stnichola

Well, if you're a guy the only cursive you really need to learn is how to sign the cheques.

sbscout

Since our educational systems often use the Japanese as a model to judge themselves against, what do they do? I cannot believe that the vast majority of their work is not done on the keyboard.

From what I've read, their symbolic language is able to be understood, but very few write it anymore. Isn't this a parallel?

Cursive can be a beautiful way to communicate with one another, but I doubt it will be a significant part of our lives very soon (if it isn't already).

__________________
Always question authority... it'll keep the bastards on their toes!

yournamehere

I had to go through this twice. First, in school, we were taught cursive writing. Mine was so illegible that I always chose to print; now I prefer to type.

Then I went through it later in college, where a quarter of my grade for a Graphic Communication class (and daily homework throughout the semester) was based on learning proper printing for architectural and engineering construction documents (Known as "City Blueprint" font, or something similar, in the modern world). And this was at a time when almost all construction documents were being produced by CAD graphics. Some habits die hard.

__________________
If you want to avoid 95% of internet spelling errors:
"If your ridiculous pants are too loose, you're definitely going to lose them. Tell your two loser friends over there that they're going to lose theirs, too."
It won't hurt your fashion sense, either.

hunnychile

Every designer or achitect I've known has beautiful printing and it's a joy to read. It makes me respect them for being concise and well trained. This, of course, makes me re-think my statement that cursive must be taught in all our schools. If you can't write well in cursive, at least be skillful and legible in print. But let's not skip the mastery of at least one or the other.

My most skilled computer tech (fresh from the Navy) prints so well it looks like it was typed! His reports are the best in-house and he makes my job easy when I have to type those into a dBase for billing or other reports.

ps - font - City Blueprint rocks, BTW. It's also the name of a few terrific printing companies in the Bay Area near San Francisco, CA. Or at least they used to be there....not a lot of "blueprints" out there like there used to be in the 70-80s.

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"I need compassion, understanding and chocolate." - NJB

MoonDog

When I was in the 1st and 2nd grades, back in the early 70's, I kept asking my teacher why we needed to learn cursive. I was very confused, because we were reading in print. Apparently it became a problem, and the school called my parents for a conference. My mother told me afterwards that I had to learn it because I needed to learn how to sign my name and read other people's names. I stopped being a pain about it and did the lessons, and of course I eventually learned how to write.

After the 11th grade, however, none of my papers were allowed to be written. As college prep, they were to be typewritten. It worked for me, as I had just inputted a program (found in a magazine) in BASIC for my Commodore 64 that was a basic word processor. Between that and my old Smith-Corona, the cursive style was relegated to the back seat. In college, nothing was handwritten, ever. So, since 1984, I have only used the cursive style to write my name, and that only in legal or formal situations.

The only time I need to read cursive handwriting is when someone of my parents generation or older sends me a letter or a postcard, or when I am looking at another persons signature. As a result, I have - for all intents and purposes - forgotten how to write many of the letters of the English alphabet in cursive. I tested myself once, and discovered that it took me close to a minute to write a few simple sentences in cursive!

As you can probably tell, I fully support phasing out this outmoded format. There have been other handwriting scripts in the past, and society has moved past them as time and progress changed our modes of communication. This is really no different in my opinion.

JoeSimpson

I personally never understood why cursive was taught. Most the time you can't even read it, since everyone writes it differently. Good ole print is good enough for me.

hunnychile

Just an old historical fact: cursive was created to be a faster way to write. Supposedly because it was all connected and flowing - this was a time saver.

Really.

If people print well. That's a good thing, too.

__________________
"I need compassion, understanding and chocolate." - NJB

highthief

No, no need for it to be taught. My kids have a lot more to learn - such as computers - that I never did. Just because I had to learn it over 30 years ago is not a valid reason for my kids to have to learn it. Printing - yes. Keyboard skills - yes. Cursive - no.

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Si vis pacem parabellum.

little_tippler

I think it should be taught, but it doesn't have to be as important. I love writing by hand and I think printing is pretty boring. I use a mix of printing and cursive and still know how to write cursive for the most part.

I think a lot of people's writing is atrocious so they should definitely learn to write by hand, and well.

I don't see the value of learning to type over learning to write by hand. I don't think we should rely on machines for everything. I also don't see why people need to learn to type since I type very fast and nobody taught me. Seems pretty straight-forward, it's just punching at keys and learning to find a way to use both hands at a regular rhythm.

Maybe if your job entails typing fast you should take a course in it, but teaching kids? I also don't get how kids nowadays do all their work on computer. I think that writing things out yourself is far more conducive to learning than typing it out and watching it appear on a screen. I don't think it helps in connecting with your work and really understanding it. I don't think making thing easier for kids is always the best option. A lot of people these days turn out bloody lazy and it's easy to see why.

There is also a sense of pride in something written or drawn by you that is not quite as strong when you have made it with the aid of a machine. At least, I felt that as a kid, sometimes even now as an adult.

__________________
Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918

CandleInTheDark

Typing is essentially a method of increasing the speed of our readable writing, and it's benefits are increased with larger documents.

What amount of research does an elementary student need to conduct where computer skills are useful? What amount of writing, or problem solving, is so large that is must be done on computer? How far behind will students actually be leaving secondary school if they take up computer skills in high school rather than in elementary?

How disconnected from their work will students be from typing rather than writing? How much more crappy field notes will I have to endure because no one took the time to teach them?

A computer is an advanced tool, for advanced students. Elementary students are not advanced in anyway.

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Where there is doubt there is freedom.

girldetective

I think penmanship is an important/useful art form and communication tool. The traditional Palmer method cursive that was originally taught in PDX schools was transformed by two calligraphers in PDX, Inga Dubay and Barbara Getty, in the 80s by introducing italic, which is so legible and beautiful it is a pleasure to see. Handwriting Tips Penmanship - NYTimes.com

Around the same time, there was a new program instigated in the schools callled "Writers' Workshop". This had nothing to do with penmanship and all to do with expressing yourself on paper. The key to this program was "peer editing." This program, and similar ones, I believe have contributed to a breakdown in our writing skills as a society in re punctuation, spelling, and other written communication standards.

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As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons...be cheerful; strive for happiness - Desiderata