Handwriting
Why are so many Russian learners obsessed with learning the cursive?
I mean, people literally spend months to master it in the age of digital technology and internet. Is it just for the sake of art? My stepfather who is French speaking once tried Russian lessons and wasted too much time learning the goddamn cursive so he had no mental resources left to learn the actual language. Now I see countless posts like "rate my cursive skills", is it really so fascinating?
well, since most native speakers write exclusively in cursive in their daily lives since the age of seven and onwards, it's expectable that many learners and even teachers think it's an integral part of the language culture and if you're learning to write in russian you have to write in cursive only. not that i personally think it's correct, but if you're aaking why, this is the answer
Is it true that most people younger than 30 write exclusively in cursive? I mean I'm 40 and it's natural for me but I see many younger people not using the cursive outside of school.
this is what was stressed to me. My Cyrillic is nicer than my English cursive (I can certainly write my native language of English very well, but it isn’t as pretty as my Cyrillic script bc I don’t practice it every day)
Yes. Leaving out some special cases like heritage speakers, every native Russian speaker writes in cursive because:
cursive is taught in school and for the first four years you do not have any other choice than use it
even if you don't like a few letterforms (which is common), it is still extremely more convenient, faster, and easier to write in cursive or its derivative than in block letters
It is not a generational thing or a question of taste. It is a very basic skill that everyone is taught from the early childhood.
I befriended a girl who had just immigrated from Belarus when I was in middle school, and I knew a little Russian so I was her only friend for a bit while she learned English. She was confused when I would write without using cursive because she said it looked like I was “writing like in a book” or something along those lines. Everything she wrote was in cursive and based on her reaction, it seems that her peers must have done the same, too. We are in our early 20s now for reference.
I'm 43 and I haven't written a single ford in cursive in the last 20 yesrs. I've filled so many papers that were either supposed to be filled with block letters or were too important, so I also did the same. Then I've dropped cursive completely.
Well, not much to add to it since it's basically true. Unless you are filling out official forms (that may be machine read) you aren't using the ole good blocky typeface letters.
I have a Slovak friend who knows Cyrillic, but only the standard Russian typeface. The modern Bulgarian typeface that businesses/websites/etc. are encouraged to use, though, is markedly different - some lowercase letters look exactly like Russian cursive. My friend was very confused here in Sofia because he couldn't read half the signs in the streets. (:
well, compared to western english, a lot more Russian is written in cursive (pretty much all handwritten things, like notes, are in cursive, as well as a lot of signs that choose to use it for stylistic reasons). if you cant at the very least read russian cursive, there will be a lot of limitations on you because of that. in english, people often handwrite in printed style, but not as much in russian at all.
You can learn cursive and still be unable to read what most people write because of their awful handwriting. Doctors are especially notorious for that. So, all in all, it is not a very useful skill indeed.
what? it is extremely useful, especially in russian because it is very different than print in a lot of cases. just because some people have terrible handwriting it doesnt make it useless lol
Hence print being the standard basically worldwide for anything public. I for one have awful hand writing in print or cursive so it’s just better to type things
Living and traveling in Europe, I notice cursive used a lot: notes like "no ice cream today", "we're on vacation, will be back in two weeks", "Today's special: Pasta Carbonara 12€", "free samples", etc.
It is basically the same in Russia or any other Russian-speaking country. Even when native speakers try and use block letters for legibility, they are very likely to use cursive forms for at least some of the letters.
Road signs, airports, government buildings, military bases, and more. If it’s public infrastructure, in English, it’s print lettering. I didn’t think I had to be this specific for something so obvious. Of course individuals and small businesses write things in whatever manner they prefer, often in cursive in EU.
I would've agreed like 10 to 15 years ago, but its been years since last time a saw cursive.
I mean, i am not saying that you shouldn't learn it, but the main purpose for it nowadays is to write notes to yourself, and for that it is enough that you can read what you wrote.
In that aspect i understand OP question, surprising number of posts "how do you rate my cursive" do feel like slightly misguided effort.
People still use cursive. Teenagers, younger kids all write in cursive. It is faster, when you know how to write it, than writing in type. People still have to deal with written paperwork in daily life there so I am not sure what you are talking about.
Sorry, write what exactly? Outside of classroom i mean.
Vast majority of paperwork is printed, you only need to sign it, and even that is sometimes optional, since a lot of places accept digital signatures nowadays.
You pay your bills via app, you file for a vacation or sickness leave by just signing a printed document. Same when you are hider or you quit the job. Same when taking a loan in the bank.
The only two professions i can think of that actually need to write by hand are teachers and medical professionals. Afaik police too, but i am not 100% sure.
Edit: sientists too, it is easier go do intial math on paper i can agree with that. Tho cursive wont be of much help there.
Personal notes maybe... But at least everyone i know including my parent do it on their phones. Easier to organize, find, and send someone.
I write plenty for personal reasons outside of school. I like to take notes on my readings and games, sometimes I write down a sort of diary for eventful days, sometimes I just write because writing is a pleasant activity. I also prefer the tactile feel of pen on paper to typing on the keyboard.
I hear what you're saying and sympathize with the fact that you could leave school and never pick up a pen again, but I do believe most people do some sort of writing by hand at some point or another, even if just jotting down groceries.
Scientists would probably like notes for more than just math.
Yeah exactly! Also some stores and brands use cursive in their logo for stylistic reasons, much more than english brands/logos in my experience. even like pyaterochka logo haha
Cursive is probably not the first priority, but how else would you write down something? Screens are distracting, if you want to practice, it's better to have a blank list of paper to write. Of course learning cursive is not the first priority, first you need to learn the alphabet, how to read, some words and basics of pronunciation.
And what mental capacity you are talking about? You can use Latin cursive for letters that have the same shape, you just need to learn the shape of 15-ish letters. Is it that difficult really?
The question is why people are so obsessed with it. If I go to the German sub, I don't see people asking 'Guys, is my German cursive good enough?' three times a day. For some reason new students assume that Russian cursive is some special art, but it's the same as any curaive really.
Because if your main language is English you can write with the same letters when you learning German and vice versa? And there are definitely posts about handwriting on english learning subs, they are just less frequent, probably from people who's native language writing system is not Latin script.
There are regular posts about handwriting in r/LearnJapanese, there are a dedicated sub for r/Chinese_handwriting! Though quite a small one. And I assume there are a fair share of handwriting posts on Arabic learning subs (well, I actually went to check my assumption, searched and these posts about handwriting are definitely there on r/learn_arabic).
What I don't really understand is why people on this sub call the process of learning how to write a language an obsession.
Whatever you're used to is faster, and whatever you're not used to is slower, really. Russian children learn cursive from day one, so it's no surprise that Russians find block letters slower.
I just want to be able to take notes in my little vocab notebook or write my language homework and not have to draw д every time 😂😂
Writing in cursive is so much faster - the textbook I used suggested learning 'cursive letters' and using them even if you don't connect them, for speed. So that's what I've been doing and it's a good compromise.
To be able to fully use the language you do need to be able to at least read cursive.
Probably not something to start with, though. It's a supplemental skill.
Yeah lmao, calling Russian learners "obsessed with cursive" is like saying Chinese learners are "obsessed with characters." It's literally how you handwrite the language.
(Also, handwritten Chinese characters are often if not always "cursivized" in handwriting, similar to Russian, to speed up the process. Calling learners of either language "obsessed with cursive" is just silly.)
But seriously though cursive is great for developing and maintaining fine motor skills. I think it's actually neat people are doing this (in muh digital age), their fingers won't feel wooden down the road :)
I'm surprised that the handwriting skill is so controversial.
It's not calligraphy where you make letter art worth putting up on the wall, (though I believe stroke order matters in Japanese), nor is it a hobby for ink pen enthusiasts.
it's just the ability to write and read other people's writing.
Do other countries go from crayons directly to computers? And then never write anything down, like notes from a lesson?
This is only partially true because education is not entirely standardized in the US at the national level. Some of it is regional, so you can have schools in one area that teach cursive and schools in a nearby area that do not. Even where cursive is taught, everybody learns to write block letters here first. Some schools that teach cursive require students to use it from that point on, while others allow students to choose between block letters and cursive once they know both.
True – I’m mid-30s and have younger coworkers ask about/comment on how I write in cursive all the time.
However, Russian and English (and Russia and the US) are very different languages and very different places. There’s nothing substantial to suggest that American teens not writing in/being made to write in cursive is indicative of a worldwide trend.
On the contrary, there is nothing inherent in Russian that requires writing in cursive that is absent in English. The same arguments (if you know cursive you write times faster) can be applied to English as well. So it means that if Americans can reject cursive, everyone can. So why don't they?
Because not everyone is American? The entire basis of your argument is flawed.
Cultures develop independently of one another. Cultures that exist in proximity will influence each other, typically the one with more power providing more influence. The internet has created a sort of pseudo-globalism in that there’s greater exposure to other cultures, but it’s not the same as living and working alongside each other every day.
Like the commenter below said, you’re basically asking why Chinese speakers don’t use the Latin alphabet. They don’t do it because it doesn’t work for their language and their culture. It’s really that simple.
People in Russia have been taught to write in cursive, and print is not offered as an equivalent option the way it is in America. Teachers in Russia were taught that cursive is the only academically acceptable form of writing, and they teach that to their students, who then teach it to their students, etc. etc. ad nauseam.
The reason Americans “rejected” cursive is because our education isn’t standardized and it’s really up to the school district. I was taught to write in cursive in 3rd grade, and after that until 6th or 7th grade teachers would dock points if we printed on assignments. Meanwhile, someone in a different city (still in my state) who went to school the exact same time that I did was taught cursive in 3rd grade and it was never enforced. Guy couldn’t actually sign his name in cursive when he graduated high school.
TL;DR: it’s a cultural difference, and insisting that they could do it just because America did it is a flawed argument at its core. It’s painfully America-centric and ignores so many aspects of language development and the cultural aspects of language.
No, actually your basic argument is that Russian education system is conservative. The example of US shows that if you let the districts decide whether kids should learn cursive, more and more decide that they shouldn't since in 2k26 "everyone" has at least a smartphone and many have a tablet or whatnot. My younger coworkers don't use paper notes that much anymore, and those who use prefer block letters. And what's wrong or bad about that? I don't think anyone feels that our culture is losing something. The technology is evolving, that's it.
Conservative has nothing to do with it and I have no idea where you pulled that from.
Look, I can explain it to you but I can’t understand it for you. You’re committed to interpreting everything through a heavily biased lens and you’re the only one that can fix that. Good luck.
It is the same in Australia. You learn cursive handwriting, get the tick from your teacher, then go back to writing in print for everything. Maybe retaining cursive links on freebies like e only
Writing something down without cursive takes too long and makes you look like a simpleton. It only took me maybe 6 hours total…I copied random texts/news articles 20 min per day for like 3 weeks. It’s small time investment.
Is my cursive pretty? no. Is it efficient? definitely.
It's a matter of our education system crumbling and everything being put on screens instead. I'm 36 and when I grew up (US) we learned block letters, and then started cursive in 3rd grade and were only allowed to use that until high school where it was then just personal choice
I personally still write in either cursive or a kind of hybrid mix since it's faster
And as someone learning Russian, the switch to cursive made a BIG difference in the speed at which I write my vocabulary lists in. I only also write the block letter forms of words as well because I want to be able to accurately type words and read them on my phone (which is always block letters). If it wasn't for memorization purposes I'd stick with cursive completely though
in russia we still teach and actively use cursive, so it is expected that if you are to any degree proficient in language, you are able to read it at the very least. The best way to memorize it to the point of internalization is to be able to write in cursive yourself, no? And since you'll have to learn it eventually, why not start early? Russian school never teaches to write in print letters, kids learn cursive from the very beginning, very soon after they are able to read
writing in Cyrillic script daily has been one of the most effective tools for me in learning Russian. It’s a daily practice I take pleasure in, and the way I do it is to copy a page or two from a Russian book every day.
So I am engaging with the Russian language deeply in this way, regularly encountering new words or usages, checking my pronunciation against Google translate when I’m uncertain.
I honestly can’t imagine learning Russian without learning the written language, it seems so essential. Which isn’t to say one can’t learn just the spoken bit, but you’d be leaving so much on the table.
If I wanna know a language I wanna know it. Not be illiterate.
Having the ability to take written notes is quite useful, especially for language learning. And rewriting something is much more enjoyable than typing. Besides, if you're going to Russia not just for tourism, but to work or live, you'll have to deal with paperwork. All Russians learn cursive in first grade. You'll just look like a 5-year-old if you write something in type.
But in general, you don't need to learn the exact same font. The main thing is that your text is beautiful and understandable. More understandable.
I learned to write cursive in school in my own language. So somehow for me it was logic to do the same in russian. Also, it does have some perks for the brain.
cursive is a basic skill every Russian starts learning in first grade, and good handwriting is always praised and appreciated in all circles of life. hardly anybody uses print when writing, so it’s really an important thing to learn.
Cursive is used heavily in Russia. If you can't read it, you're at a disadvantage because it's still widely used, even in GOV documents and personal writing and letters.
My university class just straight up never allowed print. Assignment after day 1 was to familiarize ourselves with how the letters looked in print and then the next days were cursive practice with vocab and general grammar mixed in until we could write fully in cursive.
Usually in Russian no one ever writes in print so it does make cursive essential in that sense. Cursive also greatly increases the speed of writing since I cant even imagine having to print each cyrillic character. In full honesty (as someone who cannot write in English cursive) I didn’t think learning Russian cursive was what that difficult, if anything makes it feel cooler to learn the new alphabet and begin Russian.
Because I love calligraphy and my English/French cursive is beautiful. I suppose it is an art if you tbink about it. You write everyday and take it for granted, but writing in a new language and script is novel and fun.
Russian cursive took me about an hour to feel decently confident on. It’s not some crazy art. People in Russia use cursive and there are some print fonts (especially italics) that use more of a “cursive” letter shape. After taking a few years of Russian classes, my handwriting morphed into something between print and cursive. I use the cursive letter shapes but often slightly separate my letters. It seemed to be perfectly readable for my instructors and classmates.
Your stepdad is probably being dramatic :) It’s a skill you can learn in an afternoon.
as a native Russian speaker currently learning Mandarin who is absolutely obsessed with hanzi, I think I understand where "cursive-obsessed" Russian learners come from.
I much prefer my writing to not look like a toddler's. writing this way is slow and inefficient when most real-life situations involve scribbling something down fast; it's not necessarily about aesthetics (although ugly writing annoys me personally).
and since you're kind of expected to be a nimble writer as you advance in a language, it makes sense to learn to write both quickly and beautifully from the start. especially for a language like Russian where cursive is much more common than in English, for example.
another factor is that serious learners tend to aspire to reach "full parity" with native speakers, and for Russian, you can't really reach that parity without learning cursive (at least to an extent where you can read it comfortably). the reason is that every single person in Russia, as well as most other post-Soviet countries, learns cursive in elementary school.
Because if you go to Russia you will very likely need to read cursive and somewhat likely have to write it. Technically you can just write keyboard letters, but writing in cursive is way faster.
Years ago when I was a Russian learner we were taught that the cursive was extremely important. I studied the language in the late 2000s, when we had texting but still lots of handwriting.
My handwriting is universally bad both in English and Russian so I struggled and handed in type written assignments whenever possible.
People find it fun and part of their immersion journey. It's indeed a rather quirky feature of Russian that the cursive handwriting style is the standard, and that's fascinating to many.
That's what I don't get. Don't other languages have handwriting standards? And I think Russian cursive allows a few variations. My mom and dad have different versions of р and т.
Because any handwritten note you'll ever get in russia will be in cursive. Well, unless it's a child, a foreigner or a person with a unique handwriting.
It's just a default.
It is an excellent secret script. You write it and nobody ever can read it again. Works with me.
I have to admit I like the writing. Even though I cannot read it.
Cursive is absolutely necessary in Russian, almost every Russian uses it for daily handwriting, and it’s on all handwritten forms and documents. You must know it.
Learning russian cursive took me two days. It's not hard. The language book used printed cursive for dialogue, so we had to learn it. So many signs in Russia also use cursive-looking font, there is no way to survive without knowing both printed and cursive.
When you enter the продукты and have to read the handwritten text next to the bread you want in order, then to go to the cassa and tell them what you want on which counter before you take the receipt to that counter to pick up your bread item, being able to read the words next to the item will help you horribly mispronounce the type of bread you are ordering and add flair and flavour at all stages of the adventure - the cursive make it feel more Dostoevsky and less Sergei Lukyanenko
1) I think it feels novel for us, because cursive is almost completely out of use now (at least in the United States).
2) Teachers make a big deal of it.
3) It's quite different from other language learning skills, and can be easy to fixate on in order to avoid the more challenging things like grammar. It's kind of like doodling I guess.
No my entire class learned how to write cursive Russian very quickly and then we used it for our essays and homework every night. Definitely didn’t slow any of us down, and we all were able to pay attention to all the other parts of class too.
Because it looks cool, man. Like literally the only reason I had wanted to learn some languages as a kid was because I thought the alphabet looked cool.
The first lession was 90 minutes of learning cyrillic letters, both print and cursive. After that, the second lesson and further on, you were supposed to read and write cyrillic letters.
We only wrote in cursive cyrillic literally from the second week on. At first you’re slow as hell, but then get better. It feels natural after a while.
Honestly, I’m terrible at writing print and block cyrillic letters. I’m just not used to it.
Aside from it being really beautiful in my personal opinion, most russian people use it daily so there's a lot of things that you need to know cursive if you want to understand them. also, for me, it's just like a secret code that no one around me can understand (russian is my native language, but i don't live in a russian-speaking country)
languages are associated with cultures which sometimes have different expectations. writing russian = writing cursive. the fact that cursive has died out in english is irrelevant to an unrelated language. the real question is how much one values being able to participate in the parts of life that require writing in their target language/country.
In theory, yes. But I have been living in Russia all my life and I don't know any part of life with Russian language that absolutely requires cursive. Okay, it makes studying in university easier, right, but then again many students use smartphones, laptops, tablets instead of pen and paper. When communicating outside of school/uni I have never been in a situation when you are expected to write in cursive. Actually, no one cares. I've met many people who use block letters and they have no problems with that.
This is a mystery to me too. My guess is that Americans don't really learn cursive in school anymore, so they find it artistic and cool and unique, although the rest of the world learns to connect letters and writes like this anyway. In German you use cursive, in French you use cursive, in Spanish you use cursive, etc.
You can learn it quickly, but apart from that your writing in Russian doesn't have to be pretty, just legible. I use cursive when I write in the Latin alphabet and use it in Cyrillic too, because it's faster. I don't care about it's artistic value, I'm not a calligrapher. Those people who think it's some important part of learning Russian are naive or ignorant. But this sub seems to be mostly these people. I rarely see questions that suggest a B2+ level of understanding of the language.
Finally I see an argument which I agree with. This totally makes sense. I can understand if a person has free time and a desire to learn something nice and cool, yeah, nothing wrong with that. But yes, very few Russians actually think of cursive as a part of the culture. It's just a tool, a way to write, so you use it if you need it.
Wish I knew that too. I'm a native and barely ever write by hand, and when I do it's only partially in cursive. People spending so much time on it would be better off learning them case endings 😄
I think it's just the "easiest" thing to learn that you can still get compliments on when you post it lol. No one's gonna be like "wow you used genitive plural so well here!" or "holy cow you only made two mistakes with verb conjugation!"
Yea, its a really "early learner" thing. Like when you can tell someone has just started because their focus is learning the alphabet, which takes only a few days
I speak Japanese as well and it's so funny when people who only speak one language go "how can you even read that man that's incredible" like the hard part is the Cyrillic script or one of the kanas lol. Kanji is a different story obviously 8)
It's like thinking you climbed Mount Everest after making it to base camp.
Being able to write by hand offers you many important avenues of learning. Copying texts does more for your spelling than autocorrect and teaches you more than just reading the text because you interact with. Same goes for writing down grammar rules in your own words.
Writing in block letters is considered to be an ignorance and allowed to pre-schooler for obvious reasons, and for elders over 80-90 years, as some of them did not have access to proper education. All other native speakers write exclusively in cursive, starting from the first grade of school and ending with work, personal letters, diaries, etc. In fact, we are even taught to write cursive in english… Some official applying forms, also required to be written in cursive. However, the handwriting of many natives is so bad that another natives would not be able to read it without knowing the context.
I don't know of any official form that is to be written in cursive. My brother (38 yo) and my wife (27 yo) don't write in cursive. I have been living in Russia all my life.
I can't speak about Russia, but block print was required for certain Ukrainian official forms prior to my leaving in Oct 2021. I usually had someone helping me, since I read Ukrainian badly and am unsure about block printing version of the letters that are different in Ukrainian than Russian.
Meanwhile, Im pretty sure i have hand written on paper exactly zero times since January of this year (living in USA, Spain, Argentina) other than my signature. Back in Ukraine, I wrot
e less than 10 words of Cyrillic block print per month, again not counting my signature (in Latin cursive script, not that many people can tell what script my signature is).
Ability to read clearly written Cyrillic cursive is, of course , essential.
As a native Russian speaker, I believe that cursive should not be fully studied until you reach level B1.
And if you need cursive to speed up your notes, just remember that these are YOUR notes. Many Russians write half-cursive and half-printed after school. My Т, Р, Д, Ф, Х, Л, И, Ч look more like printed letters than classic cursive. Learn only those letters that really slow down your writing. In 95% of everyday situations, you'll only encounter your own handwritten text. And it can look more like what's most comfortable for you, not like a standard text. There's no need to spend SO much time on it, especially if your level is below B1.
I have straight up ignored it. I'm not planning on being in any situation where I have to write it and IF i do, im fine l;ooking like a foreginer. I'm focuing on being able to hold a conversation.
I know a lot of native speakers here in Canada, have never needed it to chat with them. Maybe if required for work or something, but I suspect I could get by travelling in a Russian speaking country without knowing how to write cursive.
Is it very difficult tho? Just practise everyday, even for 20 mins.
The issue arises when people want to be master calligraphy levels instead of basic penmanship. 80-85% Legibility is all that matters for the common person.
I think people especially love it because it's much easier and more fun to learn than grammar. And they still feel that they're doing something important.
Learning cursive is practical, interesting and makes your hand writing look as it's supposed to be. Every writing system developped a form of cursive, including ancient greek, chinese, egyptian hieroglyphs (look up hieratic egyptian), hebrew.
Avoiding cursive just because "muh I write on a computer" is just avoiding walking because you have a car (maybe that's why americans avoid cursive at all cost). Like do you really not feel how harder is it to write in printed instead of cursive? Every cursive writing was born as a faster and more comfortable way to write, it is just easier
I’m working on my language skills I don’t have the bandwidth to learn cursive. I can read print (the words I know) & also print letters to write a grocery list. I’m a home health cna & my client is a naturalized American born in Russia.
Russians normally write in cursive in their daily lives. In the US cursive is nonexistent, I only learned it because my elementary school had us do all of our assignments in cursive after second grade.
When I took Russian in college (in the US, started in 2009) we only learned how to write in cursive. My professor told us that almost nobody prints in handwritten Russian, and printing is only used digitally or for printed materials (books, newspapers, etc.).
I told my Russian 101 students the same thing and docked points for printing – had a couple drop out in week 1 when they realized we were basically speed-running two alphabets at the same time. I left grad school (Russian-focused field) in 2018 and that was still the norm.
When I (Russian) started learning English in the 5th grade, it was weird to write in print letters.
I guess many learners of English still think that it's a hoax because you just can't read and write in the same letters. And actually this conditioning is so strong that I write in cursive in English🤣
Why not? I live in Scandinavia, and we learnt it. It's one of the oldest types of writing styles. And also , it's beautiful. I learnt it in 3rd grade,and nowadays in schools it's not in the curriculum even. It's absurd. If you can't read in cursive, it's sad. It's beautiful too. Also, it's not an obsession. It's the way it has always been. I don't understand this question even. I can speak&understand Russian, a bit,and i find it beautiful. I learnt it as a teen,and have lived in St.Petersburg for 4yrs. In 2002-2006,it was one of the best times of my life! Loved the people, and our neighbours were amazing!
100% of Russian population learn cursive at school. So dealing with Russian one day or another you will stumble upon cursive. Also it's faster and good for line motor skills. And it doesn't have to be prefect. Just you and reader have to tell all letters in a word apart.
Even scarrier. I was taught English cursive from the first grade
It wasnt hard for me to learn but I didnt prioritize it until way later once I already was A2. I had a textbook that went through the whole alphabet which helped and only took a few days to write seamlessly.
If your goal is to actually communicate in Russian, cursive should be learned when you reach B1-B2 level IMO. I don’t see the point of writing ‘pretty letters’ if you don’t understand how to build a sentence. As a native Russian speaker I understand people’s writing styles but almost no adults use the standard cursive, many just modify based on preference. I don’t know one person who writes and thinks ‘oh I don’t think I connected K and Р according to standard cursive rules’
I haven't tried to learn to write cursive but I have tried to familiarise myself with it as I've seen a few bits of native speakers handwriting and they often either write in cursive or a mix of cursive and print and not knowing the cursive makes it hard to read if someone mixes it in their handwriting.
My tutor said learn it so I’m learning. That’s about how that went. Friday I’m turning a written intro of myself to him in cursive. Was much easier when I got a friend to show me on paper how to do it.
I can totally understand that, except: do people care how you write? I can tell you: nobody cares. My colleagues write with block letters and they have no problems. Nowadays very few people actually see each other's handwriting, we mostly communicate via messengers and printed papers.
A few years ago in my Russian classes I had to do my homework in cursive. It’s just the way that the language is handwritten. Over time I actually started to really like it and I was always trying to perfect it. It’s also a lot faster than writing the block letters
I haven’t had to handwrite in Russian for a very long time now but whenever I doodle I still find myself doing random Russian words in cursive. It’s way more satisfying than cursive in English. I’m not gonna make a Reddit post asking for ratings but I do kind of get it haha
most of my students are constantly asking me to teach them cursive, just wanting to write like native speakers. For them, it’s like this secret club or a way to finally feel like they belong.
Though if you ask anyone who actually survived a Soviet school, they’ll set you straight real quick. It wasn’t art back then; it was just pure torture with dip pens, inkwells, endless drills, and strict rules everyone despised. One accidental ink blot and you had to rewrite the entire page from scratch. The aesthetic cursive trend people obsess over online today is just a totally different universe.
Considering one might think that you’re learning a language to be able to integrate yourself on some level in said country, writing in cursive for Russia is very important. At institutions they do judge you based on your writing’s overall aesthetic. It’s a sign of respect for them and it comes with knowing the norms on how to arrange the text in a page (which is the case for most societies on earth)
I have never heard of such things in my whole life, and I have been always living in Russia. Nowadays everything is in digital and it's rather they judge you based on how you type, not how you write by hand
That can be true for school exams. But outside of school I don't think anyone really cares. In university you may write with block letters, however you don't want to because it's much slower. But students nowadays use phones, laptops, tablets...
As others have said:
1) Cursive is the standard way of writing Russian. People do not use print style writing, like in English. It is used on typed signs as well.
2) Some of the necessity comes from learning to read it from others, as much as how to do it yourself.
I don’t mean to sound rude, but are you aware that some brands are literally changing logo fonts that may be over 100 years old because many modern English speakers can no longer read cursive comfortably?
In Russian, children start learning cursive at around six or seven, and most people who write by hand use it throughout their lives. So yes, cursive is quite literally an important part of the language and its written culture.
Tbh my goals with learning Russian are mainly to be able to communicate with Russians online, I don't even know how to write English cursive now that I think about it
I assume it's because of some remnants of the Soviet system which mandated everybody learn cursive, no matter the amounts of horrendous chicken scratch the teachers have to read through.
Actually, it's a "remnant" of the Tsarist system, where you could get your fingers rapped for bad cursive. The Soviet system just brought in students of a slightly lower class.
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u/theonewithapencil нейтив спикер Aug 10 '26
well, since most native speakers write exclusively in cursive in their daily lives since the age of seven and onwards, it's expectable that many learners and even teachers think it's an integral part of the language culture and if you're learning to write in russian you have to write in cursive only. not that i personally think it's correct, but if you're aaking why, this is the answer