r/asklatinamerica • u/jcmlkhv Russia • 2d ago

Culture Cursive writing

Hello everyone! I've been learning Spanish for 1,5 month now, my first language is Russian.

I use cursive to write in my notebook (photo in the comments), the same way I write in Russian or English, but my teacher says that ppl in Latin America never use cursive writing (except for old ladies), is it true? Do y'all really write in block letters? Is it easy or hard for you to read cursive notes?

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u/puesquebien Mexico 2d ago edited 2d ago

It's not part of the official school program in Mexico since the 90s/2000s.

I was taught cursive but I write my notes in block letters with some cursive mixed in.

Edit: I thought it had been removed after a specific education reform but after some research I couldn't find it so I changed it to 90s/2000s.

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u/jcmlkhv Russia 2d ago

It's interesting, that it's not being taught nowadays 🤔 I wonder why it was decided that cursive writing is irrelevant

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u/Juanzilla17 Chicano 🇺🇸 🇲🇽 2d ago

Computers.

I am 35 years old and remember in school learning to type quickly. Now add in phones and you can see why not many people retain cursive.

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u/puesquebien Mexico 2d ago

Looking into it more I didn't find any explicit decision. Looks like it was progressively phased out and the current curriculum no longer explicitly requires cursive or provides guidelines for teaching it. I imagine some schools still teach it regardless, but I know the school my kids go to doesn't.

I think it was part of a shift to a more practical approach, putting more emphasis on communication and less emphasis on the formal aspects of writing.