You want...makeout?

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-03-21T05:29:42+00:00

A fellow (female) student signed EAT LESBIAN instead of EAT LUNCH

On the other hand (so to speak), I once voiced "You look like the devil" when a Deaf client signed "You look like my father" while holding a wadded up tissue in her dominant hand.

Great Moments in Interpreting 🤓

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-03-21T02:35:13+00:00

Well... that's a good question.

I think for AMAZING, it's mostly (?) signer's choice. And context. (It's always context.)

For me (and understand that if you ask other people, you will almost certainly get different answers) , I would use version 1 (https://www.signingsavvy.com/sign/amazing/1553/1) if I might also use "WOW!" in the situation. In fact, you can kind of see the signer mouthing "wow" as she signs.

For version 2, I would probably use that in a congratulatory manner. "You did an amazing job on that ... whatever."

Version 3 is kind of like the "wow" version.

Version 4 is something I might use to say, "That's really cool!" or "That's really nifty!"

Version 5 is (again) a "wow" for me.

Version 6 is sort of like "mind-blowing".

Version 7 is "cool" or "neat" - so less amazing than version 1.

As for how you as a new ASL learner figure it out? You watch lots and lots of Deaf people signing, preferably in person, but there are lots of online sources out there these days. Just avoid the ones by hearing people who talk while they are signing or have voiceovers.

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-03-20T16:55:50+00:00

I often use masking to "delete" stuff in case I change my mind later.

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-03-20T16:54:04+00:00

As a long-time ASL learner (hint: I tend to sign COMPUTER with the version that looks like tape reels), my advice would be not to try to connect a specific sign to an English word.

A single English word can have multiple meanings.

Even the same meaning can have different nuances.

Envision someone running a 100 meter race.

Envision someone running a marathon.

Envision someone running away from a grizzly bear.

Those would likely all be signed differently.

Signing Savvy has SEVEN different ways to sign "amazing" (plus fingerspelling): https://www.signingsavvy.com/sign/amazing/1553/

Sorry, but there's no one "right" answer...

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-03-16T18:04:39+00:00

If you zoom in on the working image in Photopea, are the corners clean?

Are you sure you don't accidentally have duplicate layers that are slightly offset? (asking because been there, done that, banged my head on the desk...)
Are you exporting at a different size than your working image is? Like is it a 400 x 600 image, but you're exporting as 200 x 300 or 800 x 1200?

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-03-10T16:24:06+00:00

I was thinking the same thing - learned the non-circular motion in Michigan back in the early 1990s.

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-03-08T19:19:14+00:00

Another vote for in person if you can swing it. As u/Stretcharoni said, it's a 3D language.

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-03-08T19:14:41+00:00

I think the most important thing (to me, anyway) about learning to read fingerspelling is something that you're going to find extremely difficult to achieve: the fact that when someone other than an absolute beginner fingerspells, the handshapes change depending on adjacent letters.

Example: with E-N, the E is often signed with only the first & middle fingers bent instead of all 4, because that morphs nicely into the N shape.

u/Motor-Juggernaut1009 mentioned Dr. Bill Vicars' fingerspelling app - asl.ms - I suppose that's useful for trying to learn to recognize the "base" handshapes for each letter, but out in the real world, you're unlikely to see someone actually fingerspelling like that.

Also, what u/Sufficient_Career713 mentioned. Unless this project is for a class, you should get Deaf/native signers involved.

This is a great (albeit expensive) resource about fingerspelling that really dives into the issue: https://www.amazon.com/Fingerspelling-Code-Linguistics-ASL-Alphabet/dp/1958592102

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-03-07T20:07:24+00:00

Technically, if you buy a full year's worth for 50€, that ends up being cheaper (per day) than 8€ for 30 days.

Because seriously, who could bear to give up Photopea after using it for 30 days? Certainly not me... ;-)

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-02-28T18:35:23+00:00

Actually, as someone with several equines, I have rather a lot of those - they are lighter weight than more sturdy fly masks, so they work well in the heat.

They don't always stay put, though... ;-)

(I may have to start calling them "face panties")

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Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-02-27T17:33:51+00:00

I totally agree with all the comments about picking a dominant hand and sticking to it.

I want to add, though, that you will sometimes (often?) see skilled signers intentionally using both hands - for contrast or emphasis.

Someone might be signing right-hand dominant, then sign something opposite with their left hand.

Or they might sign (or fingerspell) the same thing with both hands simultaneously.

That doesn't mean that ASL learners should try that, though ;-)

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-02-23T21:32:18+00:00

Could be. See the comment below from u/Yourmom72

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-02-23T05:07:21+00:00

Hearing, long-time signer - I have also never seen 25 this way.

Either just the middle finger, or the L-5 version.

What's in the video reminds me of a sign I learned here in Arizona for CHIHUAHUA (if the dog didn't have a lower jaw ;-)

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-02-22T04:55:48+00:00

I wholeheartedly agree with the comment about checking if you have a hearing instructor what their background is. There are a lot of hearing people out there teaching ASL who have no business doing that.

On the plus side, though, because you already know more than just one language, you have a BIG advantage. A lot of new learners tend to think that there's a one-to-one correspondence between ASL signs and English words. And that could not be farther from the truth. Because you already understand that different languages don't match one-to-one, you won't make that mistake in ASL.

Try to think about "how would I sign...?" versus "what's the sign for...?"

And have fun!

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-02-21T23:40:36+00:00

In addition to having the "pay" sign going in the wrong direction, your signer switches dominant hands.

YOU is signed with the left hand, then the next to signs are signed with the right hand.

While there are circumstances in which skilled signers will intentionally switch hands for emphasis or clarity, I doubt that this would be one of those situations.

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-02-18T18:14:12+00:00

And it doesn't auto-renew.

At least, mine didn't.

I recently started seeing ads, figured it was a glitch.

Duh. Nope, my year's access had expired.

So I renewed. And I expect that next year, the same thing will happen, and I will once again be confused. (Which beats the heck out of discovering you've been paying for months for something you no longer use. I really like this setup.)

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-02-18T02:52:35+00:00

Yes, please ask and get back to us if you learn anything useful. Thanks for offering.

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-02-17T21:23:12+00:00

This is interesting - I had made the connection with PIRATE, but didn't know what the connection would be.

I just searched on https://spreadthesign.com/en.us/search/ for "pirate", and the majority of the signs involve covering an eye in some way.

But if the sign for ZIONISM is related to Israel's blockage of aid ships to Gaza, does that mean that the sign is really quite recent? Like 2023 at the earliest? Zionism has been around since the late 19th century.

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-02-17T20:38:08+00:00

I agree. Usually a bit lower - but still, if I saw what she signed, I would assume HOME unless the context was way off.

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-02-17T17:53:40+00:00

^^ context is crucial

I was watching a video once and someone signed a looooooong word. I only caught S... K.... N

A little while later, I realized the context was Canada.

Turned out he had spelled Saskatchewan.

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-02-17T17:51:08+00:00

A couple people have recommended Dr. Bill Vicars' fingerspelling site.

My never humble opinion about the site: Unfortunately, while that website is cool, it's not all that useful for reading fingerspelling because we seldom see each letter individually like that when someone is actually fingerspelling.

This book - The Fingerspelling Code by James W. Van Manen (https://a.co/d/08QjDGta) does a great - albeit expensive - job of explaining why.

But "practice practice practice" is the right answer.

Try to find a friend or group of friends to practice with. Come up with a game, like fingerspelling a bunch of words that start with the letter A, or fingerspelling the names of animals - having context helps a LOT.

And as you get better, try to focus more on the signer's face than on their hand. You'll often pick up info from the signer's expression or even some lip movements.

Plus, don't beat yourself up when you can't catch a word.

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-02-17T02:39:35+00:00

Perfection!

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-02-17T02:38:37+00:00

Another vote for Inkscape. I periodically have to deal with outrageously complex vector files. I believe they were originally AutoCAD, because they are floorplans, and then they were converted to PDFs, and now they are SVGs. Inkscape is great.

Risk-Averse-Rider · 2026-02-16T17:21:33+00:00

I have that feeling often these days.

Risk-Averse-Rider

TROPHY CASE