So Wikipedia says that the teaching of cursive has been de-emphasized in schools in recent years. This got me to thinking, I really can’t remember the last time i actually used a cursive writing style. Most of my formal writing is typed, end even my casual correspondence is mostly email now. After all the emphasis on cursive writing in elementary school, I’m not even sure if I can do it anymore with any efficiency.
So is this another one of those now outdated things that we learned in school like balancing a physical checkbook and searching a card catalog in the library? I do wonder how the first few years of education have adapted to this changing world in the way of “life skills”.
Oh god I hate cursive so much. It’s unreadable. I too was taught to read it but I hate it so much. Drops my reading speed down to 100 wpm trying to decode that drivel. It’s frustrating trying to scan it.
Thank god cursive is dying. I never really understood why cursive was taught as much as it was. Everyone understands printed characters. Almost all forms of printed communication is in print characters. Why not use printed characters for written communication? Cursive is like calligraphy–it’s just an artistic way of writing.
I think cursive was only really important when people used ink quills and it was problematic to keep lifting and pressing the quill to the paper. Cursive allowed them to write continually. But it should have died once we had pencils and pens.
Well, I suppose text speech is part of our written language now, but I don’t think it is “taking over” English. Language inevitably changes, and all these abbreviations are pretty much relegated to texts, emails, and ims. I rarely hear people say “wtf” and I’m not familiar with ‘gtg’. I certainly haven’t seen any of these forms in academic writing, and I’m not sure we ever will. I have heard people say ‘bff’, but I’ve been hearing this since at least the early 90s.
And so what if it becomes commonplace for people to say ‘gtg’, ‘brb’, and whatever else? English never had a golden age to look back at with nostalgia.
When I was in 7th grade (about 14-15 years ago, I think), I actually had an English teacher who only accepted cursive, would refuse to grade hand-printed letters, and typed papers were accepted only for major projects. IIRC, her logic was that, when accustomed to writing cursive it is faster than printing, so that helps lead to better writing. Speaking anecdotally, once I’d gotten used to it, cursive was faster than printing; of course, I also find printing a lot easier to read, especially when you have awful handwriting like I do.
Anyway, I almost never see cursive anymore these days, and when I do, it’s almost always older women. And really, it makes sense. Even if the logic that my 7th grade English teacher used is correct, typing is even faster, and while computers may not be in every household, they’re pretty darn close, and even students who can’t afford them usually have access to them either at a library or at school. So it seems to me that, as little as I do write things by hand, it’s hard to stay in practice for cursive, and so any potential gain in speed is easily outweighed by the loss in legibility.
Really, the only use I see for cursive these days is signatures, and even that I think will probably be a thing of the past in the next decade or so, replaced by some form of biometric and/or PKI system. It probably should still be taught to some degree, as it does seem to be more natural for some people, but de-emphasizing it and probably replacing it with computer skills (like touch typing) seems like a much better use of the time.
I’m sorry to see cursive go. People have told me that I’m a decent artist, and my handwriting started out standard LA Unified School District standard, but for some reason my cursive looks like hell. I really appreciate a gorgeous cursive written letter. My 90 year old neighbor from when I was a kid has beautiful handwriting and she sends my sister an annual Christmas letter. I’m going to drop her a note and see if she’ll send me her awesome caramel recipe.
My nephew’s printing looks like a damn 5 year old’s.
I never hear people say dubya-tee-eff ? But it is not uncommon to hear military types and pilots say whisky-tango-foxtrot?..often after witnessing a charlie-foxtrot.
I hand-write only in cursive. And it’s a very elaborate, distinctive kind of script, too, one I’ve gradually developed over the years. I have never had a problem with professors reading it, and people are usually impressed by it. Hand writing is a lost art.
And what’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with trying to add some artistic value to everything you do? I know there are a lot of people who want everything to be stark and utilitarian and lifeless, but I try to do my best to subvert that.
I’m amazed at the number of people who *never *use cursive. How do you take notes, especially from someone who’s speaking, such as in a meeting? My cursive, as sloppy as it is, is *much *faster than hand printing or typing. I kind of thought that was the whole point to it. I can’t imagine any other way to jot notes, which is probably yet more proof that I’m going the way of the dodo.
Absolutely nothing. I totally encourage anyone to learn how to write beautiful cursive. What I have a problem with is spending lots of classroom time teaching it and then forcing kids to use it. It’s one thing to teach it as an art form, it’s another to make grades dependent on it.
It may be true that cursive can be faster than printing, but I only print and I’ve never had an issue with speed. Plus, I and anyone else can easily read my writing. That would definitely not be the case with my cursive writing.
Back when I was in fifth grade, I got a “C” in penmanship. My father told me - may God strike me dead if I am joking about this - that I would never get into Harvard with grades like that. He was right; I didn’t get into Harvard. I still hate cursive to this day.
Cursive is,or was, taught because it’s theoretically quicker to write when you’re joining each character in a word to the next. I can’t see any other practical purpose, though sometimes it’s pretty.
Off topic, but one of my sisters has beautiful cursive handwriting which absolutely no one can read. She refuses to understand why people who know her will simply refuse to accept a handwritten note from her.