Knowing the American Sign Language alphabet is a very good thing to know because you can then have a conversation with someone. It may be a long and tedious conversation, because everything was being spelled out, but then you can at least communicate. Make sure that you are able to sign AND read the language, because then otherwise it does little good. Practice signing words as clearly as you can, because it is not about speed, it is about neatness. If someone were to walk up to you and talk as fast as they can, you would not be able to understand them. Same goes for signing. Neatness counts, because you could accidentally sign one thing, but mean the other. Practice makes perfect!