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[David Incorporated Esq.]

I write almost exclusively in cursive, and honestly it's for my own enjoyment; I like the way it looks. It's easy to see why it's not necessary to teach it because it's never required, just a shame to lose it.

Fun fact, when you put double-spacing after periods on the forums, it automatically reduces it to single-spacing. WHAT NOW.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

I can only hand write in cursive. Cursive ftw.

 

[Sharp]

I write almost exclusively in cursive, and honestly it's for my own enjoyment; I like the way it looks. It's easy to see why it's not necessary to teach it because it's never required, just a shame to lose it.

Fun fact, when you put double-spacing after periods on the forums, it automatically reduces it to single-spacing. WHAT NOW.

It doesn't, actually. HTML does that.

 

[Stet]

Then find and replace all and it's over with in two seconds. No reason for you to make such a big deal out of it.

I see you double spacing. It's making me furious.

 

[Lamel]

I think we should still teach it, the handwriting I see these days in many males is horrendous. Notice I said males.

But obviously typing is more useful.

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

It doesn't, actually. HTML does that.

Whatever it is, double-spacing apologists are undone by the very medium they use.

I think we should still teach it, the handwriting I see these days in many males is horrendous. Notice I said males.

I see that--I am very confused.

 

[Hitokage]

It doesn't, actually. HTML does that.

Yeah, all whitespace regardless of length in html is displayed as a single space, unless you explicitly call for extra spaces.

 

[Korey]

What bullshit. Cursive/Script is an important thing to learn.

No, it's not.

It's like math, after you graduate you almost never use it

 

[Sharp]

No, it's not.

It's like math, after you graduate you almost never use it

Wow.

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

No, it's not.

It's like math, after you graduate you almost never use it

Hahahahaha what a doofus.

 

[jamska]

It's detritus from a bygone era. Read it? Sure, but the notion that we should learn to hand write cursive for no other reason than tradition is kind of baffling.

It's like math, after you graduate you almost never use it

The implication that you graduated from anywhere is deeply unsettling.

 

[Earthstrike]

Cursive is something incredibly simple that people can tech themselves if they so choose. Over time we should expect that curricula develop and change to reflect current educational demands. Learning to type is an important skill and we should be glad schools are now teaching it and not losing time with cursive.

 

[kehs]

No, it's not.

It's like math, after you graduate you almost never use it

No wonder you can't grasp G+.

 

[Goro Majima]

No, it's not.

It's like math, after you graduate you almost never use it

If you make a career out of ditch digging or grocery bagging maybe.

 

[Blitzzz]

I can't remember the last time I had to read cursive....maybe some random prof used it in university but can't recall a time in the work place.

And what's with these people bringing up cursive for signature? Did people specifically tell you guys to sign that way? I thought most people just created their own out of scribbling something that looks cool

 

[Qwomo]

No, it's not.

It's like math, after you graduate you almost never use it

So very, very true.

 

[yacobod]

i think that's a good idea, cursive isn't really used anymore.

 

[TheSeks]

What bullshit. Cursive/Script is an important thing to learn.

For...?

Signatures? And that's about it? Signatures most people can't read because they're quick squiggles in the first place?

 

[Desperado]

Might as well teach them Latin.

That would be far more useful.

 

[Dead Man]

That would be far more useful.

Yeah, a basic course of Latin and Greek would actually be way more useful.

 

[def sim]

I write beautifully in cursive and the only time I use it is in signatures. Even then I simply write the first letter of each name and do squiggly lines for the rest.

Unless the document is super important!

 

[N4Us]

Funny thing is that I've got horrid print-writing but I've been told my cursive is excellent.

Not like I've used cursive much, though.

 

[VeryGooster]

As someone who had to write the capital G for his first name from the 2nd grade on, fine by me:

whut

 

[Angry Grimace]

They still teach cursive? Why? It makes you write marginally faster but I rarely encounter situations where I NEED to handwrite enough that cursive would become worthwhile.

 

[Blitz2o]

I spent years learning it in elementary school, only to have teachers only make us type/print in highschool. I say it's about damn time we moved on the the SUPERIOR typing.

 

[Orayn]

No, it's not.

It's like math, after you graduate you almost never use it

There are a lot of careers that require you to use and understand relatively advanced branches of math. It's not just "college stuff" or "nerd stuff." Don't give me any of that "But you do it all on a computer!" baloney either - Even the most powerful programs are useless if you don't know how to ask the right questions.

 

[Ace 8095]

Yeah, but at the end of the test there's a small statement you have to write in cursive. Hardest part of the test. I remember sitting there for minutes trying to figure out what capital G looked like.

Damn I had forgot about that part. Yeah that was tough for me too.

 

[Hari Seldon]

All part of the master plan to make the plebs uneducated servants of the cursive writing elite.

 

[Ace 8095]

There are a lot of careers that require you to use and understand relatively advanced branches of math. It's not just "college stuff" or "nerd stuff." Don't give me any of that "But you do it all on a computer!" baloney either - Even the most powerful programs are useless if you don't know how to ask the right questions.

All those techniques of integration I had to learn and will never use again did suck. The monte carlo method may take all the beauty out of the process, but it works like a charm.

 

[nVidiot_Whore]

Sounds good.. if people want to learn cursive, or want their children to learn it.. there's nothing stopping them.. it's been a waste for decades to actually teach it to school children.

Yeah, all whitespace regardless of length in html is displayed as a single space, unless you explicitly call for extra spaces.

If you guys ever upgraded your VBulletin past version .08 Alpha C you'd get those extra spaces escaped to  's

 

[Hari Seldon]

Honestly I think they should still teach it. Writing fast is a pretty damn important soft skill.

 

[Josh7289]

The only thing I really know how to write in cursive anymore is my name, and that's how it should stay.

Typing is far more important than being able to write cursive. They can't even be compared.

So hopefully more schools get on board.

 

[TheSeks]

Honestly I think they should still teach it. Writing fast is a pretty damn important soft skill.

I write slower in cursive than I actually do in print and typing. What now?

Cursive is an outdated "skill," that's been needed to be gone since the early 00's.

 

[Dead Man]

Honestly I think they should still teach it. Writing fast is a pretty damn important soft skill.

So wait until high school and teach them short hand.

 

[Mr. B Natural]

I don't know about you guys, but if my school spent half the time trying to teach me to write essays, which nobody likes to read or write or has any reason to write, with more time teaching typing, short hand , cursive, and appreciating creative writing I would be happy. Plenty of time to teach the kids a little of everything.

 

[MrPliskin]

Are children too retarded to learn both? What?

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

Are children too retarded to learn both? What?

same thing I was about to ask. both can't be taught? lowering of standards....

 

[Dead Man]

Are children too retarded to learn both? What?

Yes.

 

[Qwomo]

Some of you are vastly underestimating the time required to teach kids a new alphabet and typing skills at the same time. Teachers are already under a crunch as it is.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

Are children too retarded to learn both? What?

It has little to do with retardation, I'm sure. Probably more to do with the investment in learning it is nowhere close to the actual use you'll get out of it. Relatively pointless and archaic skill.

 

[malingenie]

YES! YES!

I hate handwriting in general. Laptops, tablets and smartphones have been my text input method for 99% of the time (still have to do some stupid checks).

U MAD?

 

[Kalnos]

I forgot how to write cursive outside of my name, and even with that I usually just scribble some shit.

 

[The Quiet Man]

Whenever you need to write something its SO MUCH FASTER.

See, I used to think this. And then my friends took me up on that and timed me as I wrote the same sentence in cursive and in non-cursive, and the latter was faster.

So for me, at least, it's not and I suspect it's the same for many other people.

 

[ZealousD]

Are children too retarded to learn both? What?

No. It's just that it takes far too long to learn for what you really get out of it. For me, 3rd grade felt like it had three subjects. Cursive, long division, and irregular verbs.

 

[Dead Man]

See, I used to think this. And then my friends took me up on that and timed me as I wrote the same sentence in cursive and in non-cursive, and the latter was faster.

So for me, at least, it's not and I suspect it's the same for many other people.

I think I may be quickest with a bastardised mish mash of the two.

 

[Mudkips]

Whenever you need to write something its SO MUCH FASTER.

Cursive is slower in writing and slower in reading.
The amount of time you save in not lifting your hand off the paper pales in comparison to the amount of time you spend adding extra loops and tails and curly shit.

If you have a fountain pen or a fucking quill, where you need to carefully lift up after each letter to avoid dripping ink on shit, sure. But we have modern writing implements and you don't need to really lift your hand away from the paper more than a millimeter when writing (cursive or not). Hell, you can often get away with just using less pressure.

Bet those typing classes still teach double spacing after a period, though.

It's been stated, but I'll say it again: As they should. The double spacing makes things much more legible. Unfortunately many word processors, and all browsers, will collapse a simple double space after a period, forcing users to rely on their font's kerning and hinting to make things legible.

 

[IlliterateBookworm]

As someone who is actually required to teach cursive, I want to chime in.

I don't understand why they wouldn't teach it anymore. It's really not that time intensive. When I've taught third grade, which is when most kids in CA have to learn it, I would say on average I spent no more than 15 to 20 minutes daily going over handwriting, which is just about the same amount of time I spend in 2nd grade working on decent penmanship. There's no guarantee we'd even do it every day, and I usually started in the winter after the kids have gotten adjusted back to the school routine. If things look really atrocious though I'm sending a little extra home for homework.

By the end of the year my kids have always been able to write legibly enough for me to comprehend what they're trying to communicate (nevermind spelling errors), and I've yet to hear complaints from their teachers the following year about how terrible their handwriting is.

So if I can manage to get it done within a half of a school year without spending enormous amounts of time on it, and lord knows I'm not the world's greatest teacher by any stretch of the imagination, why is Indiana so determined to not bother with it any more?

So within the span of one school year, they're done, they've learned it, they can read it, how many more man hours need to go into it other than some quick review in the future? Maybe you need to do a bit of drill and kill if things look sloppy across the board, but that's about it. I know a lot of upper grade teachers (in my experience) tend to write everything in cursive in the classroom to keep it all fresh in their heads.

Plus, our district has them start learning basic typing in 4th through 6th so they're ready for junior high.

Eliminating cursive altogether just seems far too drastic.

 

[sixteen-bit]

All schools should do this. Cursive is useless to me

 

[victreeb3l]

"penmanship" class was such a waste of time. cursive is fucking useless today

 

[Monocle]

TBH, I think copperplate script should be the new standard.



Smooth.