Software Recommendation: Learn to write in cursive

Folks,

Most of the notes apps that recognize handwriting prefer (or work best with) cursive, and for the last 40+ years, I’ve been writing in block print. This means that everything that I write on my iPad is recognized as capital block print. So, now I’m trying to find a good iPad app that will teach me to write in normal (not 400pt, like the apps that I’ve found) sized cursive or script. Any recommendations?

Cheers

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Is this really true? I’m thinking that the variations in cursive should be more difficult to OCR than print letters. I also handwrite using print letters and in GoodNotes, I have no issues with the conversion. Uppercase and lowercase is correctly identified, and I am often impressed what it gets right.

I am not opposed to learning cursive for the joy of it, possibility expanding into artistic calligraphy, but I do question the need of pleasing your software.

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@airwhale - EVERYTHING THAT I WRITE LOOKS LIKE THIS, so that’s exactly how the apps translate my handwriting. I’d like to relearn penmanship, so that the apps work better for me. :smile:

Aha, I see. Thanks for the clarification. I write using lowercase print letters as well :grin:

Depending on the target app for your text, a conversion to “sentence case” could quickly fix this. Many text editors and word processors will do this elegantly.

For sharing shorter snippets, this might be impractical.

Maybe one of the Shortcuts experts will see a different solution.

Good luck!

True, but I’d also like to improve my handwriting, and make it a bit more legible, so I’m really hoping to find a good app for that. :slight_smile: :smiley:

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I was playing with this in GoodNotes yesterday and the one word it got wrong was “GoodNotes”. :slight_smile:

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Gotta get old school and find some K-5 printable lessons. I found some a long time ago that I printed and practiced on breaks. But I supposed you could upload them to Goodnotes as well.

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Search YouTube. See previous threads about fountain pens, e.g.: Fountain Pen Recommendation?

Beware the Reddit Time-Suck, but you could venture over to https://www.reddit.com/r/Handwriting

Along with https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens and https://www.reddit.com/r/notebooks , it’s a lovely place to lurk.

I don’t know if this might help you but there are some websites where you can download free worksheets for cursive handwriting practice. A few are listed here : https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/practice-handwriting-worksheets/

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Not an app but I backed the following workbook type product back when it was on Kickstarter.

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Hi!
I taught Cursive for many years to primary students. They came to me thinking they already knew how to print. They had some crazy designs and were forming the letters every which way. I’d try to reteach it to them with less than great results.

I’d teach them Cursive and, by the end of the year, they wrote just beautifully.

My handwriting has always been quite nice, until I broke my wrist. But now with the Apple Pencil I love the way it has improved– almost as good as new. As most anything, it was just a matter of practice! I haven’t even had the Pencil that long.

Cursive is faster than printing. It’s also an art. I can understand, for a myriad of reasons, why you’d like to really learn it. I truly enjoy practicing. I find it to be rather calming.

Any practice with the Apple Pencil will improve your fine motor skills which, in turn, will improve your handwriting.

I’d recommend getting a book on the Palmer Method. It’s a standard and you’ll get beautiful results from Palmer. You can pick up an old one on eBay. You’ll need an alphabet for reference. See if you can get a hard copy. It’s important to watch how the letters are formed. Just follow the arrows.

I’d stick to one handwriting method.

Also, you can find worksheets. You can print out one, place it on the screen and trace over the letters with your Apple Pencil. I haven’t tried it yet but it sounds intriguing.

I haven’t run across any handwriting software. I just looked in the App Store. There are a few but I am not familiar with them.

Another idea is to head on over to your nearest teacher store. You’ll be able to pick up a workbook. They might have Cursive software there. Or they can order it for you.

I’ll look around for you. If you find one, please post it here. I’d love to try it myself.

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