Edited by moderator Here 3 topics were mixed together in which all sorts handwriting was discussed together: cursive, print, messy, unreadable and so on. Please don’t show backsides of cards here.
Recently, I had someone asking me if it was ok to write in cursive for me to read. Because in some countries, people don’t learn cursive, and for them is very troublesome to read. I recently started learning calligraphy of cursive and I wonder if it’s common for people in your country to be able to read it? I would like to know because then I could have an idea for which country I can send cursive card to. Thank you!
It depends on the generation, in America, or at least in my area they stopped teaching cursive in schools in the 2000s to 2010s, and those who were born in the late nineties usually adapt to writing in print. So someone who’s 25 or younger might not understand, and for 35-55 I think they tend to write either or, but understand both, and for the older generation that’s all they know! My great grandma, (91) can’t even understand printed handwriting. I was given a booklet of cursive in elementary school, so I taught myself and adapted it into my handwriting at a young age, so I can write it, and understand but my handwriting just looks messy haha.
I don’t have problem reading cursive writing. It was taught in elementary school.
I think some younger generation in my country (born after 2000) may have problem reading cursive.
I have no problem reading cursive as long as the writer makes each letter distinct. I have trouble reading it when someone’s cursive style is extremely “bubbly” and all the m’s and n’s begin to look like u’s and w’s.
There are a lot of variants because the other German speaking countries have their own cursive as well (East Germany too, of course), but they all look pretty similar. However, there’s an older type of cursive called Sütterlin and I have to admit it’s definitely harder for me to decipher.
This is the one I’ve been learning as well. Recently, most of my cards are being sent to Germany (I chose repeat countries option). Do you think people overall are able to read this cursive type in your country?
Yeah, I think most people would be able to. I sometimes use block letters for elderly people because I’m afraid their eyesight isn’t that good anymore and block letters seem to be easier to read, but maybe that’s just a stupid assumption of me.
So yes, I’d say most Germans would be perfectly fine with cursive.
I think they should still be able to read it. We still learned to write like that in school. Btw. I am not sure if “cursive” would be the proper translation for “Schreibschrift”. My little brother (10) also knows how to read it. But it changes - not all schools are teaching “Schreibschrift” anymore. So if you’re writing to a really young Postcrosser maybe don’t use cursive. But for older ones (maybe 20 upwards) it should be fine.
Yes! Although there are lots of different types of cursive taught in Germany. I’ve learnt another style and my daughter even another. But they all are quite similar. Most people in Germany - age 9 or older* - should be able to read cursive.
* often it is taught from the 3rd grade on - some schools even start with cursive (but most don’t), few schools don’t teach cursive any longer
edit: I learnt these too types of cursive in elementary school (in the 90s):
This was the normal one we’ve learnt (called Lateinische Ausgangsschrift)
Here it is the handwriting taught in elementary school, so everyone should be able to read it. My own handwriting is cursive so I personally have no problem, many people here, even though they learn cursive, eventually don’t write in cursive anymore though, but for me cursive is just so much faster.
I was taught to write cursive in the 2000s and still use cursive as I find it faster than print. However, I have had friends say they cannot read my writing and have asked me to write bigger/with a thinner pen or to write in print. I guess if care is taken to write in cursive (which I often do not do myself…) then it should be fine.
My handwriting today is a mix of cursive and print elements.
I’m always impressed about the neat penmanship from Japanese and Chinese postcorssers!
But I admit I sometimes struggle with American cursive, especially when the writing is very narrow and “squished”.
In Japan the roman alphabet cursive is not taught at schools. So some people have a hard time reading it…! Also Japanese cursive is becoming unused sadly. I think cursive in all languages generally looks really beautiful, like an expression of art. I hope to be able to write it better so I wish to practice with fellow postcrossers.
In my country printing is printing and writing is writing, two different things. No problem with reading of normal handwriting (more or less recognizable letters).
It is no problem in Czech Republic either. We call cursive writing script and it is indeed how we learn to write at school. I write in cursive to everyone unless they mention in their profile that they can’t read it.
That’s interesting! I’ve come across some profiles asking people to write in block or print because they have a hard time reading cursive, so for those people I write as they ask, of course. But for everyone else I write cursive. Only the address part I write in print - I don’t know why, I just want to give it the best chance to arrive.
My biggest problem with my handwriting is that it’s small (which is good for writing a lot, but I wonder if people can actually read it), so to elderly and very young I tend to write with bigger letters (it is a bit slow, but it’s for the best).
As for reading myself I can understand it easily, but I have to say, sometimes it becomes a game of guessing, detecting and looking for patterns but in the end I understand.
To finally answer your question, you should be fine writing cursive to Brazilians.
but in the end I understand.