Handwriting: Should it continue to be taught?

[WaywardHaymaker]

I write stuff by hand every day. I type things, too, but it's still good to just lie on my bed and handwrite a story or a script or something.

And it would be kind of strange typing up a grocery list.

 

[Kryzantine]

There's a difference between handwriting and caligraphy here.

As has been mentioned in this thread already, writing in cursive is just.... I don't know. Part of me thinks that people still write in cursive, and so we should teach reading in cursive. And certainly, learning a signature is still very important to us. But at the same time, most people forget cursive writing. I know that when the SAT asked you to write a statement in cursive as part of a bureaucratic process, it was probably the most annoying part for me, because I didn't know certain characters in cursive. I had used basic letters for fucking forever to that point. And certainly, with most work being computerized, cursive is becoming less important.

Now, the article in the OP is on China. And let me tell you, that class is necessary. It's not just handwriting, it's their fucking alphabet. The question that should be raised from that article isn't if we need to continue teaching handwriting, but whether the Chinese should adapt a more convenient alphabet - after all, the whole world is computerizing here, and the Chinese alphabet is highly inefficient for such work - yet, their written language is spreading just as fast, if not faster than English. Certainly, you may find Chinese in very popular use all over Southeast Asia and certain parts of Africa, and you'll find it spreading through Africa, Pakistan, Russia. It'll be interesting to see the economic consequences of this cultural shift.

 

[sansamour14]

Seeing as my handwriting is as neat as captchas i wouldnt mind.
But i do still like to write quick notes down if my phone isnt near me.

 

[NewClassic_v1legacy]

Given that this is a thread about handwriting, I think I'll actually hand write this post. For those of you with a tough internet cap and don't want to open a 750x750 (81.9k) image, I'll go ahead and type it up as well.

Spoiler: Hand written reply

Spoiler: Typed transcript

I'm a firm believer in a jack-of-all-trades talent set, honestly. Perhaps not to the degree of knowing how to rebuild a car engine or do the plumbing for a house, but at least be able to change a blown fuse or tire, or replace a leaky faucet or pipe.

In the same vein, I encourage some basic teaching of both print and cursive writing. Like proper shot leading or situational awareness in an RTS or FPS, practice makes the task much more simple and instinctive. With enough practice, it comes about as quickly as typing, probably losing only about 20 words-per-minute at most.

Really, it's just a useful skill to keep. Doesn't have to be religiously practiced and drilled, but there's no harm in being able to do it passably.

Same for spelling, grammar, penmanship, and basic communication. It's not that any of it needs to be perfect, but having the basics down can't do any harm.

Just my two cents.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Oh dear lord. Handwriting must be taught somehow, I know many people with illegible handwriting. One of my housemates is an engineering student, and as you would expect, his handwriting is gibberish.

 

[Trivun]

I'm not going to add more to the 'handwriting in schools' debate here save for my opinion that yes, it should still be taught, because all my points have already been mentioned in this thread.

However, I will simply say that in Japan at least, writing is actually considered an artform. I'm trying to teach myself Japanese and when settling down to learn the hiragana, my teaching tool informed me that the writing styles are all seen as art and that when you do them wrong anyone in Japan will instantly know. I don't just mean using the wrong symbols, but things like the exact order in which you make each stroke with the pen. For example, the symbol for 'u' is a line above a sideways curve - if you do the curve before the line, it's pretty easily recognisable, believe it or not. The general rule is that you start with strokes from the top left hand corner and work your way down to the bottom right hand corner, kind of like general Western writing...

 

[Doctor Glocktor]

Handwriting? Yes.

Cursive? Hah, no.

 

[Suicida1 Midget]

Yeah its one of those things thats just needed. I write all my notes down, it just at that point sticks with me. So ill just assume it has some brain development in it.

 

[bdcjacko]

Yes, I think it should. Granted, we don't use longhand as much as we once did, thanks to netbooks and tablet and such, but it's still important for your writing to be legible. I think what we're really talking about here is "penmanship," which is simply teaching kids how to make letters properly. Chinese calligraphy goes rather beyond that, I think, so I can see why kids find it particularly frustrating, but for Arabic letters, I can't see the harm in students taking a few minutes a day to work on it.

I apologize if someone else already pointed that out, but we use Arabic numerals, not letters. Our letter originate from Latin. The arabic alphabet looks like this: أ ب ج د ه و ز ح ط ي ك ل م ن س ع ف ص ق ر ش ت ث خ ذ ض ظ غ

 

[Susan Arendt]

Yes, I think it should. Granted, we don't use longhand as much as we once did, thanks to netbooks and tablet and such, but it's still important for your writing to be legible. I think what we're really talking about here is "penmanship," which is simply teaching kids how to make letters properly. Chinese calligraphy goes rather beyond that, I think, so I can see why kids find it particularly frustrating, but for Arabic letters, I can't see the harm in students taking a few minutes a day to work on it.

I apologize if someone else already pointed that out, but we use Arabic numerals, not letters. Our letter originate from Latin. The arabic alphabet looks like this: أ ب ج د ه و ز ح ط ي ك ل م ن س ع ف ص ق ر ش ت ث خ ذ ض ظ غ

Oh, yes, you're right, of course.

 

[EternalFacepalm]

Basic handwriting, yes. But an extensive education in it isn't necessary; I, for one, have never used cursive in my handwriting, and probably never will.

 

[Merkavar]

teaching people how to write is imortant. cursive or running righting not so much in my books. so manpeople use running writting and it might as well be chinese its so messy, inconsistent etc

when i write i write each letter and its clear, legible, fast and anyone can read it.

with rnning writing you have to adjust to each ersons style to read it

and sorry about the pelling mistakes this keyboard is gi me the shits and its late.

 

[Craorach]

I'm a tech head, I have multiple computers, consoles, tablets, etc.. I very rarely, if ever, write by hand if I can get away with it.

Because my handwriting is so bad it has actively held me back in life. I literally cannot write legibly without taking a long time and printing. I can't read my own writing, let alone someone else trying too.

This is, primarily, because my school gave up trying to teach anyone who had trouble and just sat us in front of computers and recommended our parents got one too. Now, without a computer I'd have done significantly worse at school and wouldn't be where I am today, but I could also have really benefited from handwriting lessons, because there are still alot of jobs where it is needed.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Even with computers being so common, it's still a good skill to have.
Especially if you go into any sort of field that requires surveying.

 

[iLeikHip]

I was actually never taught at my school.
It was very awkward setting up my bank card...

 

[SirDoom]

It entirely depends. The ability to write legibly on a piece of paper with a pen is a vital skill that should be taught. The ability to write in a perfect 12 point Lucidia font with the same degree of precision as a machine, on the other hand, is not really that vital.

I mean sure, you handwriting should be legible, but there is something called overdoing it. Once you get the letters down and remember to dot your i's and cross your t's, you really don't need to be concerned with font or style.

As for cursive? Learn to sign your name in cursive, then stop. Hell, you really don't even need to learn to sign your name. Just learn the first letter of your name and how to make a fancy scribble after said letter, and you're good to go.

 

[aba1]

Handwriting in general, no. That is still very important. Cursive on the other hand, past learning to sign our names I don't see the point. I remember all my teachers telling me that I would use it every day for the rest of my life. How many times have I used it other than to sign my name? Probably about twice in the ten or so years since I learned it.

I always saw it as a preference I personally prefer to write in cursive I find it smoother and more fluent therfore easier.

 

[King of Wei]

It should still be taught for the sake of at least knowing how - for the few occasions it is still necessary. However handwriting skills are largely obsolete in the digital age and I wouldn't be surprised if it's fazed out altogether in a decade or two.