Implant-Advanced Bionics-Harmony activated Aug/07
 
Perhaps the real "interesting" question-why so many variants to actually using ASL? Is it that ASL is difficult to learn?

Implant-Advanced Bionics-Harmony activated Aug/07

In my opinion, It's because there are the people who were born into households who used it right off. There are people who learned it as children with their families as they were the first. There are people who learned it later in life because they had a desire. There are people who learned it later in life from deaf people. There are people who learned it from hearing people. Then there are also people like me, who learned it later in life due to a need. Most are because they are hard of hearing with minimal help from hearing aids or CI's, then there are a few like me, who have no amplification whatever, for whatever reason and have a need. I, being total deaf am not able to have amplification and if I could I would choose now to go without.

With everybody learning it from different types of educational formats, there is bound to be some variations. Just like there are some regional differences in some signs. In the US there was a push that no ASL be used, and for the families who had children who would have benefited from that, they may have made up some of their own signs. It's like twins who have their own language that the rest of us can't understand.

There are a multitude of reason why there are so many variations of ASL like you are asking. For some people, ASL is not hard to learn, for others, it is hard. There's no one answer to this question. There should just be acceptance, understanding and empathy.
 
Perhaps the real "interesting" question-why so many variants to actually using ASL? Is it that ASL is difficult to learn?

Implant-Advanced Bionics-Harmony activated Aug/07

You mentioned before twenty years in some Canadian help society. Why didn't they teach you ASL?
 
The Hearing Help classes at Canadian Hearing Society/Toronto doesn't include ASL. Coping with Hearing Loss/SpeechReading were topics I studied. If one wants to take ASL-there are separate classes. The Deaf section is separate from Speech Language Pathology/Audiology. I was transferred to Cochlear Implant section Sunnybrook/Toronto almost 4 years ago-after becoming real deaf on December 20,2006.

Implant-Advanced Bionics-Harmony activated Aug/07
 
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