“May” in braille
⠠⠍⠁⠽3 lettersUncontracted
May starts with a capital, so in braille the capital sign (dot 6) goes before the M, then the letters M-A-Y one cell each: ⠠⠍⠁⠽.
Now read one yourself
⠠⠍⠁⠗⠉⠓
Which word is this? August, March, January.
Cell by cell
- Capitaldot 6
- 1. Mdots 1-3-4
- 2. Adot 1
- 3. Ydots 1-3-4-5-6
Capitals
Braille letters are lower case unless marked. Days and months take the capital sign, dot 6, before their first letter (⠠⠍⠁⠽). In all capitals, MAY, two capital signs mark the whole word: ⠠⠠⠍⠁⠽. More on capital letters in braille.
Grade 1 and Grade 2
This is uncontracted (Grade 1) braille, every letter written out, which is where learners start. Books, signs and labels mostly use Grade 2, where common letter groups and words take a single cell, so some words come out shorter there. See the Grade 2 contractions.
Remember it, don't just look it up
Days and months are spelled letter by letter, so the alphabet is what to learn. Braille a Day brings it back tomorrow to answer from memory, then again just before you'd forget. Five minutes a day.