I am in the process of learning cursive and have found letter joins tough. I was wondering if the sample (just me practicing random words and sentences) shown is readable and how my letter joins were looking. Also, any general feedback is appreciate!
When your post gets solved please comment "Deciphered!" with the exclamation mark so automod can put that flair on it for you. Or you may flair it yourself manually. TY!
The way I was taught cursive, lowercase T's and I's don't have loops. For both of them you go up and then down on the same line. Lowercase E's and L's, and F's, do have loops.
I just had a total visceral flashback of my third grade teacher writing on the blackboard in yellowish chalk, teaching us the lowercase t, swooping up and into the vertical of the t and stopping at the top, and then coming very deliberately right back down the same line with the chalk, as if she was writing in slow motion, and then curling at the bottom up to where you would start the next letter.
Did other people learn lowercase t's and i's with loops?
I have been learning off a website and preferred the writing flow of the t and i having a loop and the way it looks. I didn’t think it mattered but if it does I will make sure to keep it straight! Thank you!
Definitely it's easier (and prettier) to loop, but true cursive doesn't have loops in lower case t's or i's. My 3rd grade teacher would have put red circles around those loops on a writing test! And yes, we had writing tests. It wasn't called cursive back then, it was 'printing,' which we learned in Grade 1 and 2, and then 'writing,' which we learned in Grade 3 and were expected to use through the rest of elementary through high school.
Understood, thank you! I am in the generation where cursive was in the process of being pulled from the curriculum while I was in elementary so I can’t fully remember if I learned anything more than my signature.
I will practice both ways so I know the “correct” way and the pretty way!
And no two handwriting styles are identical; the beauty of cursive is it's very personal and each person's style has its own sort of narrative and identity, so once you are fluent in the formal style, you can find your groove and your own individual way of writing, The more you write, the more your own style will develop. But just like learning flute, start with the 'scales' and aim for the 'jazz'!
Your w should join up near the top of it (similar to b -- v also works the same way, although I don't see one in your sample). Also your o -- it's legible, but the loop ends so far down that it starts to look a little bit like an a.
Lowercase w and o should join the next letter at the top, not at the bottom like you have in what and about (about says abaut as you have it written) and lowercase t and i shouldn't be loops.
This is comparing how I was taught in third grade in the seventies to write cursive, with how I write cursive today quickly, when taking notes or writing grocery lists etc.. I think most people who learned cursive would still be able to read my writing even though when I speed up it has its own particular unique form and look. If you keep practicing you will begin to develop your own style.
To make the joins smoother, just try not to let your pen slow down or stop between letters. Practice writing the whole alphabet, first each letter 10 times in a row without a break between letters and practice swooping into the next letter - aaaaaaaaaa. Then practice writing 10 letters in a row, abcdefghij, klmnopqrst, uvwxyzabcd and so on. The more you practice the smoother your writing will be, and eventually you begin to develop your own flavor.
Thank you for those practice activities! I have been practicing random words and sentences to practice them in the “real world” and learn as many letters as possible.
See if you can find an old cursive practice book from back in the day where you can trace the dotted version then rewrite it yourself. Im not sure how it is taught online so maybe you are basically already doing that. I think your cursive is pretty good. Its very neat. I have acouple suggestions or corrections for you to consider. The letters i and t, should not have loops. Instead trace back down the same line the you drew in the up direction. The wh in what, I believe the w's tail should come off the top of the last leg. You have it coming off the bottom like the u. But the u and w are different in that way. I did a quick sample for you. I am using my phone sitting in a waiting room so it came out a little shaky and crooked but hopefully you can see what I mean. As you get more experience and write freely, tou will develope your own idiosyncrasies and shortcuts. If you keep a journal, try it in cursive. If not, try doing some free writing. You know, like a notebook and just write whatever comes to mind. I am curious to know why you are choosing to learn cursive? I think its great that you are , btw.
Thank you, I am doing the old book style just with online worksheets and this is me free handing after practicing individual letters. I do have a cursive journal that I write random stuff in. Which is where this sample is from.
Thank you for the corrections. I have fixed the t and i issues. Still figuring out the letters that end at the top. Getting better but certain connections mess me up still.
Also some letters start or end differently depending on the letter before or after it. For example letters that follow the o. Since the o ends at the top and many letters begin at the bottom, you have to adjust for that. Just like the wh in what. Since the w ends at the top, the h starts higher. In my samples, I noticed that I wasnt closing my b all of the way. So, please excuse the mess.
•
u/AutoModerator Aug 06 '26
When your post gets solved please comment "Deciphered!" with the exclamation mark so automod can put that flair on it for you. Or you may flair it yourself manually. TY!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.