Cursive Users!

[swamptrogg]

I know a lot of people here are into analogue stuff, so I figured people might have some interesting insights! Cursive is kind of dead in North America, though I'm not sure about other countries. I was one of the last generations in my area to learn cursive in school, and we never used it outside of the year we were forced to. The only thing I wrote in cursive for years was my signature (and now I don't even write that!) I've gotten really into fountain pens in the past 2 years, and writing cursive is far more comfortable now that I don't need to use as much pressure, but I'm totally out of practice so I'm trying to re-teach myself the basics.

I learned Palmer Method Cursive in school, and I don't like the way certain letters look (capital A, both kinds of F, capital G and I, both kinds of Z) and I found it hard to use, so I stopped as soon as I could. I'm really interested in exploring different font styles and finding something that works for me though!



If you still use cursive, what kind did you learn and what do you use? Do you write exclusively in cursive, or just for certain things? I'd love to see some examples of your handwriting! 

[candycanearter07]

If you still use cursive, what kind did you learn and what do you use? Do you write exclusively in cursive, or just for certain things? I'd love to see some examples of your handwriting! 

I don't write in cursive a lot anymore, partially bc my handwriting is terrible, and partially because I'm left handed. I can read it pretty well though! I'm pretty sure I learned D'Nelian in school, but I can't be sure since it's been so long since I've actually used it!! The only time I really use cursive is for signatures.

[DiffydaDude]

Cursive is dead? i learned cursive in 5th grade, i use it a lot and so do a lot of other people at school. I also do have calligraphy pens as well, and i can sign my name too lol. The kind i learned was similar to the palmer kind, i think it was dnealian? but i started writing the letters my own way because the thing is, the point of cursive is to write faster and still have it be readable, so really you can make your letters look any way you want as long as it still looks like it. Like i write my Gs as a C with a tail because the normal version is really stupid and looks nothing like a G. But you can draw it anyway as long as its a G, you could draw it like Ᵹ or Ɡ or whatever other way you want.
I might post a pic of my cursive in a moment

[imnotjahan]

Like the others here I learnt some cursive in school, but only for a year in second grade, so my skills with it were not great. I never did much writing in elementary I don't think though, so it mattered little, and I used it as my primary writing style until fifth grade when my teacher couldn't read my handwriting, so I tried to go to print. It was a bit between a cursive and a print, and even now when I print write I do it somewhat strangely (I start letters bottom-to-top, and my a's look like that of a cursive's) but that's still how I've written mostly since then. I had only learnt how to write in cursive lowercase properly (and some of those difficult letters you mentioned, i.e. z, I either didn't learn or had forgotten completely) but a few years ago I started to write in cursive again, for journaling and letters mostly. Sine then I've pieced together those parts I never learned and think it easier to read than my print writing, but I can't write very fast like that, and thus still don't do it often. I do usually write the headings of my notes in cursive though, let me see if I have a picture--

[Eunice]

Now, bear in mind that not everyone here is from the USA, and are not likely to refer to "joined up writing" as cursive. Having said that, yes, I use what in the UK would be cursive, though it is not at all like your example. Sadly, I don't handwrite as much as I used to as I have arthritis. When I was 10 years old, I won a prize for my handwriting! I won an Osmiroid italic fountain pen. It is so old that it uses a lever on the side to fill with ink, and Osmiroid no longer exists. I still have it, it's 53 years old!

[BlazingCobaltX]

Cursive is how everyone gets taught how to write here. You're forced to use it for several years in grade school, until they introduce print instead. This is more or less the font I learned:



I remember wondering why we had to switch from one style to another all of a sudden, but once I did I never looked back to cursive. The only thing remnant from writing like this is that I sometimes connect my letters when I'm writing very fast, but if I want to write like this right now I have to think really hard about all the letters. The lowercase r is the most notable letter of this font.

[larvapuppy]

I recently started taking all my notes in cursive, and I find it a lot faster and easier than printing! I was inspired to make this change by my coworkers, who handwrite everything and have beautiful penmanship. I struggle to make my printed writing look neat, but cursive somehow always looks at least half-decent. The only problem is that some of my friends can't read cursive!

My fiance recently told me that he thinks cursive is obsolete, because we all have portable computers now and typing is much faster. But writing by hand is way better for learning and memorizing whatever you've written! So as a student I much prefer writing my notes by hand.

As for the method we learned in school, I'm not sure. D'Nealian method seems similar, but there are a few letters that I write differently. It's been around 20 years since I learned so I'm sure I've butchered whatever method it was by now.

[DiffydaDude]

Now, bear in mind that not everyone here is from the USA, and are not likely to refer to "joined up writing" as cursive. Having said that, yes, I use what in the UK would be cursive, though it is not at all like your example. Sadly, I don't handwrite as much as I used to as I have arthritis. When I was 10 years old, I won a prize for my handwriting! I won an Osmiroid italic fountain pen. It is so old that it uses a lever on the side to fill with ink, and Osmiroid no longer exists. I still have it, it's 53 years old!

Wow thats pretty cool! send a photo of your fountain pen

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

I learned to write in "Latin Type-Out":


My first teacher was a friggin dragon, and I always got bad grades for my type face .

My handwriting is a bastardization of it and single letters. If I manage it, I'll upload a small sample later.

[TheFrugalGamer]

I love cursive, and I'll admit I was kind of upset when schools around me announced they were no longer going to teach it. I get why they did it, but I journal by hand frequently, and I use cursive almost exclusively in my books, so it's kind of dear to me. Here's a sample:


The unique circumstances are that I was homeschooled, and really didn't appreciate practicing my cursive letters. I fought against it for a while, but eventually figured out how to draw each letter in a way that worked for my hands. I think I started with D'Nealian, though.

Love seeing everyone else's examples!

[DiffydaDude]

I learned to write in "Latin Type-Out":


My first teacher was a friggin dragon, and I always got bad grades for my type face .

My handwriting is a bastardization of it and single letters. If I manage it, I'll upload a small sample later.

Thats literally how my handwriting is straight up! If i write too fast most people couldnt even tell what im writing, not even me sometimes. anyways heres my cursive

[glitterpigeon]

ive been wanting to write in cursive again, and honestly I kinda already do to an extent. I have a learning disability in written expression (aka dysgraphia) which doesn't much stop me from excelling at writing, like, cognitively? (I'm a poet!) but mostly makes the physical act of writing awful. and i notice I naturally write with my letters connected and it's incredibly hard for me to do it another way. however, this is not cursive, its some sort of weird other thing that makes sense to me and me alone. so i've been thinking about trying to more intentionally use cursive. in the hopes that will make my writing clearer. though I hated learning cursive in school so this my be a fool's errand...