I write in connected print letters.

Printing, it is easy to read. My experience in design and drafting helped with this.
When I am writing on a whiteboard, people need to be able to read it.

There is so much sloppy writing out there (printing and cursive). It doesn't make sense. The whole idea is to communicate.

:mellow:

In my case, I'm just incapable of writing legibly. All that matters is that I can understand my own scrawl, and anything I need to present to others gets typed and printed out anyways.

I tend to print because my handwriting is god-awful. If I write in cursive its basically impossible to read.

I am able to print quicker than a lot of people I know can handwrite, and I know people that can handwrite quicker than I can print. It comes down to what is preferred and most practised. I never once had an issue at university printing, nor did anyone else that printed.

I print just because it was taught for a few years before they tried to teach us handwriting so the handwriting lessons never stuck. I actually can't remember how to do some of the letters it's been so long. I find printing neater, quicker, and generally nicer looking than a bunch of squiggles that differ more person to person than printing does.

Both. Unfortunately, both are extremely messy and my cursive is essentially illegible. Still, it's much faster and easier on the wrist than printing is, so that if I have to write something long out. Still, laptop/tablet > paper.

I imagine technology contributes to that. I've always had bad handwriting, even during school when I was writing reports and essays and a book in my spare time, but it evolved to truly terrible afterward because I never really needed to write. I wasn't doing homework anymore, and if I needed to write something I would just type it. I don't really do anything that requires handwritten material, and typing lets me avoid nuisances like new papers and pencils and erasing and hand cramps. I've pretty much forgotten how to write in cursive (and those letters I remember look baaad) because after learning it in class and finishing the homework for it, it was never needed again.

The only cursive I ever use is when I need to sign my name, and that's mainly because as I got old enough to have things to sign my parents told me that was how I was supposed to do it. As an example of how terrible my handwriting is, especially cursive, the letters don't actually connect, which is supposed to be the whole point. I just do the swirly letters one at a time. I hope my signature is never needed as any kind of proof of my mark, because I don't really have a set signature. It's an awful mess that looks different every single time I write it. No two are alike, like a fall of ugly, ugly snowflakes.

I can print neat if someone else can read it. But I doubt anyone can read my history notes which I write in a sloppy, quick hybrid of printing and connecting certain letters so I don't have to take my pen off the paper. I can barely read them, and I laugh when the people next to me try to look at what they missed in vain before turning away.

But we learned cursive in.... hmmm. Grade 4 and 5 I believe. It was even mandatory for use to write all assignments in cursive until grade 7 when I found out it wasn't required anymore and quickly switched away from it.



Like I said, basically, I've learned to hybrid it with an emphasis on printing flowing letters. I guess its personal preference.

I used to write in cursive all the time, for everything, but then around 6th grade I got a note from all of my teachers telling me to stop writing in cursive because they couldn't read it.

Now I write in print. Also use what's called http://www.navygirl.org/images/recruithandwriting.jpg that they teach at boot camp to force everybody to use a common, legible style for log taking. But usually it's my own natural handwriting. Especially for when I have to fill out entire pages worth of stuff on tests.

I can barely read cursive handwriting if that answers your question.

With the exception of my signature, I print. My handwriting's bad enough to begin with, so why muddle it further with cursive?

Not to mention that most of the time I can barely even read cursive, anyway.

In class, I take notes by using a system with which I abridge things to the point at which it is basically a code.

I would say that I use a mixture of both. At Primary school we were taught to 'link' our letters, which I suppose is a bit like cursive. I was terrible at it, but it sort of got me into the habit of linking some letters together. Either way, my writing looks like a child's.

Yeah. Writing "proper" print is time consuming. When you splice together print and elements of cursive, like connecting certain letter combinations, you can write exceedingly fast.

I always use Cursive. It is much quicker for me. Though it is fairly messy. I dont like printing at all really since I was taught cursive first.

Mostly cursive since in my old school that's what they taught us and what we were expected to write in. But I'm trying to write more in print now because teachers complain about my handwriting. Why do we even need to write on paper anyway? It's 2011!

Reading the comments have been interesting.
It occurs to me that cursive writing was developed at some point in time to facilitate fast writing. It's obvious that not needing to lift the pen or pencil as often makes it quicker. It was the fashionable way to write throughout the 18th and 19th centuries by looking at the examples we have of written correspondence during those times.

I am reminded of a method that was developed to make writing even faster called "shorthand", specifically http://gregg.angelfishy.net/.
It was taught in every high school in the US for decades. I remember my older sister taking that class. It was used for "taking dictation".
Secretaries would use short hand to write down their bosses thoughts and later type them out on a (have mercy) typewriter. This was actually taught and learned and used on a massive scale in business. It was the standard.
They may still use a form of it in court stenography...I don't know.

http://gregg.angelfishy.net/anunit01.shtml

Today, learning it would be akin to learning Morse Code (which the military may still teach) or learning to do Calculus and other math on a slide rule...and do it simply as an esoteric hobby.

primarily cursive

Cursive of course - 'proper' writing.

I guess in a generations time there will be this kind of questions asking if anyone still uses pen and paper.

I have messy handwriting, but I can and do write in both. I'm surprised at how many people say printing only. Cursive was taught from 2nd grade on and if you handed in assignments in print you'd get a 0, and it stayed that way until High School(9-12) where the teachers really didn't care as long as it was legible. If I'm just jotting things down as notes for a game or something, I usually do it in printing, but if I'm writing anything serious, or am compiling a list of notes, I'll do it in cursive. Also, I've always been under the impression that when you refer to handwriting, you're automatically talking about cursive. I'm finding it hard right now to refer to cursive as cursive and not just handwriting. lol

@Aquan: As far as I know, at the local high school, short-hand is still taught as an actual class, and is briefly taught in certain "office" classes. At least, it was still offered about 8 years ago when my wife was still in high school.

In our district cursive was only taught and required in a few grades in elementary school. After that, you were free to write in whichever way you felt most comfortable.

Interchangeable. Though, I write with prinitng more. I see no use in cursive. If you hand up an essay with cursive, would the teacher even accept it?

Most should (unless they specify that only printing is accepted or they cannot read it).

Interesting to know. I would have assumed it went the way of the Dodo bird for sure....it seems it would be headed that way.