How is the BSL alphabet different from the ASL one?

Katharine is correct - the fingerspelling is completely different between ASL and BSL. A lot of people assume that because both Britain and America speak English, their sign languages will be the same. read more

ASL alphabet consists of 26 handshapes, one corresponding to each letter of the alphabet. The handshapes are made using one hand. That is the main difference in the manual alphabets of BSL and ASL. read more

One notable difference you will see is that BSL( British Sign Language) uses a 2 handed manual alphabet whereas ASL(American Sign Language) uses a one handed manual alphabet. Both ASL and BSL however have the same potential for expressing subtle, technical and complex meanings as do spoken languages. read more

The fingerspelling alphabet is used in sign language to spell out names of people and places for which there is not a sign. Fingerspelling can also be used to spell words for signs that the signer does not know the sign for, or to clarify a sign that is not known by the person reading the signer. read more