Leyla
Community Tutor
Handwriting

I want to talk about a calligraphy. How is your handwriting? Do you pay attention to handwriting of other people? 

Which word do you use in English : handwriting or calligraphy?

Apr 5, 2017 9:16 PM
Comments · 43
5
I am left-handed, which made learning to write cursive English as a child somewhat difficult. When I attended grade school, it was customary for teachers to force left-handed students to write with their right hand, but my parents insisted that they allow me to use my left hand. I am grateful for that.

When I write, sometimes I will actually turn the paper sideways to get the correct slant to my letters. My writing hand always presses against the letters on the page so that after writing, I have to wash away the ink or pencil lead stain on the side of my writing hand. It's a mess. My handwriting in English is legible but not very pretty.

I started to learn Arabic last year and interestingly, because the writing goes from right to left, I don't have any of the problems that I have writing my native English (left to right). I even had an Arabic teacher compliment my Arabic writing. Maybe she was just being kind, but I'd say even though my Arabic handwriting isn't at a high level, possibly it is neater (or easier to read?) than other learners at my level. I always struggled with left-to-right English writing, now all my right-handed classmates struggle with right-to-left Arabic writing. At last, being left-handed is useful, lol!
April 6, 2017
5

My handwriting (cursive, or running writing) is unreadable even to me.  I think the only way I can read it is by remembering what I was thinking when I scrawled that mess.  I normally use printed letters when I write. It's a pity, as my mother's handwriting was neat and perfect.

Calligraphy literally means "good writing", and we normally reserve this word for very artistic handwriting - the result of a lot of care and practice. I'm happy to leave that to the professionals. :)

April 6, 2017
4
Hi @Peachy! LMAO! Same here! What you described about being able to read by remembering, is the same process I have to do several times a day! :D ;) And our mothers have something in common too. :) When I was a child or even a teenager, we were given too much homework to do, so some of my classmates forced their mother to do some part of it. I couldn't do the same since my mother's handwriting is known for being the best among my all relatives. By relatives, I'm referring to about fifty people or roundabouts! ;) Actually I managed to kind of "convince" my mother that she do a portion of my homework. :) But when I handed in it, my teacher realized  which was not surprising. She loved my mother's handwriting and asked her to help fill many forms or lists (I can''t remember exactly what they were) and my mother had no choice rather than accepting because my grades were at stake. :)  Oh my poor mom had got stuck between two evils! :D

Hi @Leyla! I pondered on your question for a while and my answer is that yes, I instinctively pay attention to others handwriting, but I don't like it. I'll tell you why. To be honest, many things instantly come to my mind about the personality of the writer as soon as I see his or her handwriting. I think, it happens since I raised constantly hearing that the someone's handwriting has a lot to do with their character. It's correct but I'm not eligible to do that since it needs an expertise that I don't have. So it is not odd that many of my judgments turn out to be wrong when I get to know the person more. Fortunately, I usually try not to behave toward others based on my judgments, however I wish those thoughts never come to mind at all. It's NOT pleasant when you figure out you were completely wrong.

April 6, 2017
3

Leyla,

After seeing your flawless handwriting, I've decided to sympathise with MohammadReza ;)

He would feel much better seeing my handwriting, which I thought is good until my Iraqi law

prof. begged me once in front of my colleagues to change it because it's giving him hard time

while checking my answers in the exams! 

https://www.italki.com/notebook/1441228/entry/790725

April 8, 2017
3




 I wrote mnotebook entry how I promised. It is your turn:)   

April 8, 2017
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