Big Blue Huddle

General Category => The Front Porch => Topic started by: MightyGiants on February 02, 2023, 11:07:14 AM

Title: Cursive writing
Post by: MightyGiants on February 02, 2023, 11:07:14 AM
https://twitter.com/MikeTanier/status/1621177697413242880
Title: Re: Cursive writing
Post by: Jolly Blue Giant on February 02, 2023, 11:41:09 AM
None of the schools around here teach cursive anymore. Most kids can't read it. My Israeli nieces and nephews are fluent in both English and Hebrew. In fact, one of my nieces read a Hebrew book (writing goes from right to left and from the back of a book to the front) to other kids speaking in English as she read it. She was 9 years old at the time. None of them can read cursive though. I asked my niece why not and she says, we never learned it, but it's so beautiful...like art

Cursive writing can be used to send secret messages in the future as it will look like scrambled Chinese...LOL

I feel sorry for history majors in college who never learned cursive as just about all old documents in US history are written in cursive. They'll have to learn a skill they should have learned in first grade

A typical writing from the late 1700s (not sure I can read it):

(https://i.postimg.cc/MHm23q8q/cursive.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/n9rPC8zP)
Title: Re: Cursive writing
Post by: LennG on February 02, 2023, 12:05:57 PM

 I may have had the worst handwriting EVER in public school. Since then I have printed everything and people still can't read it.
I could if I had to write in cursive, but I can guarantee no one would be able to read it unless I wrote it l;ike a 4th grader.
Title: Re: Cursive writing
Post by: MightyGiants on February 02, 2023, 12:08:58 PM
I wonder if learning how to type on a keyboard and small mobile device has more value than cursive
Title: Re: Cursive writing
Post by: Jolly Blue Giant on February 02, 2023, 12:19:47 PM
Quote from: MightyGiants on February 02, 2023, 12:08:58 PMI wonder if learning how to type on a keyboard and small mobile device has more value than cursive

Well, educators seem to think so. Apparently they believe handwritten notes and papers will become unnecessary. When I was in high school I was a bit of a unicorn in that I could type 70 WPM on the old manual typewriters. I was in a typewriting class made up of all girls and one guy - me. I beat them all in speed and in minimal errors. Might have something to do with being a piano player, I don't know. I made money on the side during college typing up other people's term papers. I never met a male who typed like me

Now, every kid from here to Timbucktoo can type like a 1960's secretary. And the way they fly over their phone when typing messages is astounding

This was a great scene from "Coach", but it leaves out Dobber's last line after he says "all of them". In the show, he also said, "but I'm not as fast as you"

Title: Re: Cursive writing
Post by: MightyGiants on February 02, 2023, 12:23:02 PM
Quote from: Jolly Blue Giant on February 02, 2023, 12:19:47 PMWell, educators seem to think so. Apparently they believe handwritten notes and papers will become unnecessary. When I was in high school I was a bit of a unicorn in that I could type 70 WPM on the old manual typewriters. I was in a typewriting class made up of all girls and one guy - me. I beat them all in speed and in minimal errors. Might have something to do with being a piano player, I don't know. I made money on the side during college typing up other people's term papers. I never met a male who typed like me

Now, every kid from here to Timbucktoo can type like a 1960's secretary. And the way they fly over their phone when typing messages is astounding

This was a great scene from "Coach", but it leaves out Dobber's last line after he says "all of them". In the show, he also said, "but I'm not as fast as you"



I took typing in HS, on the first electric IBM typewriters (but had a manual one at home).  Back when I was going to school, if you were going to college, a year of typing was a good thing.  I was one of the few guys in the class, but slow doesn't even describe how bad I was.  I literally had to do extra credit just to pass.  My issue was making mistakes (and not being all that quick).

What's funny is that all my time on computer keyboards, my typing ability has skyrocketed.  I can type very quickly (doesn't hurt that I can quickly backspace).  I would guess my typing is now in the 50-wpm to 70-wpm range.
Title: Re: Cursive writing
Post by: MightyGiants on February 02, 2023, 01:31:34 PM
I am curious, how much do you still use cursive?   I have noticed I tend to print more than I use cursive when I write by hand (which other than short notes and greeting cards, isn't that often)
Title: Re: Cursive writing
Post by: ozzie on February 02, 2023, 01:55:05 PM
I was taught cursive and know how to read it. Used it in school all the time as it was necessary. When I graduated I became a mechanical draftsman / designer, still using paper and pencil at that time. (no AutoCad or drawing programs)  In the drafting field everything was written in block letters. Since then I just find it easier and faster for me to print than to write cursive.
The only thing I write in cursive nowadays is my signature.
Title: Re: Cursive writing
Post by: Jolly Blue Giant on February 02, 2023, 02:33:04 PM
Quote from: ozzie on February 02, 2023, 01:55:05 PMI was taught cursive and know how to read it. Used it in school all the time as it was necessary. When I graduated I became a mechanical draftsman / designer, still using paper and pencil at that time. (no AutoCad or drawing programs)  In the drafting field, everything was written in block letters. Since then I just find it easier and faster for me to print than to write cursive.
The only thing I write in cursive nowadays is my signature.

Pretty much the same with me. I spent a couple of years drafting before CAD came along. Forced me to print everything. I still draw my threes and fives with downward tail and flat tops, and eights (two circle snowman) because of it and use the French 7... 7 as well as a diagonal slash on zeros to get rid of any ambiguity of whether it's a zero or the letter O. I usually print when putting a grocery list together (because my sight is so bad I need to write it clear to be able to read it in the store without digging out my reading glasses), but when I'm in a hurry I write cursive. My signature is such a scrambled mess that I usually have to print my name under it or after it