Do you know cursive?

[VisionofMilotic]

Some of you might know how to read or write cursive, depending on your age or the particular school you go to/went to, but to a lot of people it might look like an alien language they don't understand at all. Did you ever learn it?

I did, but it was a limited introduction. In our second grade classroom the cursive alphabet was displayed on the wall and I vaguely remember either some writing exercises in class or homework where we practiced writing a little in it, like spelling our names, but I just know enough to be able to read something written in it. Even though I know what the letters look like, I don't write well in it. When I handwrite something it ends up a whimsical mixed script where there are cursive letters, particularly the lowercase letters y, b and l, because for some reason I feel drawn to make loops when I write, but other letters like s, q and z will just be printed, and none of them ever connect, unless I am leaving a legal a signature on something like a package or a check, and it will be more of a scrawl because I am not making the letters with a lot of confidence.

How about the rest of you? This inquiring mind wants to know :)

 

[zeostar]

I learned a little bit but I was in elementary school right when it was being cut from curriculum. As a result I'm not fundamentally sound in cursive as I would prefer to be.

Later on my theatre teacher actually taught us individually on how to sign our names in cursive in her own time. She said that it would be important to know.

I appreciate her doing this and it's helped me quite a bit.

 

[Devalue]

Learned it in third grade. Cannot recall using it outside then, except for signatures. Probably talked about needing to write papers in cursive in later grades. May have been true at the time (or somewhat close to it). Became a thing of the past as computers became more common. (Already had a computer lab in the school at this time and several years before that.)

 

[nl4real]

Yes, like the first or second grade. Aside from signing stuff, it comes in handy once in a while.

 

[Auticorn]

Nope. I never learned the way I was supposed to or could because everything went so fast. :( Most places are okay with me signing in print though, as long as I let them know I'm unable to sign in cursive.

 

[Megan]

We learnt it in first grade. I think we were also required to use it for at least elementary school? After school there was a phase when I didn't use it much. However, a couple times ago I picked it back up. In the process I even adjusted a couple letters that I still found awkward to write in cursive; letters like H or x. I also got in the habit to make circles above characters like i and j.

Although, I really need to write slow for it to look good. Otherwise it ends up being a huge mess. ^^"

 

[RadEmpoleon]

I learned in third grade, though I do remember that I somehow knew how to (sort of) write my name in cursive before then. Honestly not sure how I ever figured that out. I haven't used it much beyond middle school, aside from signatures.

 

[Jbsundown]

I'm going to throw someone under the bus with this one but @kpac_xjinx does and it's very beautiful !

Me though, nope not at all. I can barely write legibly enough as it is unfortunately

 

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

Yes I do. We were required to learn it back when I was in Elementary School.

 

[PoryKid575]

My school tried forcing us to learn when I was in 3rd grade, but I forgot right after. I haven't had any issues signing my name in print (except with 1 specific person, and I just got someone else to write my name in cursive that time).

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

I had the misfortune of learning it in grade school from 2nd grade until 3rd or 4th grade. I viscerally hated it. The teachers told us, "You'll need to learn cursive to fill out checks from the bank." Boy, that felt like a lifetime ago. Nobody uses checks anymore. I think they're even less common than the fax now. I actually don't think cursive writing was used for anything other than checks at the time either. It was super uncommon to ever need to write a letter in cursive at the time. I've heard some schools required cursive writing as a regular thing for language arts back in the 90s. I'm actually not sure I've ever been told why they invented cursive writing. Even if someone was a pro at cursive writing, it's not that much faster than print. That's why courtroom stenographers have this insanely designed keyboard.

While I'm on the topic, we had this one art teacher in middle school who was ...kind of responsible for ruining my handwriting forever. She would have these definitions of all kinds of things on the Active Board, and I didn't know I was supposed to abbreviate the definitions, so she kept rushing me to writing them down. This ended up teaching me to write things in a hurry instead of legibly, and I've NEVER recovered from it in the 15+ years since then. I want to correct it as an adult, but my hand cramps when I hold a pencil for writing now, and it's not worth getting tests done for it, so I just... have to live with it.

 

[Palamon]

Not anymore. And, I just don't care. My handwriting is atrocious no matter what. I can sign my name but I do it lazily.

 

[_confused_piplup_]

That's kinda the standard way we write here

 

[kpac_xjinx]

I'm going to throw someone under the bus with this one but @kpac_xjinx does and it's very beautiful !

Me though, nope not at all. I can barely write legibly enough as it is unfortunately

Does a gamer like ya ever need to though? 😏
Well for me though, it's still far from being excellent honestly, plus I have had a toxic relationship with it... a barely cursive handwriting is what I had been taught when I first started writing. Yeah, barely cursive- like letters would be connected and tried to be made in a cursive way, but instead of curly lines I would often end up making it zigzag... :p and would write so big and dirtily, it felt a disgrace to cursive! Anyway, after that I once tried writing in script but was discouraged, however, ended up retaining some letters in script mode! ( I still end up using lower case "b" as a script letter often :p) Then my uncle once saw my dirty mess of a handwriting, and made me practice a bit, so atleast I put the dirt away... then our school soon made us fill a whole book of cursive practice for holiday homework! it was crazy, I ended up procrastinating it for the most days, and rushing it last few days... the cursive was so off... it looked really BARELY cursive haha... then time passed, and... I actually went back to this toxic ex(-handwriting)! I just felt drawn I dunno why and tried genuinely making it neat and curled... that was when I truly started writing a bit cursive... then quite some years later, a friend forced me to buy a fountain pen :p I was reluctant, but felt so good when I tried it... Like I had to be careful not to be heavy on the pen since it could break the nib! The fear was real... but the patience allowed me to have a bit of a handwriting that I could finally call cursive, without feeling embarrassed, even if it's still not good enough haha!

 

[Tsutarja]

yep i learned cursive in third grade...used it a lot after learning it and into 4th and 5th grade as well

afterward it was kinda a bygone concept to use it, but i know it to where i can read it and also still write in it if i tried

 

[Harmonie]

I learned cursive in elementary school or so but forgot all of it aside from signing my name. lol.

 

[Nicholas_the_Renegade]

I had to learn cursive in primary school, and used it up until maybe year 10 in highschool when I had a teacher that didn't know how to read it, and demanded that I stop using it. These days I only really use it when writing cards to older family members.

 

[Setsuna]

I can read and write cursive, I learned it in elementary school, but I've never once understood why people make a big deal of it. I write fairly quickly anyways and sometimes I only notice after the fact how sometimes the way I write a letter in a rush ends up looking like cursive. Basic hand-written English and this fancy prim and proper cursive are both in the same language, so as long as whoever needs to read the writing can read and understand it, what's the difference?

 

[Cyddeon]

I not only know cursive, but can write/read cursive in English and Portuguese, and I also know the cursive from the russian alphabet (it's even more difficult 🥵), had to learn all of them growing up, strict parents and all...

 

[Nicholas_the_Renegade]

I can read and write cursive, I learned it in elementary school, but I've never once understood why people make a big deal of it. I write fairly quickly anyways and sometimes I only notice after the fact how sometimes the way I write a letter in a rush ends up looking like cursive. Basic hand-written English and this fancy prim and proper cursive are both in the same language, so as long as whoever needs to read the writing can read and understand it, what's the difference?

For me it carries a sense of cultural identity. Even though my handwriting is barely legible these days, I am happy I know how to do it. I don't take it for granted. I'm part of the last generation that was forced to use cursive in school, so I guess I also feel a sense of responsibility for cultural preservation. Although, to be fair, I do also have a proclivity for these things. I'm an artist at heart, and interested enough in writing to consider making the effort to practice a formal script as an adult, just because it would please me to have more beautiful writing.