Read Braille
Braille is a method of reading and feeling text through touch, rather than sight. It is mainly used by those with impaired vision; however, sighted people can read Braille as well. There are many reasons for this, especially for those with a blind or visually impaired person in their household. There are many types of Braille, including musical, mathematical, and multiple types of literary Braille. The most commonly taught and used is Grade 2 Literary Braille, which is covered here.
Contents
Steps
Printable Braille Alphabet
Doc:Braille Alphabet
Reading Braille
- Learn the positions of the 6 dots in a Braille cell. The individual cells have no intrinsic meaning; the meaning changes depending on which Braille system you are reading. However, knowing where the dots and empty spaces are is important to being able to read Braille. Braille printed for the sighted may have "shadow dots" in the empty spaces; Braille for the blind will not have these.
- Learn the first 10 letters (A-J) of the alphabet. These letters use only the the top 4 dots of the 6 in the cell.
- Learn the next 10 letters (K-T). These are identical to letters A through J, except they have an additional dot in position 3.
- Learn the cells for U, V, X, Y, and Z. These are the same as letters A through E, except they have an extra dot in positions 1, 3 and 6.
- Learn W, which does not follow the pattern. W is out of order because Braille was written originally in French, which at that time did not contain the letter W.
- Learn the Braille punctuation. Pay extra attention to the Braille special symbols. These aren't found in regular print. They are used to distinguish capital letters and other formatting not apparent in the Braille cells.
- Learn the common word contractions. Braille Through Remote Learning has an excellent list and search feature.
- Practice! Learning Braille is just like learning any other alphabet. You won't pick it up overnight, but it is by no means impossible.
Tips
- Make an account at Quizlet.com and search for a set called Braille. Studying using this tool will help you to learn Braille.
Related Articles
- Work With Visually Impaired Children
- Say Hello in Different Languages
- Learn American Sign Language
- Interact with Blind People
- Get a Job when You Are Blind or Visually Impaired
Sources and Citations
- A quick introduction to Braille
- Table of Braille punctuation by Braille Through Remote Learning
- Table of Braille special symbols by Braille through Remote Learning
