Russian handwriting in US classrooms in the computer age

[Kevin Moss]

Who said anything about pretty?

Comprehensible is what I would aim for.
My colleague has already weighed in on what we do in first year.  
Second year we have daily handwritten assignments (I just graded a  
huge stack of them, 13 students x 8 pages or so... two day's homeworks  
plus a quiz).
I don't care how beautiful they are, but I do have to be able to  
decipher them, and for that I would certainly insist on hooks for м,  
л, я and that they not leave ш hanging up in the air like an English  
w or write и for й. Another colleague tells me that now Russians  
themselves are writing any which way, using printed letters in their  
own script, etc. As long as it doesn't get in the way of  
comprehension, fine (and there are certain limits on chicken- 
scratchings beyond which I won't go). They also have to be able to  
read cursive as in курсив or they won't be able to understand  
many signs or passages in writing that use italics.

I agree with Pat's comment about the added value of handwriting as  
kinesthetic learning. I suppose one could argue for something similar  
with typing sequences, but I'm not sure.

To get back to Richard's original question, short exercises that  
require typing are one thing, and I do want them to learn the  
gosstandart keyboard because that's what they'll mostly encounter in  
Russia. They will have to use it at least to google or yandex things  
in Russian.

I do not, however, encourage them at the second year level to use the  
computer for written homeworks (most of which are tear-out) or even  
translations or short answers, since it just adds one more layer of  
possibilities for error, and there are quite enough of those without  
adding typing errors to the mix (э for з for example). That being  
said, if they want to risk adding to their error-quotient while  
learning to type, more power to them!

KM

On Sep 9, 2010, at 7:05 PM, Michael Denner wrote:

> Sarah,
> My students write Russian just fine. It's just not cursive. They  
> write like children, and the Russians probably smirk at them. Who  
> cares? No one's suggesting returning to a pre-literate era. It's  
> just a bloody waste of time to spend a week, a day, an hour on a  
> totally unnecessary skill: Pretty handwriting.
>
> ~mad
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
>    Dr. Michael A. Denner
>    Associate Professor of Russian Studies
>    Editor, Tolstoy Studies Journal
>   Director, Russian Studies Program
>    Director, University Honors Program
>
>
>    Contact Information:
>       Russian Studies Program
>       Stetson University
>       Campus Box 8361
>       DeLand, FL 32720-3756
>       386.822.7381 (department)
>       386.822.7265 (direct line)
>       386.822.7380 (fax)
>
>       google talk michaeladenner
>       www.stetson.edu/~mdenner
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures  
> list [mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of sarah hurst
> Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2010 6:56 PM
> To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Russian handwriting in US classrooms in the  
> computer age
>
> I have to say that I am rather disturbed by the idea that today's  
> students
> no longer even need to learn Russian handwriting. Are we raising  
> kids who
> are going to be completely at a loss if they should ever find  
> themselves
> without access to a computer, cell phone or other digital device? Is  
> such a
> scenario really so implausible, especially in Russian-speaking  
> countries
> where limited internet access and power outages have been known?
>
> It doesn't even take very long to learn handwriting but I do think  
> it's an
> essential skill for both reading and writing. What if they happen to  
> work
> with historical documents? What if a room-mate leaves them an  
> important
> note?
>
> I hope this skill will continue to be taught. Would you similarly
> contemplate not bothering to teach English-speaking kids not to  
> write their
> own language by hand?
>
> Sarah Hurst
>
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