The current use of block letters in a handwritten note is almost the same in Belgium I think.
When I went to primary school, about 35 years ago, we learned ´beautiful handwriting´ (cursive) and ´print letters´, wich were also called ´block letters´, and were actualy block letters and not print as is spoken of in this topic.
So we never learned print, not even that it excisted…!
We were trained to write as beautiful as possible - allways cursive. But the actual letters differed from where you went to school, even in the same village. So by the time I was in high school, I ´composed´ my own handwriting, a mixture of what I saw with different people (also from different ages and different countries) or teachers, what I found beautiful and what felt flowing for my hand. And so did everyone around me.
Block letters were used for titles, emphases, for when someone could not read many different handwritings/your handwriting, or when it had to be anoymous
Even now, it is still the same in schools. When my child changed school at the age of 6, they had some cursive letters they wrote different there. And my cousins in different schools also have different handwritings.
So for me reading about ´the English cursive´ or ´the German cursive´ was a surprise…! Maybe there is a ´the Belgian cursive´, but I never saw it… I only saw a rainbow of cursive handwritings
Maybe this is why I can read many handwritings, an why I did not know the differerence between cursive and print was more than just personal style?
There are time i find curive difficult to read especially when its a doctors prescription but years as a medic has helpe me with that what i dind more difficult to read at times is numbers 4s sometime look like 7s. 1s sometimes look like 7s also. 3s like 5s 9s look like a lower case g and then o if it has a line through itor sams as 7 i think its the way European are taught compaired to brittish way of teaching
I believe that this standard message from the admins is rather passive-aggressive.
Could be that the other person was a bit lazy trying to figure out what the numbers were so I wouldn’t take this very seriously
At one point, in both the US and Canada, cursive was the only type of print you were expected to use in school past about grade 2. Now, if it’s taught at all, it’s for only a few lessons and is optional.
Here is the model from where I learned my cursive writing in the early 2000. Earlier type letters were a little more curvy so I have learned to read different variations of cursive letters. I do write my cards with non-cursive, since I have used it more than cursive, what we had to use in school when we wrote stories in Finnish lessons.
It’s been couple of years since teaching the cursive writing ended in Finland, but I think that most of the 15+ y.o. peoples here can read cursive writing.
Ä has that line there in this model what I have learned. But non cursive type has two dots. I’m not sure what those two marks after ö are. Second might be this: &. But actual letters are from A to ö.
I had to learn this kind of writing at school 35 years ago. They called it “Schnüerlischrift” (“string font” at my school) …
I’m able both to read and write it. But to be honest, I prefer not to write it any more, it takes lots of efforts for me to do so …
The only cards in cursive writing I got lately are from Russia and Belarus … as if they still practice it regularly … but I have no idea, whether this impression is true …
When I started learning English in elementary school (late 2000s), we were told to write in block letters because supposedly the English doesn’t have cursive.
But in maths Latin letters had to be written in cursive. So I had write half of the letters block and half cursive.
Now I write in semi-cursive (letters do not connect with each other, but are written in cursive).
(And also letters that look like Russian, I write in Russian cursive.)
I myself understand the cursive too, if it is written neatly, and not in the way it sometimes happens.
People, think of those who will read what you have written please
The more I read this thread the more confused I become about what the problem is.
Is really cursive the problem or just bad handwriting?
Some examples from old cards.
Here is a card in cursive english sent from greece to USA in 1936.
Cursive looks beautiful and not difficult to read.
Here is a 2nd example. A card in (calligraphical) cursive German written in 1880.
Here cursive looks amazing but for the love of God I cannot recognise a sigle word. Can anyone decipher it?
If I ever received such a handwriting, not only I wouldn’t complain but I would take the card, put it in a frame and hang it on my wall.
Oh, I like Kurrent! I'm unable to read two words but here's the rest (click me!)
(?), a. 18/3.80.,
Ihrer neulichen Sendung war eine Factura nicht beigefügt; ich glaubte sie würde nachfolgen, da dies seither jedoch nicht geschehen, ersuche ich Sie (gef.?) umgehend darum.,
Ergebenst
G. Krusemark
Unfortunately, I cannot read the name of the place. I don’t even know whether the first letter is supposed to be a “U” or an “A” or something else. But I think it ends with “lam”. I’m guessing that “a.” is short for anno. And I have no idea what a Factura is supposed to be.
Here’s a translation of the rest: Your recent shipment did not contain a factura; I believed it would follow up, since this hasn’t happened so far, I ask you urgently.
Sincerely,
G. Krusemark
Here you can find a few Kurrent alphabets. Maybe you can find out what the missing words are on your own. Kurrent - Wikipedia
So many different German handwriting formats…Kurrent, Sütterlin, Normalschrift, Fraktur
There are even books sold in Amazon about deciphering old German handwriting styles.
The front side of the card has the answer… The location is Anclam.
The closest thing is a postcard that I received recently in a round robin. It was a photo collage, and included pasted-on text that had been typewriter-typed. Also, my addresss had been typed with a typewriter, then pasted into the message side. It made me feel very nostalgic
please
