Young people, can you write or read cursive?

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Crono

Lifer
Aug 8, 2001
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I can read and write in cursive, though I'm a bit rusty since I never do it anymore and haven't since elementary school.

I hate when people use their own hybrid cursive/print combination. It seems a lot of people do this, mostly people in their 30s to 50s. I have no problem reading neat cursive, but when people mix it with print and it's not 100% legible it becomes worse than trying to decipher hieroglyphs. For most things it's just a mild annoyance, but when you are trying to read medical test requisitions it's a pain.
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
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Partially. If the penmanship is good, I can usually read it though slowly. I haven't read any quantity of cursive since middle school, and I'm 30. I can write about 90% of cursive letters, though I have to look up a few less commonly used letters, and I'd call the product barely legible crap.

Cursive is well on its way to becoming a dead language.
 

kamikazekyle

Senior member
Feb 23, 2007
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I'm 30 so not exactly young, but read and write cursive just fine. Pending the fact that someone writes legibly. I actually use cursive on a daily basis with a fountain pen. It's to the point where it's faster and more legible than my print, which has never been that great despite exclusive use for something like 18+ years. I even spent some time as an adult trying to improve my print (along with a stint of teaching myself how to write ambidexterously), but it didn't help.

Though I won't really kid myself and say it's a necessity anymore. Outside of artistic style, pangs of romanticism, or sheer preference, it's "requirement" faded with fountain pens and the rise of computers. Even when I was growing up we were taught cursive in 2nd/3rd, but by 6th grade the only teachers that wanted cursive were a select few English instructors that seemed to give the school a run for the oldest entity within the county.
 

StrangerGuy

Diamond Member
May 9, 2004
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Partially. If the penmanship is good, I can usually read it though slowly. I haven't read any quantity of cursive since middle school, and I'm 30. I can write about 90% of cursive letters, though I have to look up a few less commonly used letters, and I'd call the product barely legible crap.

Cursive is well on its way to becoming a dead language.

Fvck cursive. How much time wasted on that POS in terms of learning, reading and writing it.
 

sourn

Senior member
Dec 26, 2012
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Lol I'm older, but ya I can right it. If you can read it that's a different matter lol. My hands don't work like they used to.

And honestly there's like almost no point in it. Everything official is typed/printed except your signature (mine consists of first letter and a line lol).
 

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
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I'm 42, and if something is written in cursive, I don't even bother.

I feel like the 3rd grade was wasted learning that garbage. You know why the Asians are so much smarter than Americans? They spent 3rd grade learning calculus instead of making squiggly lines.
 

xanis

Lifer
Sep 11, 2005
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<-- 24. I can, but poorly. Wasted so much time in school learning how to do it, and never used it past the ~4th grade except to sign my name.
 

Svnla

Lifer
Nov 10, 2003
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I do not understand how people can not read cursive hand writting unless it was really bad (like Jack Lew, the new Treasury Department head honcho, signature) to read. Can not write it? Yes, I understand. But can not read it?
<scratching head>

Jack Lew signature = http://www.slate.com/articles/life/..._you_tell_about_someone_from_handwriting.html


I have to say my cursive hand writting is not as good as I used to. Not a lot of practice = lost art.
 
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Staples

Diamond Member
Oct 28, 2001
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As far as I know, it was only recently dropped from the ciriculum of public schools so these people chiming it saying they are 25+ (my demographic and of course I know cursive) are not really the ones who wouldn't know.
 

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
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tbqhwy.com
I do not understand how people can not read cursive hand writting unless it was really bad (like Jack Lew, the new Treasury Department head honcho, signature) to read. Can not write it? Yes, I understand. But can not read it?
<scratching head>

Jack Lew signature = http://www.slate.com/articles/life/..._you_tell_about_someone_from_handwriting.html


I have to say my cursive hand writting is not as good as I used to. Not a lot of practice = lost art.

its not hard to figure this out.

im 31. last time i wrote anything in cursive was 15 years ago when i was in HS (not counting signature)
actually it may have been even longer. i know for Junior and senior year if we turned in papers that were written in cursive we automatically failed. everything had to be typed

i have to read it at most twice a year. Xmass ad B day cards from some people. and their handwrighting isnt great and is tiny
 
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Paul98

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2010
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As far as I know, it was only recently dropped from the ciriculum of public schools so these people chiming it saying they are 25+ (my demographic and of course I know cursive) are not really the ones who wouldn't know.

Good to hear, this is a totally useless skill. The only thing it's used for is to sign your name and seems a lot of signatures are just scribbles anyway. Or I guess doctors to write things down that only they can read.
 

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
427
126
tbqhwy.com
Good to hear, this is a totally useless skill. The only thing it's used for is to sign your name and seems a lot of signatures are just scribbles anyway. Or I guess doctors to write things down that only they can read.

my dad is a doctor and he might as well be useing hieroglyphs.

also medicne is going to electronic records and everything is imput from a comp. so ya