handwriting style

[GeneD]

Hello all.
I've just looked through a Wikipedia article, and there appear to be several styles of English handwriting, which made me a bit confused. Hence a couple of questions:
Which style of handwriting were you taught at school?
What kind of handwriting do you use in your everyday life?
Is it looped cursive or something different?

 

[emsr2d2]

When I was at school, we were taught simply to write the individual letters separately first and then, from about the age of 8, we were taught "joined-up writing", now called "cursive". I have no idea what they teach kids now and, judging by the state of the handwriting of a friend's 13-year-old, I'd be surprised if they taught any kind of handwriting skills!

 

[GeneD]

Thanks, Ems. Do you write this way? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEeYX3RZhUI

I saw an article today on the internet where it was said that in the US they don't teach kids this thing anymore! I don't know to what extent it's true, though, but I was shocked to hear this!

 

[emsr2d2]

My handwriting these days is a mixture of cursive and non-cursive. I connect some letters and not others. My writing now doesn't remotely resemble my writing in the small amount of schoolwork I still have in my possession.

 

[GoesStation]

I saw an article today on the internet where it was said that in the US they don't teach kids this thing anymore! I don't know to what extent it's true, though, but I was shocked to hear this!

The United States has thousands of school districts. I think some states have statewide curriculums, but the general rule is that each school district has a significant level of autonomy. Therefore, some schools teach cursive and some don't. It's a controversial subject, as you might imagine.

I was first taught to write in block letters, then in looped cursive similar but not identical to that in the video. I tried using cursive for a year or two. It didn't work well for me so I reverted to a more elegant, partially-connected version of the block letters I'd learned initially.

When I look at my handwriting from my college days, I find it quite attractive. Nowadays I can barely write at all because of minor physical handicaps, tremor and writer's cramp. Luckily it's rarely necessary anymore.

 

[GoesStation]

My handwriting these days is a mixture of cursive and non-cursive. I connect some letters and not others. My writing now doesn't remotely resemble my writing in the small amount of schoolwork I still have in my possession.

That's much like mine when I could still write. Now I have to write entirely disconnected letters if I want to make reading them remotely possible. It isn't pretty. :-(

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I know a few people who use straight-ahead cursive, but most people I know use their own styles, which include elements of both cursive and print.

 

[Tdol]

I believe I have dysgraphia and struggle to write with a pen, though I was born when this was seen as simply bad writing. I write in block capitals, though I am fine with a keyboard.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Thanks, Ems. Do you write this way? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEeYX3RZhUI

I saw an article today on the internet where it was said that in the US they don't teach kids this thing anymore! I don't know to what extent it's true, though, but I was shocked to hear this!

It's a great development, because now we can write things that kids can't read. Handy!

It's like reading a clock. The kids only ready digital faces, so they often have no idea what time it is, and we do.

It always pays to stay a couple of steps ahead of 'em.

 

[SoothingDave]

The best form of auto theft prevention is a manual transmission!

 

[emsr2d2]

The best form of auto theft prevention is a manual transmission!

Not in the UK!

 

[PeterCW]

I was first taught to print my letters and then moved on to looped cursive at the end of the 1950s. These days my handwriting is illegible if I try and write at any speed and I generally prefer to type.

 

[Tdol]

It's a great development, because now we can write things that kids can't read. Handy!

And how many of us older folk could read an entire novel in Gothic script?

 

[GoesStation]

My mother learned to write in pre-war Poland. At the end of the war, she worked briefly with the Red Army registering survivors. I assume this involved some writing in Cyrillic script.

Her next stop was a year and a half in England doing a high-school equivalency during which I think she adapted her handwriting to be closer to whatever was taught in the UK in those days.

She finally immigrated to the United States, but by then her handwriting was permanently fixed as a mish-mash of competing styles. She was a prolific postcard-writer — remember postcards, anyone? — and I rarely received one from her that didn't have at least one word that I couldn't decipher.

 

[jutfrank]

This thread has inspired me to pop a nice bottle of red, slap on a bit of Bach, and kick back to some fine calligraphy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq9uF6-Q4gU

 

[probus]

I knew a man who had laboriously taught himself to write in the sort of cursive hand that was generally used in the 18th and 19th centuries. The downside was that hardly anyone could read it.

 

[GoesStation]

A write-only memory!

 

[GeneD]

It seems that this variant of the cursive 'p' isn't too popular, is it? When I searched on the internet for the cursive 'p', google showed me a bunch of those. I was sure that I had seen the first variant of the cursive 'p' and did find it... But I'm at a loss a bit... The were so few results that I'm not sure if the first variant is even used. The thing is, in Russian we also use the same letter (for a different sound, but it doesn't matter) and for me this variant is more convenient. I wouldn't really like to repeat the feat of the acquaintance of Probus's.

 

[emsr2d2]

It isn't. It's the one I learnt c 1953, but I haven't used it for many years.

I have handwritten school essays from when I was about 12 years old and I was using it then. By the time I was exam age (15/16), I'd stopped using it and I definitely don't use it now.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

It seems that this variant of the cursive 'p' isn't too popular, is it?

No, not at all. This is the first time I've seen it.

When I searched on the internet for the cursive 'p', google showed me a bunch of those. I was sure that I had seen the first variant of the cursive 'p' and did find it... But I'm at a loss a bit... The were so few results that I'm not sure if the first variant is even used.

Anything's possible.

The thing is, in Russian we also use the same letter (for a different sound, but it doesn't matter) and for me this variant is more convenient.

The usual way is easy enough if you practice it a few times.

I wouldn't really like to repeat the feat of the acquaintance of Probus's.

Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Russia anymore!