Cursive

[DonkeyKongerko]

I came to thinking the other day about cursive writing and what the whole point of learning it was. I probably spent a good semester or two in grade school learning how to read and write it. What good has it done me since? I think my 3rd grade teacher even required all written assignments to be turned in in cursive.

 

Since then, the only thing I have ever written in cursive is checks. Actually, I probably write checks in sort of a combination of cursive and italics because otherwise they are just too hard to read. What I wouldn't give to have that year of school back learning cursive to spend on improving my penmanship in plain old letters.

 

For those of you with kids, do they even teach cursive any more? With computers everywhere these days, I don't see a need for it. I was always told it was "the way adults write", but I can't think of anyone that uses it regularly besides teachers.

[Soxy]

I switch back and forth. My cursive writing is much better than my print, so I tend to use it more. Or I will use elements of both. I write on the board a lot for teaching, and cursive is faster for me to write when taking notes and stuff. So, I'm glad I learned it. Plus, I think it's harder to forge than print writing. . .

[Brian]

I use cursive to write formal letters, or signing my name on checks and such. Otherwise, I'm more of a printer.

[Steff]

I switch back and forth. My cursive writing is much better than my print, so I tend to use it more. Or I will use elements of both. I write on the board a lot for teaching, and cursive is faster for me to write when taking notes and stuff. So, I'm glad I learned it. Plus, I think it's harder to forge than print writing. . .

 

 

Ditto.

[Balta1701]

"Well I know Hell, damn, ass..."

 

Interestingly, I have this odd habit of randomly switching between normal letters and script while taking notes in class or writing various handwritten things. I havne't a clue why I do it, but sometimes I'll look back at a page of notes, the first half will be normal, suddenly I'll use a half page of script, then a 1/4 page of normal, then like a 1/3 page of script, and I'll even switch back & forth in the middle of words. Y et somehow I can still read it.

[Chisoxrd5]

I too spent hours learning cursive...and now I can't even remember how to write it properly :banghead

 

So I never use it, not even on checks because my form or cur-print or whatever you want to call it, is impossible to decipher by the untrained eye.

[southsider2k5]

I use a keyboard if at all possible. Most of the time I print for work, and cursive for anything that no one else has to read.

[Kyyle23]

I had a teacher in 6th, 7th and 8th grade english who would give us detention if we:

 

-Did not write our paper in cursive

-Did not write our paper in proper paragraph form

-Did not write our paper with black pen

-Did not have back-up black pens if our current black pen ran out

-Wrote our papers on wide-rule paper as opposed to narrow-rule paper

-Did not write a daily essay on what we learned in the class

 

Needless to say, she handed out tons of detentions. She would regularly have 20-30 kids in her detention class after school, it was ridiculous. My brother was two years behind me, and told me she was forced into retirement because she had some crazy accident in which a kid broke his foot when she dropped a bookcase on it(she was holding the other end up, and didnt tell him she was gonna drop it).

 

When I went to my daughters pre-school fathers/child day last month, the teachers told me that they dont even teach uppercase first, because it just confuses kids to tell them that the first letter is uppercase and all the other letters are lowercase. I dont remember it being all that difficult.

[bmags]

i thought we were talking about the band :sad:

[Chisoxrd5]

i thought we were talking about the band :sad:

 

I just started listening to them..I dig

[mreye]

Great discussion!

 

I print everything and can do it probably 3 times faster than cursive. What was the point?

[LosMediasBlancas]

My cursive has always been awful. Even my signature sux and looks different every time. On cards, I usually have my wife sign both of our names, otherwise it looks like a kid got a hold of the pen.

[Mplssoxfan]

The only cursive I ever use is my signature. Everything else is printed uppercase. I think that comes from years of doing crosswords.

[AddisonStSox]

I write in cursive each and every day. It's the only thing I use when taking notes in class. I didn't realize how much of a dying breed those who consistantly use cursive were until my friends kept saying, "Wow, do you really write like that? That's really good penmanship."

 

I'm much more comfortable with cursive, the words just seem to flow quicker and easier for me.

 

Plus, when I print, I usually use all CAPS for some reason.

[NorthSideSox72]

I was dragged kicking and screaming through cursive writing in elementery school, because I thought it was incredibly stupid. Having two kinds of writing seemed pretty damn useless to me. Waste of time. It was always the one thing I got low marks on.

 

So what do I think now? Same thing. Waste of time that was. Haven't used it since. The only thing cursive I've written since 3rd grade is my signature.

[bjm676]

If I wrote cursive, people would think I was a doctor...

 

I only use it to write checks. Otherwise, it's print, print, print.

[Iwritecode]

I write in cursive each and every day.  It's the only thing I use when taking notes in class.  I didn't realize how much of a dying breed those who consistantly use cursive were until my friends kept saying, "Wow, do you really write like that?  That's really good penmanship."

 

I'm much more comfortable with cursive, the words just seem to flow quicker and easier for me.

 

Plus, when I print, I usually use all CAPS for some reason.

 

 

My mom and best friend write only in cursive. My wife writes in a combination of print and cursive. Somehow she manages to print while never taking the pencil off the paper.

 

I only use it when signing my name. Otherwise I print because I want to be able to read it again at a later date.

 

My oldest is in 4th grade and can write it cursive with no problem. My second-oldest is in 2nd grade and still uses printing. They do stress writing all the letters with a "tail" at the end. It's supposed to help them transition into cursive easier.

 

I never did the "tail" thing and always got poor penmanship grades because of it.

Edited February 9, 2006 by Iwritecode

[Iwritecode]

For those of you with kids, do they even teach cursive any more? With computers everywhere these days, I don't see a need for it. I was always told it was "the way adults write", but I can't think of anyone that uses it regularly besides teachers.

 

If you couldn't read cursive you wouldn't be able to read the front of the Sox road jersies.

 

I think the only time I see cursive anywhere is on advertisements. Just stop and look around you and try to find something (not hand-written) in cursive.

 

The only think I could find was the word "Culligan" on our water cooler and "swingline" on my stapler.

Edited February 9, 2006 by Iwritecode

[greasywheels121]

 

Billy Madison: Bunt. B-U-N-T, in perfect cursive. Got any more brain busters?

Veronica Vaughn: How about 'Rizzuto'?

[billy ponders, then writes]

Veronica Vaughn: Rirruto?

Billy Madison: Those're Z's.

Veronica Vaughn: They look like R's to me.

Billy Madison: You're cheating! Rizzuto's not a word! He's a baseball player!

[Iwritecode]

 

Billy Madison: Bunt. B-U-N-T, in perfect cursive. Got any more brain busters?

Veronica Vaughn: How about 'Rizzuto'?

[billy ponders, then writes]

Veronica Vaughn: Rirruto?

Billy Madison: Those're Z's.

Veronica Vaughn: They look like R's to me.

Billy Madison: You're cheating! Rizzuto's not a word! He's a baseball player!

 

I've never liked the way a cursive z looks. Also a capital Q.

[Cerbaho-WG]

I write everything in cursive. I find it much faster to scribble down notes in lectures, and it's neater in my mind.

[greasywheels121]

I've never liked the way a cursive z looks. Also a capital Q.

 

Same, being my name starts w/ a Z, that's probably one thing that got me away from cursive so fast.

[WilliamTell]

I'm usually a print person with the exception of my name. But I also write better in cursive and usually if I'm in a cursive writing mood, I tend to write cursive but a lot of my letters, especialy capital letters are in print form.

[Flash Tizzle]

You know, reflecting on the topic, I probably haven't written ANY word--aside my signature--in cursive since junior high. This is dating back atleast seven years. Never throughout high school or college have I been recquired to write an assignment in cursive. I truly believe it's a dying form of writing. It's intention, before computers, was as a proper (and supposedly neat) method to compose letters, assignments, etc.

 

Cursive always put extra strain on my ring finger, anyways. This is because I hold a pencil oddly compared to most people. Most hold a pencil with their pointer/thumb and rest on the middle finger whereas I use the middle/pointer and rest the pencil on my ring finger. There's a small, raised bump on my ring finger which hurt whenever I'd write long assignments in cursive. To this day I still have it, but it doesn't bother me as much as it did in grade school.

Edited February 9, 2006 by Flash Tizzle

[SnB]

This has come up in conversations with friends every so often and everyone seems to have the same experience.

 

-You spend forever learning it in grammar school.

-They make you write in cursive until 8th grade.

-No one ever uses it in High school or above unless for a signature.

 

Though saying that, alot of my print has little forms of cursive in it.