Level: Beginner
Learn how to express months of the year in American Sign Language (ASL).
The ASL signs for the months of a year are usually fingerspelled in abbreviation. Eg. JAN for January, FEB for February, MARCH for March, APRIL for April, MAY for May, JUN for June, JULY for July, AUG for August, SEPT for September, OCT for October, NOV for November, and DEC for December.
Practice listening (with your eyes) and repeat watching the fingerspelled abbreviations to improve your receptive skill.
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The speed of fingerspelling which a bit more faster than the video above in real life is normal. If you find them too fast, remember to pay attention to the configuration (shape and movement) of the word, not letter by letter.
Numeral incorporation
The following illustrations demonstrate some ASL signs how to express a number of months.
month
If you sign two words/signs, it's, for example, THREE + MONTH. But, you can use a numeral incorporation which merge two signs into one sign. E.g. THREE-MONTH.
three-months
The base word (or morpheme) month can be modified by incorporating with an ASL number between one and nine. For example, three months above. For the numbers after ten, you sign a number and then "month".
Frequency of months
The following illustrations demonstrate some ASL signs how to to express a frequency of month(s).
monthly; every-month
bimonthly; every-two-months
The base word (or morpheme) monthly can be modified by incorporating with a number between one and nine. For example, bimonthly above, "every three months", "every six months", etc. The repetition of the sign (movement) is generally twice.
Exercises: Which/what month?
Watch each of the videos and try your answer. Each question asks you what or which month it is for an event or holiday.
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Beginner
New to sign language? "Where do I start?" or "How do I start learning sign language?" This ASL Rookie guide lists some selected links to the tutorials for ASL beginners to get started and keep rolling. It may be a useful review for intermediate-level learners and ASL students as well.
Some tutorial pages are a mix of free and premium versions. Access to premium content and links below are available in the PatronPlus subscription. More links/posts will be added from time to time.
ASL Basics
- Personal Pronouns
- Possessive Pronouns
- WH-questions
- Yes/no questions
- SVO sentence structure
- OSV sentence structure
- Numbers 1-10+
- Basic time: future, present, past
ASL Basics II
- Asking what the sign is for a word
- Spatial referencing
- Verb inflections
- Contrastive structure
- Listing and Ranking
- Classifier basics
Booster
Are you able to carry everyday conversations in ASL? Are you a student in the intermediate levels and beyond, who wishes to boost up your signing skills? You've come to the selected tutorial series. (Some premium content are available to PatronPlus membership.)
Literary Arts
Stories, poems, performance arts, etc. in sign language.
Fables
- Bear and Two Travelers, The
- Lion and the Mouse, The
- Rabbit and the Turtle, The
- Wind and the Sun, The
- Raven and the Swan, The
- Rooster and the Fox, The
- Old Lion and the Fox, The
- Cock and the Diamond, The
Fables II
- Crow and the Pitcher, The
- Fox and the Grapes, The
- Peacock and the Crane, The
- The Cracked Pot
- Deer and His Reflection, The
- Farmer and his Sons, The
- Frog and Boiled Water, The
- Goat and the Bridge, The
Stories
- The Star Arrow: a poem
- The Deer and the Leaf
- Moon in my Bedroom
- Deaf or Dead: a true story
- The Tooth Tale
- Synchronicity: a true story
- The Little Match Girl
Deaf Jokes
- Birds on the Telephone Lines
- The Hitchhiker
- The Hotel
- The King Kong and the Lady
- The Timber
- Zap stories
Parables
- More is Not Enough
- Overflowing Cup
- The Sound of Silence
- Maybe
- Moving Mind
- The Moon Cannot be Stolen
Baby Signing
This documentation project follows a child's language acquisition, literacy development, and phonological acquisition in sign language, specifically ASL, from newborn to age five in a natural native-ASL environment and visual culture.