Cursive writing or Print?

LilacDreamer
LilacDreamer Posts: 1,364 Member
in Chit-Chat
Think back to a time when you last wrote something, whether it was yesterday, last year, or before the dawn of text messaging an email - how did you write that epic poem, journal entry, essay, shopping list, etc. Did you write in cursive or print? Which method do you use most often?

My husband and I were talking about how he was forced to use cursive growing up in El Salvador. He came here to the US when he was 10, and he thought that all of the kids were...intellectually disabled... because they wrote in print. He was taught that "printing was for 1st and 2nd graders"

so my interest was piqued.
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Replies

  • Gatominx
    Gatominx Posts: 61 Member
    I tend to write in all capitals when using a pen/pencil. It's usually for to do lists, so I guess it's like yelling at myself to get things done!?!
  • ka_bateman
    ka_bateman Posts: 230 Member
    I use a mix of both in almost every word...
  • BosLady1
    BosLady1 Posts: 83
    Lol I like this one!! Actually, I never solidly do one or the other.. I do both.... some words have both in the same word too

    Got in trouble in the 3rd or 4th grade for writing in cursive.. (weird) lol... but I wanted to write like my mom.. and well, I def do now because she does the same thing as me...
  • Brandicaloriecountess
    Brandicaloriecountess Posts: 2,126 Member
    My handwritting is a mixture of both.
  • MrsLawsonNavyBrat2B
    MrsLawsonNavyBrat2B Posts: 170
    I live in OH and when I was in second grade they taught us cursive writing. Now (at 21yrs old), I use a combination of both but tend to lean more toward cursive. I am upset by the fact that now they are not teaching cursive in school. It makes me wonder about how these kids are going to "sign" their names when they get older
  • pumalama
    pumalama Posts: 140 Member
    It's funny, I have always had a mix of both. Some letters cannot be attached no matter how hard I try, and I am not following any real patterns in this mixed style. Growing up, we were given the choice to use either styles, as long as the teacher could read us. I probably misunderstood and started using both styles at once.
  • batalina
    batalina Posts: 209 Member
    i describe myself as a "compulsive diarist"; i always seem to be writing in my journal. i write in cursive almost exclusively, and i write with fountain pens. i used to print with cheap ballpoints, but i press very hard with those pens, and i began to get the most terrible hand and arm strain, so i switched to fountain pens because they require less pressure and are much easier on you. after writing with them for a little while, i just randomly decided to switch to cursive. i can write much faster with cursive, and it seems to use less ink than printing.
  • tialynn1
    tialynn1 Posts: 884 Member
    We just had this conversation during lunch the other day at work. I do a combination of both. But, we were talking about how public schools are doing away with teaching cursive writing in school. We talked about how kids are going to have no idea how to sign their names on documents.
  • stephaneb74
    stephaneb74 Posts: 151 Member
    Cursive..... oh well OK, looks more like a straight line with little dips....
  • ThePersnicketyOtter
    ThePersnicketyOtter Posts: 147 Member
    I was taught that printing is for first and second graders as well from 3-6 or so, but after that the teachers didn't really care as long as they could read it. Now, I tend to write in a weird mix of both.
  • Jacole18
    Jacole18 Posts: 716 Member
    I do a mix of both...sometimes in the same word lol
  • ElizaRoche
    ElizaRoche Posts: 2,005 Member
    Print... always!
  • StrawberrySuzyQ
    StrawberrySuzyQ Posts: 107 Member
    When taking notes I will normally use cursive because of the "new" shorthand that was taught in school. If I'm writing a thank you note or a real letter to a friend or other adult I normally write in cursive, but other than that I tend to do a lot of printing and even find I do quite a bit of half print/half cursive.

    My brother-in-law and nephew, on the other hand, NEVER write in cursive unless they are signing something and then you can't make it out. My husband didn't write in cursive too much either but that was because of his job where everything he wrote had to be printed except his signature.
  • teagirlmedium
    teagirlmedium Posts: 679 Member
    I wright in cursive now, unless it is for school or something important. So since the last thing I wrote by hand was something in my journal, the last thing I wrote was in cursive.
  • StrawberrySuzyQ
    StrawberrySuzyQ Posts: 107 Member
    We just had this conversation during lunch the other day at work. I do a combination of both. But, we were talking about how public schools are doing away with teaching cursive writing in school. We talked about how kids are going to have no idea how to sign their names on documents.

    My 8 year old nephew will be crushed! :sad: All he has wanted to do from the moment he started school and they practiced their letters was to write in cursive! He even had his own form of cursive that he would write in! :bigsmile: But I have heard the same thing.
  • ArtGeek22
    ArtGeek22 Posts: 1,429 Member
    The breakdown of my handwriting:


    90% Cursive
    + 10% Print
    _________________________________

    Total: As you can see, I prefer cursive :laugh:
  • auntiebabs
    auntiebabs Posts: 1,754 Member
    Cursive for speed... when I'm taking notes .

    But my printing is much neater. So addressing mail, instructions for vendors or co-workers printing...
  • Stefanie7125
    Stefanie7125 Posts: 462 Member
    so funny to know that I am not alone in my mixture of both! Even in the same word. My last name has two R's, those are always printed, the rest is cursive.
  • Presley0381
    Presley0381 Posts: 88
    I tend to write in all capitals when using a pen/pencil. It's usually for to do lists, so I guess it's like yelling at myself to get things done!?!

    Ha ha I love this!!! Maybe I should start writing this way as well because none of my to do lists EVER get done :happy:
  • AlwaysInMotion
    AlwaysInMotion Posts: 409 Member
    I started thinking about it and realized I type 80-90% of the time now - even grocery lists and such. When I physically write something, it's about 80% printing, 20% cursive. 'Tis quite the shame since I write "textbook" cursive.
  • WILSONBA
    WILSONBA Posts: 197
    i can start writing a paper/poem in print and then randomly in mid sentence it will go into cursive. even the same word will have a mix of both.
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    Print.

    Doesn't matter much, nobody can read my handwriting whether it's print or cursive. :P
  • cloud2011
    cloud2011 Posts: 898 Member
    Anything handwritten, I write in cursive, from shopping lists to thank you notes. Printing is too time consuming.
  • neurogirl
    neurogirl Posts: 706 Member
    I have a strong preference to write in cursive. When I was younger I used to practice from the age of 6 or 7 to write in cursive when I was at home. I also practiced my print writing, but I find it's faster for me to write in cursive and that I have a preference for the way it looks when I write. Italso help that my cursive is still legible since I wrote way too many notes in college/grad school until I started to bring my laptop to lectures :laugh:
  • JamieDD
    JamieDD Posts: 175 Member
    I print always...the only thing I write in cursive is when I sign something
  • LilacDreamer
    LilacDreamer Posts: 1,364 Member
    I print always...the only thing I write in cursive is when I sign something

    I'm pretty sure that's how it is for a lot of people. I can't remember the last time I wrote something substantial in cursive..though I do seem to throw a random word in cursive or some letters, for good measure maybe? Maybe I have some cursive quota to fill?
  • drezha
    drezha Posts: 18
    Cursive for writing for myself or anything that I think only I'll see.
    If I'm annotating a drawing for a client, it has to be print.

    To be fair, most of the time I spend typing so writing doesn't happen often anymore :/
  • couponfun
    couponfun Posts: 714 Member
    Cursive. Learned cursive in 3rd grade and started losing my eyesight quickly, so writing in large, legible cursive was the best way for me to keep legible notes. And I had to write EVERYTHING the teacher said because I couldn't read the board, and I was too scared to tell my parents i needed glasses until I was in high school, and then only because I was going to start driving :laugh:

    By then my cursive looked almost like calligraphy and now I'm trying to teach my daughter how to write neatly in cursive. Then again, her dad's a scientist with God-awful handwriting so she comes by her scribbles honestly :smile:
  • dmpizza
    dmpizza Posts: 3,321 Member
    I learned to write cursive, but years of scribbling notes in college destroyed the skill. I can, but it looks horrible.
  • DollyMiel
    DollyMiel Posts: 377 Member
    I hand write all the time. c: You'd be astonished how many younger people have been reviving the art of handwritten letters and snail mail.

    I also have different styles; does anyone else? Most commonly though, I tend to write in all-caps. My handwriting is tiny, regardless of what style I'm using and most people tell me it looks typed. I don't write in standard cursive, but I do have distinctive script and even half-print, half-script.

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