anyone here still write in cursive?

It is still taught in Montessori pre-school education because it develops a lot of muscles and coordination. Taught the right way, its actually easier than "printing".

Sometimes I type in italics font.

Top Noticer wrote:

Seems to be a lost art, unfortunately.

Why is this unfortunate? The efficiency gain from writing in cursive is less meaningful now that most substantial writing is done on computers. If I am writing a 10 page paper by hand, I guess I want a style of handwriting that is faster, but if I only ever jot down a few quick notes with a pen and paper, the few seconds I'll save doesn't justify the time spent learning a second writing style (and the opportunity cost of whatever else I could have been learning in that time--how about starting kids on a second language in early elementary school instead?).

Also, even practiced cursive writers usually produce handwriting that is somewhere between difficult to decipher and completely illegible. It's a waste of time for everyone to try to figure out what is being communicated with the "legible first letter followed by a series of bumps" style that seems to pervade among cursive writers. Just type the damn note and (baring a typo) there will never be any confusion.

Top Noticer wrote:

Seems to be a lost art, unfortunately.

Yup. I exclusively wrote in cursive from about age 9 until 17. Then at 27 I decided to do it again since I realized my cursive handwriting is better than my print and it's faster for me. And looks good too!

I usually write in a combination of both, some printed letters and some cursive. This results from a desire to get it done as quickly as possible and most likely from habits developed along the way to accomplish that.

Top Noticer wrote:

Seems to be a lost art, unfortunately.

Completely agree. I just took it up again a few years back. Took me a while to learn it again.

What type of writing do you print and what type do you use cursive. Even if you switch in the same paragraph, do you print for a certain type of thinking.I use cursive for brief family notes, I always print for lists, usually anything at work, when not typing, its printing. For anything requiring thought, I print.The percent of printing versus cursive, for me has significantly increased.

Ted Underhill wrote:

I usually write in a combination of both, some printed letters and some cursive. This results from a desire to get it done as quickly as possible and most likely from habits developed along the way to accomplish that.

Most "cursive" that is taught in American schools is hideous even if done right. Here are some suggestions for how to improve your handwriting by learning italic handwriting:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/09/04/opinion/20090908_opart.html?_r=0

http://www.handwritingsuccess.com/

http://jp29.org/itdr.htm

http://www.italic-handwriting.org/

Well, I sign checks.

You mean there are people that don't write in the cursive.

It's the only aesthetic form of writing.

It's how I was taught to write. From when I first started writing up until I was 18 it was the only way I wrote (we didn't have computers in high school).

I prefer how my writing looks when I print.

However I just grabbed a notebook and most of it's joined up, so yes I still use it.

Bingo!

Randy Oldman wrote:

You mean there are people that don't write in the cursive.