Unit Two VocabularyGetting Started

Asking for help

Engaging in Basic Conversation

Activities

Using WH-signs and Facial Expressions

Days of the Week

Classroom Signs

GRAB

NONE

WARNING

BOOK

DESK/TABLE

to GIVE

GIVE is a directional sign. This means I-GIVE-YOU. If you change the movement

toward yourself it becomes YOU-GIVE-ME. You can also sign with both hands to GIVE-

EACH-OTHER or TRADE.

to HELP/HELP-ME

Help is a directional sign. When using HELP as a general sign the

movement is straight up. For HELP-ME the movement is

toward your body. For the sign HELP-YOU simply move the sign toward the other person. You will

learn many more directional signs later.

NEED

If you raise your eyebrows this sign becomes SHOULD. When

you change the movement to one strong downward movement the

sign becomes MUST.

to MOVE

PEN/PENCIL

SURE

The sign for SURE is also the same sign as TRUE and REALLY.

Your facial expressions will change depending on which

meaning you want to convey.

The WH Face

Facial expressions are essential in American Sign Language and you must learn feel comfortable

with them. Not only do they show emotions, as you learned

in Unit 1, but they are also used when asking a question, asking

for clarification, and to show intensity of a sign.

When asking a question it is important to use the

appropriate facial expression or what is know as the WH-

Face.

Notice the use of the WH-Face in the following examples asking for clarification.

to be CLEAR

EXCUSE ME

EXPLAIN

to MEAN

NOT

This is also the sign for DON’T.

UNCLEAR

YOU’RE WELCOME

You will also see the sign (two thumbs up)

for YOU’RE WELCOME.

Natural gesture that is also a

sign

ASL is NOT just making gestures in the air.

HOME

The sign for HOME began as EAT/SLEEP as home is where you eat and sleep. Over time

the sign evolved to maintaining the same handshape in both

positions.

to WALKHere the flat

hands represent two feet taking steps forward.

With this sign the fingers

represent the two legs

as they walk .

PARTY

READNot only can the fingers represent legs, but they also

represent the eyes. Here, two eyes read the

page.

to SLEEP

to CORRECT/to GRADE

When signing this with a bigger movement, the sign becomes to

CANCEL.

to ERASE (a board)

ERASE (paper)

HAND OUT

PAPER

to SPOT/ to SEE

STUDY

STUDENT

The sign for student is LEARN + the agent

marker, which represents a person. Can you see how the

sign brings the information off the page and into the

head?

TEACHER

Here you see that the information is coming out of the head to be given away to others (the sign for TEACH)

and the agent marker is added to make it a person.

TEST/EXAM

to WRITE

to be WRONG/ERROR

The sign for MISTAKE is very similar to the sign for

WRONG. Instead of just touching the chin, the sign twists from right to left.

The question mark can be added to the end of a sentence for emphasis along with the WH face, especially when a WH question

word is not being used. Just as we saw that HELP is a directional sign, ASK is a directional sign as well. See how the movement changes direction depending

on who is asking whom.

to EAT/FOOD

To-eat Food

Although FOOD and EAT

are interchangeable signs, often you will see them as a

noun/verb pair. We will learn about these later. What does this mean?

Well… for a verb (EAT) you sign one big

movement and for a noun (FOOD) you sign it twice with a smaller controlled

movement.

to be HUNGRY

Cool Information: The sign for WISH is the

exact same sign as HUNGRY!

to be READY

RESTAURANT

CAFETERIA is signed the same way but with a “C” handshape.

NAPKIN is singed with a “flat O” handshape.

WITH

Days of the week can be signed toward or away

from the body depending on the signs preceding or

following.

For example: LAST MONDAY you would sign facing the body. But, MONDAY YOU DO-DO WHAT? You would sing facing

away from the body.

Again, facing towards or away from the body. If the sign preceding the week day is already facing the body, you sign the day of

the week facing you. If the sign before or after the

day of the week is facing away from the body you sign the weekday facing

away from you.

Another example would be: YOU-ALL WEDNESDAY

TAKE TEST.

Wednesday would be signed facing forward because

YOU-ALL is a forward facing sign.

Most commonly used.

Alternate signs for Thursday.

FRIDAY I GO STORESigned facing since I will be facing myself.

FRIDAY HE ABSENTSigned facing away from self since HE is

facing away from myself.

Got the idea?

Whether you sign the day of the week facing towards or

away from your body depends on the signs

around it. Neither one is more correct;

you sign the one that’s easiest.

This is the sign your book teaches for

SUNDAY.

Another very popular way to sign SUNDAY is with the hands moving

up and down facing forward.

to CHAT/to HANG OUT

CHURCH

DO-DO (what to do or what are you doing)

to ENJOY

KICK BACK/TAKE IT EASY

Another very popular ASL sign for KICK-BACK is the two bent index fingers, one up and one

down .

MOSQUE

to PLAY SPORTS

This sign is also used to mean COMPETE or COMPITION and

you will also see it to mean RUN-TRACK and RACE.

TEMPLE

YESTERDAY

When asking a question it is important to use the

appropriate facial expression or what is know as the WH-

Face.

DAY

The sign for DAY shows the sun moving across the horizon.

EVERY DAY

UM, UH, WELL… (not sure)

WEEK

The sign for week moves across the hand from left to right, just as the days of the week move

across a calendar.

WEEKEND

Here you see the sign for week and then it drops off to show the

end of the week

to WORK/JOB

WHO

Alternate signs for WHO

WHAT

Another common sign you will see for WHAT is the right index finger dragged across the left

open 5 hand.

WHEN

WHERE

WHY

HOW

WHICH

HOW MUCH/HOW MANY

to GET BETTER

to GET WORSE

IMPORTANT

When you change the handshape to a “V” this sign becomes VALUE.

WATER/WATER FOUNTAIN

End of Unit 2 YEA!

Don’t you feel smart now?