Reason #2,103 to mock America's education system

[HVC]

Maybe my sister, I haven't seen her handwriting in years. However she left school in grade 8.

is that even legal?

Don't think so, no. She probably regrets it deeply too. She's 25 now & still miling on her high school diploma.

is she hot at least? the could go a long way

Yes.

well then she's golden :p

Well she was, I haven't seen her in a couple of years too. I'm a bad brother.

for shame!

[Grey Fox]

We are not close.

[HVC]

We are not close.

i'm an only child so sibling dynamics are lost on me. Still if i'm ever in quebec i'd appreciate being introduced to your hot (theoritically so) sister

[merithyn]

I guess a lot of Americans on this list dont write in cursive.  I am as surprised as you and BB.

FYP

Most people I know still write in cursive. To be fair, most people I know are in education or are secretaries, which may have a larger need to hand-write things than the average population. In addition, in my experience, it seems that men tend away from writing cursive while women tend toward it.

[crazy canuck]

I guess a lot of Americans on this list dont write in cursive.  I am as surprised as you and BB.

FYP

Most people I know still write in cursive. To be fair, most people I know are in education or are secretaries, which may have a larger need to hand-write things than the average population. In addition, in my experience, it seems that men tend away from writing cursive while women tend toward it.

Sorry, according to Grumbler you dont exist.  Niether do the people you know.

[merithyn]

Sorry, according to Grumbler you dont exist.  Niether do the people you know.

But I did this morning. I wonder what happened.

[DGuller]

I also had no idea that it is common for people to write in block letters, and not in cursive.  Sure, you write in block letters when you fill out some applications, but regularly?    How is that even practical, isn't it way too slow?    I don't know of anyone like that.  Then again, maybe the people who write in block letters are also the kind of people that don't hand write much of anything, so I have no opportunity to see what style they use when writing.

[grumbler]

Sorry, according to Grumbler you dont exist.  Niether do the people you know.

  Strawman much?

[grumbler]

I also had no idea that it is common for people to write in block letters, and not in cursive.  Sure, you write in block letters when you fill out some applications, but regularly?    How is that even practical, isn't it way too slow?    I don't know of anyone like that.  Then again, maybe the people who write in block letters are also the kind of people that don't hand write much of anything, so I have no opportunity to see what style they use when writing.

I'd say that 2/3 of the students in my classes use only block letters, and more than half the notes I get from other teachers are in block letters.  It is quite practical and isn't at all slow (though almost certainly slower than cursive if you are fluent in cursive).  Most of the people I know who write a lot (like the authors of the books I edit) type, so your suspicion about the block-letter writers not writing much by hand may well be accurate.  I certainly don't write much by hand anymore.  Computers are just too ubiquitous fro it to be necessary, and I think school (and homework) time could be better spent on things other than handwriting practice.

That said, I don't know what my own school's policy is on handwriting practice in the lower grades.  It has never come up in my presence.

[Eddie Teach]

But I did this morning. I wonder what happened.

No you didn't. The balefire erased it.

[Sophie Scholl]

I've been anti-cursive since I first had to learn it.  I write quite clearly and well in both cursive and block, but it always seemed a waste of time.  Instead of using up the teaching time with such an archaic practice, why not spent those moments teaching a foreign language at an earlier age?  Where I went to school, we started cursive in 4th grade and foreign languages in 7th.  It's been proven that the younger you are when starting a language, the easier it is to learn.  That's 3 prime learning years wasted right there.  Especially when you never have need of cursive again, unless you choose to make use of it.  We had to use cursive exclusively inj 4th and 5th grades when writing, yet once we reached 6th it was an option, with print preferred as it was more likely to be legible.  I have never seen a form that says please use cursive here, only please print here.  Teach enough to sign one's name.  That's all you ever need it for.  Even with that, people's signatures very rarely look anything like legible language.

[dps]

Geez, this is going to sound terrible, but I tend to switch between cursive and block depending on whom what I'm writing is intended for.  If I'm writing something that's intended mostly for supervisory or managerial personell, I'll use cursive;  if it's something that's intended mostly for non-managers (or managers and non-managers equally), I'll use block.  Unless it's something really important, and going to one of the dumber or more irresponsible managers--then it's written in block letters 4-6 inches tall, and in red magic marker.

[Admiral Yi]

Seperate writing systems for the Betas and the Gammas. 

[syk]

Same topic started over here. The state of Hamburg leaves it to each school to decide if they teach cursive writing or only block letters.
My handwriting is a mix of block and cursive and it looks really messy, the handwriting of my older daughter who just learned to write cursive in school looks even worse. Still I don't think it should be abandoned, if only to build up fine motor skills.

[stjaba]

I find cursive better and easier to use than block when I am taking notes when discussing assignments or projects at work. While typing may be faster than cursive, obviously I can't just lug my computer everywhere I go.