All about handwriting

I understand both of your texts but it takes longer to read your cursive handwriting. However, your handwriting is really beautiful! :heart_eyes:

I prefer print than cursive. I can’t write cursive letters although it was taught to us at school. I have never used it.

2 Likes

Thank you so much! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

1 Like

I have trouble printing because I’ve used cursive writing for so long (50 years). If I print I get messier by the sentence. I have no printer so I can’t print things on the computer. I like to see handwriting (cursive or print or lately, gorgeous calligraphy), even the awful stuff. I’ve worked in public service so long, I can usually fathom what the words are as I’ve seen a lot of handwriting.

If someone indicates on their profile that they have trouble with cursive, then I definately print.

1 Like

The hardest-to-read card I ever have received, was written in print. The sender even wrote in both their and my native language, nevertheless I had a hard time deciphering it.
So it’s possible to write illegible even in print.

4 Likes

I don’t typically have trouble with clear cursive! But it’s especially stylized or spikey, or if the letters are blurred together, then I have a hard time deciphering it.

I write in a mix of cursive and print, which I try to make as clear as possible. But if I’m writing quickly it can be messy - I’ve actually had a teacher recently ask me to write more neatly as she couldn’t read my work! :flushed:

4 Likes

For native English speakers, I typically write in cursive, since I use fountain pens and so cursive is easier to produce than print.

But when I’m writing to non-native English speakers, I either use all-caps or mixed case print (in my daily life, I use both options interchangeably when using pencils or ballpoint pens).

Is there a consensus on which is the better option to use in general? What do you use? For non-native speakers, which is easier for you to read?

As for me, I’ve been slightly concerned that my non-standard lowercase letters (as can be seen in the attached image) may be less legible than the more standard letter shapes I use for all caps, but that all caps might be difficult to read smoothly (plus my handwriting is already extremely small). But I’m sure not going to inflict my cursive on anyone who doesn’t already read English haha.

1 Like

@viasavannah
I moved your post to this Topic, because here is a discussion of the same theme.

Thank you! I wasn’t sure if topics were considered to be dead after a certain amount of time since the last reply, so I didn’t want to necro. But this is a perfect place for it!

1 Like

Which one makes you feel comfortable writing? In my opinion, you should stick with one that makes you comfortable the most. To play it safe (especially with ID numbers if it’s an official card) it’s better to write with print. Because from what I observe, cursive fonts are taught differently in many countries. Although most of the time the differences aren’t significant (unless it’s a non latin alphabet)

Non native English speakers may have good understanding of English too, perhaps you mean for non-fluent?

I always write with print (most comfortable for me and people understand it better), but I was taught cursive at school (mandatory), so some of my cursive font retain in : g, j, y . Not a problem for the readers

Addition : I can read the 3 options you wrote. But 2 & 3 are easier to read than 1

3 Likes

I’m comfortable with all three styles! I use all three in my daily life.

Because of the differences in cursive between countries (and even in the same country) I have been assuming it’s better to print letters, since even if someone is fluent in English if they aren’t a native speaker I didn’t want to assume they’re able to easily read my version of cursive.

Thank you for the feedback!

1 Like

I can read 1 and 3 easily. I can read 2 as well, it just isn’t as clear to my eye :slight_smile:

1 Like

My handwriting is absolutely atrocious in all forms.

I write all in capitals to give people a fighting chance of reading it and it is normally quite large (due to writing invoices on a triplicate block) which is of little use for writing postcards.

As this is a new hobby to me I am attempting to change my handwriting before writing lots of cards by watching online tutorials.

1 Like

#3 is easiest to read I think because the different letters are most distinctive from each other than all caps.

1 Like

Good luck! I had to teach myself to use mixed case writing in college, I’d used all caps my entire life thanks to my dad being an engineer and me picking my handwriting up from him and then my chemistry professor pitched a fit about me using all caps for atomic symbols. It takes work but it’s fun in the end to have a few different “default” styles of handwriting to pick from.

Even though I’m a native English speaker, cursive is hard for me to read. I really greatly prefer the 3rd option, this is ‘normal’ handwriting to me.

1 Like

#3
And that’s also my way of writing.
#2 seems to be the most illegible.

1 Like

Printing is easier for most non-native speakers of English to read, and — often — easier for younger native speakers of English, too, as they are usually not taught cursive in schools these days.

If someone says on their profile that they welcome cards written in cursive, I will happily do it. Otherwise I try to stick to printing.

For me, all three of your handwriting samples are pretty much equally legible. Number 1 looks pretty similar to the style of cursive taught in Germany, I think.
I have learned cursive in elementary school and for me it was required to write in fountain pen and in cursive for a large part of my time at school, so that’s the style I use when I write to people whose native tongue is written using the Latin script (if they don’t indicate anything else on their profile). However, I should mention that my writing is considered to be well legible and orderly, so I don’t worry too much about it. Even if someone isn’t used to reading cursive, my style looks pretty similar to the letters in print. For people whose native script uses different characters I might use print, but honestly, because I’m so used to writing cursive while taking notes for university etc., it’s often more of a mixture of both styles. I have never received any feedback saying someone couldn’t read what I wrote, so I think it should be alright to use cursive.

1 Like

I can read all 3 of them easily, but I prefer the first one. At least when I was in school, children were taught to write using cursive script, but I do not now if that’s the case anymore. As for me, I only use print if the receiver of my card speaks a language that does not use latin letters, otherwise I use cursive.

2 Likes

I think most people -even the younger generation- can decipher cursive if written neatly. I enjoy sending letters with my postcards written with calligraphy, and I have yet to be told they were illegible despite being all in cursive. The only time I “translate” the cursive is if I am writing something in Kurrentschrift.

In fact, I always address the envelopes in cursive, and I have never had an issue with delivery, regardless of country.

(Note that the envelope purposely has faux addresses on them. The poem is Die Lorelei, written by Heinrich Heine.)


8 Likes