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How to Sign the Alphabet in ASL

with Jasmine Garcia

Learning the A-B-Cs is essential in any new language. Watch how to sign the alphabet in American Sign Language, and see why knowing the alphabet will help you fingerspell certain words.

Transcript: How to Sign the Alphabet in ASL

Hi, I’m Jasmine Garcia from Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. for About.com. Today I am going to show you how to sign the manual alphabet.

Alphabet in Sign Language

The American Manual Alphabet only uses one hand. Let me demonstrate how to get started with the manual alphabet.

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

How to Fingerspell Words in ASL

Many words in American Sign Language have signs that represent them. However, some words do not have a sign – or, signs vary. In these cases, you will need to fingerspell the word. Here are some examples of words that you will need to fingerspell.

G-A-R-C-I-A
I-O-W-A
U-T-A-H
A-B-O-U-T.C-O-M

It may take a while to get ASL down, but keep with it! It gets easier the more you practice.

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