7 ms·

The author of this piece, who teaches at _Harvard_ found that 2/3rds of her students couldn't read cursive.

jhbadger 4y ago
It's about generations and what they are taught, not academic ability. I'm 52, have a doctorate, and only barely know cursive myself. Why would anyone expect young people today, raised from birth on computers, to know a frankly obsolete way of expressing text?
- shmde 4y ago
  > to know a frankly obsolete way of expressing text? Why learn how to cook when you can get a packet of readymade food in the store. Cooking is obsolete.
  - npinsker 4y ago
    Plenty of people don't know how to cook and do fine. But cooking has big advantages -- it's cheaper, and you can make it just how you like it. Maybe everywhere's closed. There might be some slight advantages to cursive (e.g. it feels better to write), but horse-drawn buggies have some slight advantages over cars also. I think calling cursive obsolete seems completely fair.
  - tester756 4y ago
    Cooking is incredibly useful and there's huge difference between packet readymade food and made at home. Especially when you start cooking for a few people
- wr4aqw34 4y ago
TheLoafOfBread 4y ago
I was taught to read and write cursive in 1998-2007. Problem with cursive is ambiguity of characters e/l, B/E, S/Z, a/o, b/l, etc. and when you need to write faster because you are taking notes, then you don't have time to make those squiggly details of each letter and ends up with unreadable waves. I have personally dropped using cursive around 2004, because I was not able to read anything after myself.
- WastingMyTime89 4y ago
  "e" is three times shorter than "l". "B" and "E" have nothing in common. "Z" goes far under the base line. "b" goes back up and has a flat connecting high while "l" connects low. Same for "a" and "o" but I could see them being somewhat similar. "a" has a vertical line and connect at the bottom while "o" has a crossed loop and connects high. These letters are not supposed to look like each others. It goes further than details.
  - TheLoafOfBread 4y ago
    Sorry you have no clue what are you talking about. I was writing with a cursive and those are exactly my experiences with it. The faster you will attempt to write, the faster it will start fusing into waves until you have only mmm mmmmm mmmmmm mmm mm like a Russian shorthand. Abandoned cursive and started using computer-like letters. Using it until today with my notes.
  - _dain_ 4y ago
    >These letters are not supposed to look like each others. It goes further than details. No, they're not supposed to. But in practice, in actual handwriting, they do, which is what the parent comment was talking about.
    - WastingMyTime89 4y ago
      I still take notes in cursive. The letters the parent points as looking similar most definitely don’t unless your cursive is extremely incorrect. "c" and "e" I would have understood. Those are written nearly the same way. But apart from "a" and "o" all the pairing mentioned concern letters with widely different sizes.
      - _dain_ 4y ago
        >unless your cursive is extremely incorrect. what good does it to, to tell the majority that their cursive is incorrect? if a system results in most people doing it wrong, then the system is wrong, not the people

It's about generations and what they are taught, not academic ability. I'm 52, have a doctorate, and only barely know cursive myself. Why would anyone expect young people today, raised from birth on computers, to know a frankly obsolete way of expressing text?

shmde 4y ago
> to know a frankly obsolete way of expressing text? Why learn how to cook when you can get a packet of readymade food in the store. Cooking is obsolete.
- npinsker 4y ago
  Plenty of people don't know how to cook and do fine. But cooking has big advantages -- it's cheaper, and you can make it just how you like it. Maybe everywhere's closed. There might be some slight advantages to cursive (e.g. it feels better to write), but horse-drawn buggies have some slight advantages over cars also. I think calling cursive obsolete seems completely fair.
- tester756 4y ago
  Cooking is incredibly useful and there's huge difference between packet readymade food and made at home. Especially when you start cooking for a few people
wr4aqw34 4y ago

TheLoafOfBread 4y ago

I was taught to read and write cursive in 1998-2007. Problem with cursive is ambiguity of characters e/l, B/E, S/Z, a/o, b/l, etc. and when you need to write faster because you are taking notes, then you don't have time to make those squiggly details of each letter and ends up with unreadable waves. I have personally dropped using cursive around 2004, because I was not able to read anything after myself.

WastingMyTime89 4y ago
"e" is three times shorter than "l". "B" and "E" have nothing in common. "Z" goes far under the base line. "b" goes back up and has a flat connecting high while "l" connects low. Same for "a" and "o" but I could see them being somewhat similar. "a" has a vertical line and connect at the bottom while "o" has a crossed loop and connects high. These letters are not supposed to look like each others. It goes further than details.
- TheLoafOfBread 4y ago
  Sorry you have no clue what are you talking about. I was writing with a cursive and those are exactly my experiences with it. The faster you will attempt to write, the faster it will start fusing into waves until you have only mmm mmmmm mmmmmm mmm mm like a Russian shorthand. Abandoned cursive and started using computer-like letters. Using it until today with my notes.
- _dain_ 4y ago
  >These letters are not supposed to look like each others. It goes further than details. No, they're not supposed to. But in practice, in actual handwriting, they do, which is what the parent comment was talking about.
  - WastingMyTime89 4y ago
    I still take notes in cursive. The letters the parent points as looking similar most definitely don’t unless your cursive is extremely incorrect. "c" and "e" I would have understood. Those are written nearly the same way. But apart from "a" and "o" all the pairing mentioned concern letters with widely different sizes.
    - _dain_ 4y ago
      >unless your cursive is extremely incorrect. what good does it to, to tell the majority that their cursive is incorrect? if a system results in most people doing it wrong, then the system is wrong, not the people