Cursive Useless Skill or Not?

[BastementSparkle 20,310]

I was in a 2nd grade class where they taught cursive. I still can't read or write it at all. It makes my eyes hurt to look at, and I found it incredibly difficult to write back in class. I still usually have to get someone else to read it for me, when I get a card that's in cursive. I can't even do my own signature.

 

 I just can't do it. I still remember doing like 10 worksheets, but I still just kept getting it wrong. Eventually I stopped trying because even after putting hours in, I couldn't even write one word correctly. Then the teacher would just yell at me a bunch for being a failure. I'm sure it has some purpose for existing, but I personally hate it.

[KoGy 187]

Personally I like writing that way. It feels good to me.

I can't write "typed" with a pen properly it just feels awkward.

 

Yes, it is useless as a skill set in the modern world.

It won't die out because some people will still find if cool and nice.

Edited June 6, 2014 by KoGy

[The Soldier 2,043]

I don't see the point to keeping it. Signatures can just be in normal print writing. I know cursive, but rarely use it--only for signatures. And it takes me a little longer to write it too, which is annoying. Plus, with some people it's really hard to read.

The reason of signatures of how you write is to prove whatever you do or want is proven by you. It doesn't even need to be perfect, you just write it how you're comfortable with, even if the signature is messy. The hard reading of signatures is the point for people to have difficulty of trying to read your penmanship and copy it from the dot.

 

If you sign with print, there could be an identity theif who can print your same very name. Copying the penmanship of print is easier than copying the penmanship of signatures.

 

I feel the the only use of cursive writing should be signatures and signatures only. As I said above, signatures are MEANT to be hard to read, so that an identity thief will have trouble copying it. On other uses, however, may not be as easily recommended, as they tend to be more confusing to read in letter cards than it is to the words in print.

[Little Lady Smee 25]

The only time I write in print is when i am typing. I always write in cursive. i find it to be far more attractive to the eyes and in some cases easier to read.

[SeraphStar 398]

I'm ambivalent about cursive: if you want to read older/historic documents, then it's a must that you know how to read it (which can be more difficult than writing it, because everyone has different handwriting styles), but I don't feel it should be considered compulsory to know.

 

I remember learning cursive in 2nd grade, it was like :blah: -_- when I write (which is a lot, old-fashioned) it ends up being a mix of print and cursive (70% print, 30% cursive, but a lot of people say it looks more cursive-y). I don't know if cursive has a place in the modern world of computers (except when being formal/fancy). The only use I have for "pure" cursive is my signature (and it looks horrendous)

Edited June 8, 2014 by SeraphStar

[Frosty Nerd 833]

I'm so glad that there are other people out there who don't "hand-write" (cursive/hand-write hybrid OR cursive). I thought there was something wrong with me because I print instead of write fancy. Honestly, when I see people in my age group write fancy on ordinary notes and other every day things, it makes me wonder why I didn't develop my own style of fancy writing while growing up.

 

Attached File

 

I do have a REAL signature in cursive.

 

Oops, sorry. To the OP. Cursive is not important unless it's for signatures

Edited June 8, 2014 by Frosty Nerd

[Justin_Case001 4,855]

I think children should be familiarized with cursive so that they know what it is and can read it if they need to.  But I don't think children need practice writing it.  All one needs to learn is to sign their name, and really, that's a completely personalized thing.  When I first learned cursive, I signed my name with all the proper letters, and it looked like it was written by a 3-year old.  Later on, I decided I wanted a nice looking, easy to write signature, so I basically designed my own.  I write the first and last letters of each name super huge and curly, and the stuff inbetween is just a quick squiggly line, and then I dot the i with a kind of a big scrawl that takes up half the page.  Looks really snazzy, fun and easy to do.  One's signature is just a personalized piece of artwork.  All one needs to be able to do is make it look the same every time, and recognize it so that if an authority figure asks if that's your signature, you can confirm or deny.  My dad's signature looks like "Queen," and a friend of mine's dad's signature looks like "Wheels."  I guarantee those are not even close to their names.

 

Anyway, bottom line is that people just need to learn their signature, and be a bit familiar with cursive, but spending a lot of time practicing it in school is a waste of time, imo.  If someone wants to get really good at it, I do consider that an art form and a hobby.

 

Oh yes, and this reminds me of the Simpsons episode, "You Only Move Twice," where the Cypress Creek teacher asked Bart if he had ever learned cursive, and he says "Well, I know hell and damn and bitch..."  Lol.  Back when the Simpsons was good.

[Jamaican Jam 112]

I can read it. But other than that, I always found cursive useless. I honestly don't care about how ' special ' people try to make their signature when they put it on something. I was also taught that stuff too in third grade. I remember in my senior year in high school I had to sign this one paper and the woman in the office told the teachers to tell us that it had to be in cursive. I thought it was completely stupid and pointless. So I had someone else write my name on it in cursive.

[ms-coco-pommel 64]

I write pretty much exclusively in cursive. Not neat, beautiful cursive or anything, but cursive all the same. Printing takes toooooo long.

I have a question for OP: Is it your writing in that attached photo? Because that is some damn beautiful cursive right there.

[CornBreadGang 513]

I feel as if I'm the only youth in the world now that uses cursive as their main form of writing. I think it's a good skill to have, as it makes one look professional.

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

On a top ten list of most useless skills, this skill would lose for cheating...... Yes it's such a useless skill it's unfair to all the other useless skills that might make the list.

[Venomous 18,813]

I don't think cursive should be a required thing to learn in schools. I see it as a futile concept because it is rarely going to be used with the exception of writing your signature. I just don't see it as something that is necessary.

Edited June 12, 2014 by Royal Samurott

[Banul 3,831]

I went to a private grade/middle school where they made us all write in cursive on everything. When I moved on to high school, they told me to cut that shit out because nobody could read it. I've since had no other reason to use it since then, to the point where I have to think about it if I try to write in cursive.

 

Printed letters just seem more clear and readable than. Also, less dependent on a persons handwriting. Cursive has it's place, but I don't think it's a big deal that they don't teach it on schools anymore.

[Creamy Arty 6,251]

Interesting as this thread is, it's more of a curiosity than a controversial issue. General Discussion would be a better venue, so I'll be shuffling it over there.  

[Fhaolan 4,468]

Lord, I'm old. When I was in grade school they didn't call it cursive. They taught script. The idea was to graduate up to using proper quill-type pens. It was symbol of success and wealth to have, and use, a fountain pen. Only children used ballpoints.

 

There is as much use for it as there is for any other art form. Yes, you can type faster, but proper copperplate script is pretty. Same thing as in proper little watercolors or woodcuts for illustrations, there's just something nice about that kind of thing.

[Dddrgn 450]

I can't read that, nor can I write my name in actual cursive, for my signature, I literally just scribble. Cursive, for anything other than looking pretty, is useless. We also have much better ways to identify who people are now...

[Bronychan1214 150]

The only use I found it to be so far is getting my grade up in like 2nd grade or whatever grade they introduce it in. And my name looks pretty good in cursive at the bottom of either corner of a picture I just finished

[Sugar Pea 2,680]

I believe cursive is a beautiful piece of writing, and very professional! Of course, some people are good at it and some people are not. I'm one of those people who cannot do cursive, Zs and Xs mostly. I do decently with any other letter. DECENTLY! 

In other words, it hurts my noggin. -3-

Booty booty booty booty, rocking ery'where!
 

[Zygen 6,065]

Well, it's interesting, but kind of complex, I can kinda write in it, but I'm not able to correctly write some letters anymore. 

 

I usually just write in print, even if my handwriting really sucks in general, the only time I write in cursive is in signatures. 

 

Regardless of whether it's useful or not right now, apparently in the future it might be considered art and rare and thus if you know how to write well in it, you could get a bit of money.

 

Sounds interesting, may be worthwhile hanging on to the skill if you already know it, although really besides that idk if it's really got much of a practical use, there's not really a whole lot of practical reason to not just write everything in print really, besides tradition maybe.

[Callisto 1,873]

I don't think it's useless, per se; a lot of (mostly older) people still use it, and you'll almost certainly need to read and write it at least once in your life.

 

However, I think it will be useless in time, once writing begins getting completely phased out in favor of typing. If you know cursive, cool, but if not, there's no real reaaon to go out and learn it.

[Scootalove 10,684]

Cursive is mostly needed when you have to write your signature or write your work out in script. I had to learn how to write in cursive, it wasn't easy getting used to it though. I'd say that it's not a useless skill, more of an adaptive skill.

[Sunny Fox 5,929]

Nowadays, we have computers... which can write text in any kind of style... so having the skill is pretty useless in this day and age... but I still respect a person who can cursive.

[Adorkable 2,737]

Ah, I remember learning cursive in 3rd grade, like that shit ever stuck.

 

I personally don't see any reason for learning cursive. If you can write in proper and readable English, then there should be no issue.

 

I don't see cursive serving any real purpose besides people who wish to write in a fancy way, that's all I can see of it.

[Hypn0ticD 1,213]

Your text reads:

 

"Page writing, sometimes called body writing, requires exercise of all the skill we possess in using the pen. Care should be taken in the arrangement of the writing."

 

There's a tittle above the e in exercise, BTW.

 

I learned cursive back in the fourth grade, and I was told it was meant to be a very useful tool when I become an adult.

 

The only thing I've used it for since is my signature, and even then, it's little more than a messy scribble with maybe a discernible letter or two.

 

Add to that, it takes me forever in a day if I do decide to write in legible cursive, as my handwriting is absolute crap to begin with. I find writing in print to be much faster, but why write when typing's even faster?

 

So in short, I think it's fine if tgey stop teaching kids to learn cursive, as they won't need it for anything?

[Lyra's Pants 154]

As technology marches on, and college is more lenient about writing styles than elementary school, I currently find cursive only useful when writing signatures. Honestly, the only thing I really know how to write in cursive is my name. Isn't it weird that some stuff schools teach hardly benefit us in the future?