I'm in late 30s, my handwriting is atrocious so word processing was a godsend.
Do you still write in cursive?
- Thread starter Soapy Smith
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Having mentioned bright young people who never learned cursive, I should say that it's unpredictable who will know it and who won't. I've been surprised by people in their early twenties who show decent cursive skills. On the other hand, one work friend of mine who is only a couple of years younger than I no longer uses cursive at all. That wouldn't be so bad, except that his printing reminds me of Sumerian cuneiform. It's best if he just types.
I shave with a brush and DE razor - of course I use cursive. But not until I found my way to the nib.
I formerly printed everything with upper case and some bizarre connecting of letters that was nearly illegible. I still don't use the traditional cursive "Q" - that is just a silly letter for me. Other than that I only use cursive. I'll be teaching my grandchildren because they want to use my fountain pens.
I formerly printed everything with upper case and some bizarre connecting of letters that was nearly illegible. I still don't use the traditional cursive "Q" - that is just a silly letter for me. Other than that I only use cursive. I'll be teaching my grandchildren because they want to use my fountain pens.
When I write things that will be read by others, it is printed. If its a note to myself, it will be a combination of printed and cursive.
When I sign my name, it is in cursive. And I often misspell it. I need to sign my name dozens of times a day at work, and I've developed a slap-dash signature that leaves out some letters, puts in too many of others, and makes a "p" look like "r" and an "e" look like "i" and its never the same way twice in a row.
People that have seen signs I have hand-made tell me I have beautiful handwriting. I tell them that with my beautiful handwriting, all I need is $2.25 and I can get a Grande coffee at any Starbucks' in America.
When I sign my name, it is in cursive. And I often misspell it. I need to sign my name dozens of times a day at work, and I've developed a slap-dash signature that leaves out some letters, puts in too many of others, and makes a "p" look like "r" and an "e" look like "i" and its never the same way twice in a row.
People that have seen signs I have hand-made tell me I have beautiful handwriting. I tell them that with my beautiful handwriting, all I need is $2.25 and I can get a Grande coffee at any Starbucks' in America.
The Federal no child left behind act caused elementary schools to drop cursive writting almost all together. We taught our daughter cursive on the weekends and during the summer.
No it did not.
Both my children were taught cursive, one 8 years ago, the other within the last 5, both in a public elementary school.
It all depends on what priorities the local school district sets within state and federal guidelines or rules.
I returned to writing cursive last year, after years of printing. I have found that writing cursive is easier to write my letters. Being left handed cursive writing is more of a natural flow when I write.
There are a few cursive fonts in MS Word. "Script" is the one I use most often.
You either went to a very good public school with a strong academically oriented school board or a private school. Most public schools followed the path I described. Yes, I am a public school teacher who had the benefits associated with a growing up in a parochial school setting.
"Muuuum ... I asked grampa where the '1' key is, and he told me to go to 'ell!!"
I wonder how many of the youngsters here got that one.Although actually, my Smith Corona Classic 12 does have a separate key with 1 and !. The keys in the upper left and upper right were user selectable; you bought the keys you wanted and put them on, along with putting the associated type on the end of the bar. I think the 1/! was the default, but you could get things like diacritics if you needed them.
My 4 kids are all in elementary and middle school. They were all taught, and actively used, cursive up to the end of elementary. In middle school it is optional for them to use, and they tell me that most middle school kids do not use cursive.
I had to get the signature of an 18 year old girl while at work the other day. When I asked her to sign the paper and she ended up printing her name to which I responded "your signature, you can't print it." She replied back with something along the lines of, "what, like my grandmother writes?" 
Apparently a lot of young people don't know, don't care, and were never properly taught. I'm only 25 though and remember learning it in school. It makes me wonder when they quit teaching it down here.
Apparently a lot of young people don't know, don't care, and were never properly taught. I'm only 25 though and remember learning it in school. It makes me wonder when they quit teaching it down here.
I went to a public school. Didn't have the money for private. I think this issue just varies district to district and state to state in terms of what's taught.
I give a short cursive refresher course for all of my middle school students. I encourage them to use cursive for their classroom notes and assignments. I award bonus points for all work that is done in cursive. I do not take points off when kids choose not to use cursive script. All work must be easily read or it is not graded. (Slowing down is all that is usually required for legibility.)
Work that is not graded because of legibility can be redone and turned in at the beginning of the next day's class without losing points. This is a onetime benefit. Very few kids are repeat offenders. Most parents are very supportive when they get a look at what wasn't graded.
Awarding extra points for using cursive has been well received by parents too. Most of the tense parents relax when they realize that their kids are not being penalized for choosing to print. (Amazing how many non-writers and sloppy writers blame the teacher. I just explain the award policy and/or show them the scribbles their kid tried to pass off as completed work and they relax. 8 out of 10 parents are very happy that I am helping their kid learn or relearn cursive.
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Quit using cursive after taking drafting. After having to use 1/4" letters all caps, trying to go back became illegible.
I had to get the signature of an 18 year old girl while at work the other day. When I asked her to sign the paper and she ended up printing her name to which I responded "your signature, you can't print it." She replied back with something along the lines of, "what, like my grandmother writes?"
Funny the sort of hang-ups we can have about signatures. It wasn't so long ago that most people "made their mark" not by writing out their name but my marking an "X". Some people take great pride in how their signature is perfectly legible ... and others an equal amount of pride in their signature being so "unique" as to be basically illegible.
Almost exclusively now. (56) I recall in junior high in the early 1970's I started some weird hybrid, and/or a lot of all caps printing. (that started in a shop class where I learned to use a t-square and all those fun tools, even though I ended up in accounting) I still had a hybrid of sorts until a couple of years or so ago. I made a conscious effort then of less hybrid/more regular cursive. My cursive has improved a great deal since then. There are some capital letters I do not use a cursive hand for: S, Q, H, K, O, P, R, ... It has been so long for some of them (S) that I have forgotten how. Never liked the weirdness of Q, or the weird curly-q's on a H or K.
I'm 45 and I'm still using cursive after I learned it when I was a kid. As many people, I've been writing less and less over the year, preferring to type everything in on the computer. However, since my handwriting had deteriorated a lot because of this, I made a conscious effort to start writing stuff on paper again, and improving my handwriting.
My kids (9 and 12) still learned cursive at school, which I like, I think it's a skill everyone should have.
My kids (9 and 12) still learned cursive at school, which I like, I think it's a skill everyone should have.
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