The Advantages of Finger Spelling

When you learn sign language often the first thing you will learn is the alphabet. The alphabet is going to be signed with the fingers. In other words you are going to form a, b, c, d, and so on with your fingers. You should always use your dominant hand to spell the alphabet. Once you have learned the alphabet you will move on to what is, called finger spelling. Finger spelling is the method in which you spell the letters of a word in order to get your meaning across.
In other words the process of spelling out words by using signs that correspond to letters is going to be finger spelling. ASL will teach you the American Manual Alphabet, and there are other manuals out there for the different countries and languages. With finger spelling you will find there are 22 hand shapes to create despite the 26 letters in the alphabet. This is because some of the hand shapes will remain the same, but the actual finger is going to be in a different spot. For instance with A and E you have the same basic hand shape except the thumb for A is going to be along the side of your fingers, and with E the thumb is actually below the fingers. To better understand this you may want to refer to some online pictures regarding the hand shapes. We can continue and say the S is also similar to the A and E in that your hand is closed like the A and E, but the thumb is on top of the first two fingers.
Are there going to be times when finger spelling should be used? The answer to this question is yes. There will be plenty of opportunity for finger spelling to be used, which is why it is important to learn it. Take for example an individual who has learned the alphabet, but never learned anything beyond that. If you start signing to them using the signs then they are not going to understand, but finger spelling will allow them to spell out the words for better understanding. You will also find that when you are naming something like a book, people, movie, brands, and places it is easier to finger spell because there is not always a symbol for the proper name you are trying to finger spell. For instance how would you say "K- Mart" without spelling it out? The idea of finger spelling is to give you another method in sign language to help the betterment of understanding all around, especially with names that don't really have signs. Sure you can sign car or spell it, but then again can you indicate a mustang without spelling it.
Finger spelling is a tool when learning sign language that will be used in several cases. You will also be able to learn the alphabet first before learning to finger spell actual words in order to help you progress to the next stage in sign language.