Can you write in CURSIVE? be honest now!!

[Daisys and Diamonds]

@Daisys and Diamonds,my youngest has dysgraphia. His writing is a little better because we took him to a therapist who specialized in it for a couple summers. I can’t tell you how many teachers thought he was just sloppy and lazy.

I almost always write in cursive. My handwriting is pretty good and I often get compliments but I usually don’t its as good as others say. I look at it and think it’s messy. I had typing classes wayback in high school. At my school you could take it for three years! I loved my IBM selectric! I usually typed all my kids school papers until #4 because he had his own computer. The other s used the house computer. I could type them in just a few minutes without looking at the screen or my fingers. I don’t get that much practice these days, so I am not sure I could do that anymore. Not as good on an iPad or similar device because you can’t feel the keys.

i think the year before last one the news was this girl doing her exams
in one particular subject she got the highesr score in NZ and she had a writer to do the writting for her
at high school i did ok in English because yiu could only loose so many marks for spelling and presentation. its really encouraging my the time your brother got to school it was a recognized thing and he got some help
does he have the pain when he writes nest ?

honestly back in 1985 who knew computers were going to be such a huge part of our future ?
we should have all taken typing but it was a dying art and i don't think my school offered pitman's short hand by then
my parents spent slot of money on spelling lessons for me through my high school years but it did no good because i have no pattern to my spelling mistakes and a dictionary is useless if i don't know what the 2nd letter is going to be
when i discovered about dysgraphia a few years ago my mum already had altzimers so i couldn't tell her i wasn't dumb or lazy

 

[violet3]

Yes - I probably use cursive more often than print, now. When I was younger it was harder to write in cursive but it turns out I was just never taught properly. In college I re-learned and have had neat, non-messy handwriting ever since. In school they didn’t teach us to write using the shoulder muscles and keeping the arm and fingers still - but that is really the superior method. I used to write using mostly my fingers and it hurt and my hand would cramp and my letters would get all jammed-together and it was messy. ALL of those problems were solved by learning to do it properly. My notes from college were consequently a lot better than those from high school - both more legible and more thorough since I could write all day without pain and write faster.

I really wish I had fancy cursive writing like when you look at letters from the revolutionary war... so many swoops and swashes. But it is a rounder version of the standard Palmer cursive. I refuse to do that Q though.

This is fascinating. Do you mind if I ask when and where you went to college, and in which class you learned proper cursive writing? I've never heard of this before, but I like the idea!

 

[Arcadian]

When I write or take notes it is in a semblance of cursive, actually a combination of printing and cursive with no rhyme or reason why I do it that way. My kids were not taught cursive in school (both 27) and the military requires printing if you have to write anything at all. They did learn typing in HS though which was helpful. Even their printing is terrible.

The worst handwriting/chicken scratch I have ever seen is by MDs and the best is by civil engineers.

Its funny, I now look at my cursive and its a hybrid print/cursive....lol using my left hand. Using my right, its all pure cursive (which is a scary honestly!)

In school, my cursive was quite good for a lefty though they always marked me down as the complaint was that my letters leaned too much forward. I recall when they tried to change my dominant hand in grade school and my mother went to the school and raised hell about it but, I did learn to write with my right hand then, so not all a bad experience.

 

[MamaBee]

You may be very surprised, but this is the first time I've heard of writing techniques using the shoulder muscles instead of the arm and fingers. I will not say that my handwriting was very good and legible, but certainly not the worst in the class. Now I rarely write by hand, I use keyboard typing at work and at home, and I think most do the same.

I was taught cursive writing when I was in a catholic grammar school taught by nuns. I write cursive every day.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

We just call it writting (as opposed to printing) here
and yes i can
We learnt it at school
but no one can read it
Mind you no one can read my printing either

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Its funny, I now look at my cursive and its a hybrid print/cursive....lol using my left hand. Using my right, its all pure cursive (which is a scary honestly!)

In school, my cursive was quite good for a lefty though they always marked me down as the complaint was that my letters leaned too much forward. I recall when they tried to change my dominant hand in grade school and my mother went to the school and raised hell about it but, I did learn to write with my right hand then, so not all a bad experience.

I remember the home economics bat ay intermediate school going barney ay me because i was using an egg beater left handed
I think i was ment to be left handed but the very old teachers i had as a new entrant probably tried to knock it out of me
I do most things left handed

as a result my handwritting is disgusting

 

[MamaBee]

I remember the home economics bat ay intermediate school going barney ay me because i was using an egg beater left handed
I think i was ment to be left handed but the very old teachers i had as a new entrant probably tried to knock it out of me
I do most things left handed

as a result my handwritting is disgusting

@Daisys and Diamonds Yes..When you have children now they tell you to give things to your baby midline so you don’t influence which hand is dominant. I had my children a long time ago..but I was able to do that with my last child. I’m a bit ambidextrous. I text with my left hand..I write with my right hand.

 

[dk168]

As a child, I spent hours practicing my handwriting with copy books, so yes.

However, I write in capitals most of the time when taking notes so that I slow down and have more chances of being able to read my own handwriting!

When I was making my own festive cards, I would write "Season's Greetings and Happy Holidays!" cursively using a calligraphy pen.

Nowadays, I would design and print the inserts and stick them inside blank cards using Comic Sans font!

DK

 

[Lookinagain]

I can (or was) able to write cursive fairly well and legibly, but since getting arthritis in my thumb, it's much harder to write anything and so when I do write (rarely now because of computers) I tend to print. Or do a mix of the two. It's whatever causes less pain. My signature is cursive and totally illegible, pre and post arthritis.

 

[AprilBaby]

My cursive was the best in the class but they always told me I held my pen funny.
After years of iPad and no need to hand write anything it looks terrible.

 

[oncrutchesrightnow]

Yes, it was a big deal in third grade, it meant you weren’t a little kid anymore.

I don’t understand the concept of not being able to read cursive. Even before I could write it, I could still read it. But I hear young people cannot these days.

My husband and I are teaching our kids cursive because it’s good to know how to do things in multiple ways. I think cursive allows for more personality to come through than printing.

 

[Mary Queen of Scotch]

Yes - I probably use cursive more often than print, now. When I was younger it was harder to write in cursive but it turns out I was just never taught properly. In college I re-learned and have had neat, non-messy handwriting ever since. In school they didn’t teach us to write using the shoulder muscles and keeping the arm and fingers still - but that is really the superior method. I used to write using mostly my fingers and it hurt and my hand would cramp and my letters would get all jammed-together and it was messy. ALL of those problems were solved by learning to do it properly. My notes from college were consequently a lot better than those from high school - both more legible and more thorough since I could write all day without pain and write faster.

I really wish I had fancy cursive writing like when you look at letters from the revolutionary war... so many swoops and swashes. But it is a rounder version of the standard Palmer cursive. I refuse to do that Q though.

Yes! From the shoulder! It’s so important to have proper posture when writing. And it’s not too late to learn Copperplate, @distracts (the script I believe you are referring to)!

I’m grateful to the nuns at Catholic school for their attention to penmanship. So much quicker to write that way (plus it’s pretty), and there’s plenty of compelling research pointing to the literacy/cognitive benefits of writing in cursive. My handwriting garners compliments left and right, and I get immense pleasure from it, but sadly I type something like 4 words per minute

As George Bernard Shaw waxed lyrical: “The beauty and nobility, the august mission and destiny, of human handwriting.”

ETA: to better answer the original question — I have to read anything in cursive, especially Palmer method and earlier (e.g., letters from our late grandfather), aloud to my 20 year old brother, because it’s absolutely illegible to him. Bizarre!

 

[GliderPoss]

I was taught cursive or as we called it “italic” writing as a child in the 80’s. Block letters were strictly only used in certain situations. My handwriting is awful though, not very pretty! I’m not very fast at typing either but get by just fine.

Actually didn’t realise children elsewhere were NOT taught this style of writing as it’s much faster! Checked with my sisters - they assure me all their children currently learn cursive here in Oz.

 

[Lookinagain]

This is as of 2020

 

[Mreader]

I teach at the university level and it’s freaky to me the number of students who cannot write or read cursive and who cannot read a clock. I teach languages and on the section on time there are pictures of clocks were they are supposed to say what time it is in the target language and they think 12:15 is 3 for example. Ugh.

 

[tyty333]

I'm in Florida and I can say if they did teach it in my county it wasn't enough for the kids to actually learn to read and write with
it long-term. Its unfortunate in my opinion because its easier and faster than writing script (IMO).

My current handwriting is a combination of mostly cursive with some non-cursive letters thrown in where the letters are typically
harder to write in cursive than in script (capital Q, G, S). Some of the changes I made for ease and some were made for aesthetics.

 

[Mreader]

I'm in Florida and I can say if they did teach it in my county it wasn't enough for the kids to actually learn to read and write with
it long-term. Its unfortunate in my opinion because its easier and faster than writing script (IMO).

My current handwriting is a combination of mostly cursive with some non-cursive letters thrown in where the letters are typically
harder to write in cursive than in script (capital Q, G, S). Some of the changes I made for ease and some were made for aesthetics.

Same here in the way I write (a mix). But I have to write in print more and more when I write on the board when I teach. That's why it's so weird to me that they don't learn it; many important docs are written in cursive etc. so future scholars will need to know it!

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

I am eternally grateful for digital charts since both my printing and cursive writing are in decline. Although I've been always particular to grammar and spelling--I am happy for spell check--as I type very quickly but not always accurately.

cheers--Sharon

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Yes, it was a big deal in third grade, it meant you weren’t a little kid anymore.

I don’t understand the concept of not being able to read cursive. Even before I could write it, I could still read it. But I hear young people cannot these days.

My husband and I are teaching our kids cursive because it’s good to know how to do things in multiple ways. I think cursive allows for more personality to come through than printing.

Now Thats my problem
i can't read it
couldn't read my mother's and can't read Bruce Springsteen's (not that he's written to me) but both those people would have got beaten at school if they had bad hand writting
in that one respects im lucky i was born when i was (although i did get a few smacks at primary school)

 

[oncrutchesrightnow]

I teach at the university level and it’s freaky to me the number of students who cannot write or read cursive and who cannot read a clock. I teach languages and on the section on time there are pictures of clocks were they are supposed to say what time it is in the target language and they think 12:15 is 3 for example. Ugh.

Oh good grief the thing about not being able to read clocks is scary.

You would have thought they would have at least learned it in algebra. Find-the-angle problems were fun.

 

[AGBF]

I was going to reply to this question, so I started reading this thread and saw that I replied in August of 2019!

All I can add is that people continue to comment on my beautiful handwriting. I had to make out three checks (while sitting in a cramped position and having my checkbook balanced only on my purse) and the person to whom I gave them still exclaimed over them.

Pretty soon there will be no one who can read my cursive writing, or script as we used to call it. As I said in an earlier post, middle school students couldn't read it when I wrote in script on a blackboard decades ago.

 

[kathley]

If people cannot read or write cursive, then how to they hand-sign a document? My signature is in cursive.

 

[yssie]

I feel like there’s probably a difference between running all your letters together so you don’t have to lift the pen up and actual cursive handwriting?

I’m adept at the former but I can’t say it’s neat or even consistently legible… Despite all the letters exercises they had us do in primary school…

 

[msop04]

Xennial. I used to write in cursive for everything and LOVED to do so... even notes in high school and undergrad. Then grad school note taking kind of ruined that. I cannot write in cursive anymore, unless I really think about it and take my time. Even then, it's not consistent like it used to be. I do sign my name in cursive, but it's totally illegible to everyone but myself.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

 

[winetime12]

I write actual cursive, I always have and I much prefer it. It's quicker.

 

[Garnetgirl]

Yes, I can, ever since I was taught it in second grade at the age of seven. We kids called it “real writing” and looked forward to learning it as it meant we were all grown up.
It’s faster than printing, and much faster for a slow typist like me. I’m actually surprised that there are adults who can’t read it.

 

[starbrite]

I do most of my writing by hand in cursive style - not print. I started to learn "how" to write cursive in first grade & always took pride in how well my hand writing looked. Due to my efforts to perfect the skill, I've also have had "pretty" hand writing. To me, printing seemed sterile in comparison.

It's almost unbelievable that in 2021 reading or writing cursive is now considered obsolete by many school systems & therefore is no longer being taught as part of a child's basic education.

The US Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights are all written in cursive. That means that future generations - except for experts specially schooled in rare writing styles - may not be able to read the text of America's foundation documents. These documents are said to be the documents that Americans are supposed to live by every day. I only point to them because I am an American. Similarly important documents also exist in other countries. If unable to read or write cursive, future generations will only be able to read transcripts (and other's "translation") of original cursive documents. The true originals will be lost to them.

Scholars argue that if cursive is allowed to fall by the wayside, the average person won’t be able to read or translate any of the valuable documents, manuscripts, letters and journals from the generations before. So much of original history will be lost.

I agree.

The cursive writing that we recognize today has been in existence since the 1500's.