I want to learn ASL and while looking at videos I was switching between hands because I’m ambidextrous. Since I’m only at the beginning, I’m going to try to make my right hand dominant. Thank you for this video!
Thank you so much for the clarification!!! Ive been learning asl again and would get so confused with 2 handed signs like day, much appreciated for having examples!!!!
I write with my Right hand and I find I do most things with my right hand, but when I started to learn ASL I found my self havin a hard time watching my teacher sign the opposite way of me (she was facing us and teaching so her right was my left). so eventually I decide to mirror her and I found that to work better than trying to learn the other way. Now I'm fluent in ASL with my left hand as the dominate one even though I'm a righty.... Haha :)
Where are you from/where did you learn ASL? I noticed in another video that Jenna signs COOL at the cheek with what sort of a T handshape (I've noticed this way is very common overall). You sign it like FINE with wiggly fingers, which is how I sign it, but that way seems to be way less common. I'm wondering if it's a regional variance.
Mikaila Conklin I grew up in Michigan and learned most of my sign language there before moving to New York for college. I actually in real life sign both, but i'm sure that is just a regional variance yes.
I am right handed when it comes to writing or whatever. But when it comes to american sign language i am left handed. It is more comfortable for me to sign with my left then my right.
[Jill] That is interesting. I think I have heard some people are that way, but opposite (right for signing and left for writing). Whatever makes you comfortable is fine.
(Jill) is it correct to only use your dominant hand because I tend to switch. BAck and forth. How do you train yourself to be dominant one way or the other ?
Okay, so right now I am in school studying to be an ASL interpreter. I am ambidextrous, I sign with my left hand but tend to sometimes switch to the right. You mentioned signing numbers would be somewhat confusing if using your left hand. So for interpreting, since I'm ambidextrous, do you think it'd be better if I sign my numbers with my right so what I'm signing is understood right away?
[Jill] I general you should try to stick with signing with one hand. That is clearer. However, I have heard that left-handed interpreters often switch hands for some things. I would not switch for everyday conversations, but when interpreting you can ask the client what is clearer for them.
I have a medical problem were one side of my body is weaker then the other. It's called cerabel palsy (I can't spell it right lol). Any way I am a right handed signer and I always finger spelled with my right hand and I thought my spelling was bad. Now i tried it with the left hand it my finger spelling is better and smother and is right. So can I finger spell with my life and make my signs right or will that become to confusing for someone to follow. See cerabel palsy is the brain effecting the body so my left side works better then my right my body is fine and I can walk and talk fine it's just my brain. Because I was raised to be right hand I became right handed. So can I finger spell with left and sign right??
What I honestly hate is when people write with their non-dominant hand for a day and go "I'm ambidextrous!" Ambidexterity is the ability to use both hands to an EQUAL extent. I can guarantee you everybody can write their name with their non-dominant hand but that doesn't make them ambidextrous. Why can't people just go with what they were born with? Be proud of what you are. If you're a lefty, don't switch. If you're a righty don't switch. I myself, am ambidextrous. I know I probably sound like a hypocrite, but my father is ambidextrous and so am I BECAUSE it got passed down as a gene. I was infact BORN with it. And to those of you who are also naturally ambidextrous, be proud.
[Jill] Yes, people should be proud of who they are, including which hand dominance they have. Unfortunately sometimes people are taught being left-handed is wrong and are forced to use their right.
I'm technically ambendextris. It's just natural for me to use both hands but my teachers taught me to write with my right so I write with my right hand, can't write well with my left but sign left because that feels more natural to me. 90% of the time I used my left hand to sign before I learned the dominant hand thing.
Caitlin Bryan I will add classifier to the list. If you are ambidextrous, you can just pick whatever hand is comfortable. You can switch dominance, but I would say just not like in the middle of a fingerspelled word, or sentence.
is ambidextrous signing rude? I don't realize when I switch and bc they both feel natural to me. Whn should I be more conscientious about my choice of dominant hand?
Angel deMarco I don't think it's rude to switch hands, just be careful to not do it like every other sign, because it can be a little hard to keep up. In general if you switch every once and a while it's fine. Being ambidextrous is cool and rare! :)
I remember when I first learned (swedish) sign language I kind of freaked out because everyone was signing with their right hand and I was sort of switching between my right and my left not really knowing which one to use. I asked my teacher and she said it didn't matter which hand was the dominant one, but in the beginning since everything was so new to me I got very confused. Now I'm a proud leftie ;D and it's most common in Sweden as well that the right hand is the dominant one.
Malin K That is awesome you are confident in your leftness now. It is totally cool (Jenna my wife is a proud lefty too)! That's cool to hear that it is more common in Sweden. I never knew that. :)
Do interpreters need to be right handed? I’m left handed and im currently learning sign to become an interpreter some have asked if I need to switch and start learning sign on the other hand.
I would like to see a video about fingerspelling double letters. For example, with the word Green, I will see some people make the letter e twice, other times I will see people make the letter e, and barely slide the e toward the right,if that makes sense. This is if your fingerspelling with your right hand.
Hey Jill! :) I write with my left hand but my dominant hand for signing is my left. I started out using my right a while ago but I realized that my left hand worked better so I use my left hand. Is that odd? It feels more normal and comfortable to use my left hand.
Ashleyboo1204 I know some people that are more comfortable with writing with one hand and signing with another. I don't know how common it is but it's perfectly fine! Whatever is more comfortable for you is cool. :)
[Jill] It doesn't matter what hand you sign with. Whichever you are more comfortable is fine. Just try your best to not switch back and forth too much. That can be confusing to watch.
[Jill] In general it is best to stick with one hand if possible so it is easier to track. However, if you are not switching back and forth too much then I would assume that is okay. I would if you could try to teach yourself to fingerspell with your dominant signing hand. Practice makes perfect!
Munchic Fam No I don't pronounce the words. It is common especially for people who sign language is their second language to use what's called PSE (pidgin signed English). That is a little more English based than pure ASL. That means often your mouth the English words you are signing.
I want to learn ASL and while looking at videos I was switching between hands because I’m ambidextrous. Since I’m only at the beginning, I’m going to try to make my right hand dominant. Thank you for this video!
Thank you so much for the clarification!!! Ive been learning asl again and would get so confused with 2 handed signs like day, much appreciated for having examples!!!!
Glad it was helpful!
I write with my Right hand and I find I do most things with my right hand, but when I started to learn ASL I found my self havin a hard time watching my teacher sign the opposite way of me (she was facing us and teaching so her right was my left). so eventually I decide to mirror her and I found that to work better than trying to learn the other way. Now I'm fluent in ASL with my left hand as the dominate one even though I'm a righty.... Haha :)
Tia Waters Interesting and cool!
that's what I do as well
you have pretty eyes. thanks for the info, very helpful.
Thank you, so glad the video was helpful.
👍 great explainations !
Jill godfrey Thanks!
Where are you from/where did you learn ASL? I noticed in another video that Jenna signs COOL at the cheek with what sort of a T handshape (I've noticed this way is very common overall). You sign it like FINE with wiggly fingers, which is how I sign it, but that way seems to be way less common. I'm wondering if it's a regional variance.
Mikaila Conklin I grew up in Michigan and learned most of my sign language there before moving to New York for college. I actually in real life sign both, but i'm sure that is just a regional variance yes.
I am right handed when it comes to writing or whatever. But when it comes to american sign language i am left handed. It is more comfortable for me to sign with my left then my right.
[Jill] That is interesting. I think I have heard some people are that way, but opposite (right for signing and left for writing). Whatever makes you comfortable is fine.
(Jill) is it correct to only use your dominant hand because I tend to switch. BAck and forth. How do you train yourself to be dominant one way or the other ?
Omg same
Okay, so right now I am in school studying to be an ASL interpreter. I am ambidextrous, I sign with my left hand but tend to sometimes switch to the right. You mentioned signing numbers would be somewhat confusing if using your left hand. So for interpreting, since I'm ambidextrous, do you think it'd be better if I sign my numbers with my right so what I'm signing is understood right away?
[Jill] I general you should try to stick with signing with one hand. That is clearer. However, I have heard that left-handed interpreters often switch hands for some things. I would not switch for everyday conversations, but when interpreting you can ask the client what is clearer for them.
Lefty here!
Ang D woohoo for lefties! :)
:)
Ang D same
I have a medical problem were one side of my body is weaker then the other. It's called cerabel palsy (I can't spell it right lol). Any way I am a right handed signer and I always finger spelled with my right hand and I thought my spelling was bad. Now i tried it with the left hand it my finger spelling is better and smother and is right. So can I finger spell with my life and make my signs right or will that become to confusing for someone to follow. See cerabel palsy is the brain effecting the body so my left side works better then my right my body is fine and I can walk and talk fine it's just my brain. Because I was raised to be right hand I became right handed. So can I finger spell with left and sign right??
i am left handed writing
[Jenna] Me too!
What I honestly hate is when people write with their non-dominant hand for a day and go "I'm ambidextrous!" Ambidexterity is the ability to use both hands to an EQUAL extent. I can guarantee you everybody can write their name with their non-dominant hand but that doesn't make them ambidextrous. Why can't people just go with what they were born with? Be proud of what you are. If you're a lefty, don't switch. If you're a righty don't switch. I myself, am ambidextrous. I know I probably sound like a hypocrite, but my father is ambidextrous and so am I BECAUSE it got passed down as a gene. I was infact BORN with it. And to those of you who are also naturally ambidextrous, be proud.
[Jill] Yes, people should be proud of who they are, including which hand dominance they have. Unfortunately sometimes people are taught being left-handed is wrong and are forced to use their right.
I'm technically ambendextris. It's just natural for me to use both hands but my teachers taught me to write with my right so I write with my right hand, can't write well with my left but sign left because that feels more natural to me. 90% of the time I used my left hand to sign before I learned the dominant hand thing.
+Bethany Brown Ahh really either hand is fine. Just a long as you are comfortable. :)
+Bethany Brown This is the same exact problem I have!
if you are ambidextrous how do you choose which hand to use as your dominant hand? also i would like to see a video on classifiers.
Caitlin Bryan I will add classifier to the list. If you are ambidextrous, you can just pick whatever hand is comfortable. You can switch dominance, but I would say just not like in the middle of a fingerspelled word, or sentence.
ok I'm right handed but when I was learning asl I used my left hand so I'm right handed using my left hand 😂😂
[Jill] I've heard of that before. :)
is ambidextrous signing rude? I don't realize when I switch and bc they both feel natural to me. Whn should I be more conscientious about my choice of dominant hand?
Angel deMarco I don't think it's rude to switch hands, just be careful to not do it like every other sign, because it can be a little hard to keep up. In general if you switch every once and a while it's fine. Being ambidextrous is cool and rare! :)
I remember when I first learned (swedish) sign language I kind of freaked out because everyone was signing with their right hand and I was sort of switching between my right and my left not really knowing which one to use. I asked my teacher and she said it didn't matter which hand was the dominant one, but in the beginning since everything was so new to me I got very confused. Now I'm a proud leftie ;D and it's most common in Sweden as well that the right hand is the dominant one.
Malin K That is awesome you are confident in your leftness now. It is totally cool (Jenna my wife is a proud lefty too)! That's cool to hear that it is more common in Sweden. I never knew that. :)
Do interpreters need to be right handed? I’m left handed and im currently learning sign to become an interpreter some have asked if I need to switch and start learning sign on the other hand.
No, you definitely do not need to be right handed. I know many interpreters that sign left handed and they rock!
I'm Left Handed
[Jenna] Me too!
I would like to see a video about fingerspelling double letters. For example, with the word Green, I will see some people make the letter e twice, other times I will see people make the letter e, and barely slide the e toward the right,if that makes sense. This is if your fingerspelling with your right hand.
Becki Green Will add to the list. Thank you for the suggestion! I appreciate it and yes that makes sense.
Wow just found your videos on TH-cam I really enjoy them! Please do one on Role Shifting and Temporal Aspect.
+Maria Bryant Ok I will add them to the list!
Hey Jill! :) I write with my left hand but my dominant hand for signing is my left. I started out using my right a while ago but I realized that my left hand worked better so I use my left hand. Is that odd? It feels more normal and comfortable to use my left hand.
Ashleyboo1204 I know some people that are more comfortable with writing with one hand and signing with another. I don't know how common it is but it's perfectly fine! Whatever is more comfortable for you is cool. :)
Okay Thanks!☆
What if you’re right-handed but you sign with your left I don’t understand that but he feels more comfortable on my left hand?
[Jill] It doesn't matter what hand you sign with. Whichever you are more comfortable is fine. Just try your best to not switch back and forth too much. That can be confusing to watch.
I am learning to sign, and I am more comfortable fingerspelling with my left hand, but otherwise I sign with my right hand. Is that alright?
[Jill] In general it is best to stick with one hand if possible so it is easier to track. However, if you are not switching back and forth too much then I would assume that is okay. I would if you could try to teach yourself to fingerspell with your dominant signing hand. Practice makes perfect!
Why do you move your lips while talking with hands? Or you pronounce words in order to convert them into sign language?
Munchic Fam No I don't pronounce the words. It is common especially for people who sign language is their second language to use what's called PSE (pidgin signed English). That is a little more English based than pure ASL. That means often your mouth the English words you are signing.