Is it a general requirement in life to know how to write cursive?

wdinc01 · #1 11-23-2008, 08:23 PM

I recently got my SAT scores back, which reminded me that during the test, I had to copy some statement in cursive. And the bad thing is I honestly couldn't do it fluently. I had to take my time with it.

Which leads me to a question. Am I really going to have to know how to write in cursive to get by in life? I mean, I can read cursive alright, but not really write in it. I seriously blame the school system because they taught it to us once then didn't really bother with it after that. It was basically just "Oh yeah, here's how you do this. Okay, next topic." In fact, I remember learning how to write my name in cursive at home in second grade, and I would use it to head my papers. Then my teacher told me to stop doing that, so I did.

So is there anyone else out there who don't really know how to write cursive? Is it more of like a personal handwriting type of thing, or is it something you should just know?

Thunderscreech · #2 11-23-2008, 08:25 PM

I know how, but I'm too lazy. My handwriting sucks anyways, so cursive and print make no difference. They're both horrible.

ADbassman · #3 11-23-2008, 08:26 PM

I have the opposite problem in that I grew up writing cursive, so I can't write in print very well anymore. Of course, the reality of the situation is that nowadays most professional writing will be typed anyway.

iamlowsound · #4 11-23-2008, 08:26 PM

I can't print or use cursive. I use a weird combination of the two. No one can read my handwriting

Doesn't help that I can't spell and have my own form of short hand that I use.

lowsound

**Eric Perry** · #5 11-23-2008, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdinc01

I recently got my SAT scores back, which reminded me that during the test, I had to copy some statement in cursive. And the bad thing is I honestly couldn't do it fluently. I had to take my time with it...

Dude, the SAME thing happened to me when I took my PRAXIS. I was mortified! lol

GeneralElectric · #6 11-23-2008, 08:27 PM

I can do both, yet my penmanship isn't any good either way.

I mainly stick to print.

Disraeli Gears · #7 11-23-2008, 08:29 PM

They taught us in 3rd grade.. Then forced us to use it throughout 3rd, 4th, and I think 5th. The second they let us print again, I did and never looked back. I think it's a necessary skill to READ cursive because some people write that way, but I don't get why they care whether or not we CAN write cursive.

MyUsernameHere · #8 11-23-2008, 08:31 PM

I haven't used cursive for 20 years. Its got so bad that I had to learn shorthand in order to write things down quickly (a requirement of an old job) because I couldn't even read my own handwriting anymore. Looked like a broken squiggly line with random dots over it.

HollowBassman · #9 11-23-2008, 08:32 PM

I don't think it will hinder you much at all. Until I saw this thread, which prompted me to search, I had completely forgotten what "Z"s,"X"s, and "Q"s looked like in cursive.

Atoz · #10 11-23-2008, 08:34 PM

Except for my signature, I haven't used cursive in 30 years.

**baba** · #11 11-23-2008, 08:36 PM

I haven't used cursive since high school, and that was 20+ years ago. Granted, 99% of my work involves a keyboard and my brain, but I rarely see cursive professionally or otherwise. Don't sweat it.

wdinc01 · #12 11-23-2008, 08:37 PM

I think my only problem is that I can not, for the life of me, do an 's' in cursive. Which is bad, because my name ends with an 's', so my signature looks weird.

ADbassman · #13 11-23-2008, 08:46 PM

Cursive came in handy when I started to learn Arabic.

tplyons · #14 11-23-2008, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdinc01

I recently got my SAT scores back, which reminded me that during the test, I had to copy some statement in cursive. And the bad thing is I honestly couldn't do it fluently. I had to take my time with it.

I had the very same problem. Actually, the proctor had to write it on the board to show us what it looks like.

Now, I can sort of remember, but I still never use it.

Jiggybass · #15 11-23-2008, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeneralElectric

I can do both, yet my penmanship isn't any good either way.

I mainly stick to print.

Same deal here.

mister-o · #16 11-23-2008, 08:51 PM

Haha. I had the same issue -- I felt like I was mildly retarded copying that statement in cursive. Thankfully, it's been nearly a decade and I haven't written anything cursive other than my signature on checks and at the grocery store checkout.

wdinc01 · #17 11-23-2008, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADbassman

Cursive came in handy when I started to learn Arabic.

My brother is actually trying to get an Arabic class in college. And being that he's in the Air Force ROTC, I think he's got a pretty good shot in getting someone else to pay for it.

Thinking about it, these answers might be quite a bit different if I asked this question ten, or possibly even five years ago.

Ben Lesser · #18 11-23-2008, 09:05 PM

I write almost exclusively in cursive. Can't read my own damn handwriting, but it's faster than printing for me. Typing > both, however, but I don't always have a laptop/computer handy.

I learned in Grade 3, and was basically forced to use it until computer printing became the prominent method of assignment writing.

Kruton · #19 11-23-2008, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeneralElectric

I can do both, yet my penmanship isn't any good either way.

I mainly stick to print.

+1

doctorjazz · #20 11-23-2008, 09:47 PM

I print, my cursive is painfully slow and looks like something out of a 3rd grade textbook because it never became natural for me except for signing my name, which is now more of a muscle twitch that results in something unintelligible.

Everything with even a smack of formality gets typed anyway, so it's pretty much useless.