Nicole
Russian Cursive

I find it interesting that Russians use cursive to write. Now in America cursive is dying in popularity. I learned English cursive in elementary school but I no longer remember all of it or use it. I only use it to sign my name in documents. Universities want printed papers not hand written now so it is no longer used in schools. I no longer see it written in hand written notes. Only by older people like my grandparents.

 

What about unimportant information hand written in Russian? Are they still in Russian cursive?

Like Shopping lists

Small reminder notes

 

Is it ever normal to hand write in block Russian letters?

 

I am learning to write Russian cursive and just curious how popular it really is to write hand written notes in cursive.

 

 

Oct 23, 2014 1:47 AM
Comments · 10
3

When I started learning Russian my teacher found it very odd that I wasn't writing in cursive - here, handwriting is always in cursive.  Writing Russian 'in block' would be a bit like writing EVERYTHING IN CAPS in English - it jarrs people's senses a bit.  What is interesting in Central Asia is that, following Soviet rule, people speaking (and writing) Turkic languages (Kazakh, Kyrgyz, etc...) that now use the cyrillic alphabet also write those languages in cursive cyrillic.  I don't think I've ever seen anyone write a handwritten note in print/block letters any situation. 

October 23, 2014
2

""There is a long-standing joke among Russians that it is impossible to read doctors' prescriprions in cursive :), which is really true actually."

We make the same joke too.

 

I'm not learning Russian, but I generally write in cursive in English and I think most people are the same. The only time I print letters is when I'm writing things that other people have to read, like exams.

October 24, 2014
2

It <em>is</em> an intereseting cultural difference.

Indeed, most Russians write in cursive as it is considered to be faster and is the only way that's taught in school. 

But I've seen some people that always write in block letters, that is just their personal handwriting style.

When it comes to that, some people have really weird styles like they write a dash on top of Ш, or write Д as ∂.

October 24, 2014
2

I use cursive because I´m learning Russian.

October 23, 2014
2

I think mostly everything (like public notifications) is in printed letters now, but there can be situations when you need to be able to read cursive. Especially if you're going to a small town, and notices in small shops or kiosks ("we're out of cigarettes" or something :) ) can be written in handwriting. In the university notices for students are often handwritten too, though timetables are mostly printed. Oh, but if you're in the university, you won't be able to copy other students' lectures if you can't read cursive. And of course, you won't be able to read letters, signs on postcards and many other nice things you can find accidentally.

 

Is it ever normal to hand write in block Russian letters?

I don't understand what you mean by "in block", but it would be strange if I got a printed letter. Handwritten letters and postcards are still very popular in Russia, because they are so romantic. People can send emails, but when they want to feel something nostalgic, they write letters in handwriting.

I use cursive every day pretty much - for notes and sometimes for diary. Most of the people I know use it, because it's fast to write and not all of them can print everything they need written. :) Also, it costs money to print things.

October 23, 2014
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