Read the opinions of experts in the fields of child psychology and typography
Writing is really part of the basics: the child must learn to write, because being able to express an idea by writing is very important. However, nowhere is it said that a child must learn the stylistic details of four variants of writing, or what the writing should look like. It would be enough if a child could proficiently handle one mode of writing (for example, print-writing) and could handle the other modes adequately. If in Finland and, I think, even in Sweden they prefer to type with all ten fingers on a computer keyboard, then it is not a substitute, but a full-fledged way to express ideas.
To claim that “discontinuous writing has a negative impact on the child’s psyche” is pure speculation, and is therefore professional nonsense. Graphologists do not have evidence-based data; they only keep repeating 80-year-old unsubstantiated views. There is no better data than the results of the experimental pilot testing – we should take it at least somewhat seriously.
PhDr. Václav Mertin
Faculty of Arts
Charles University
Department of Psychology
The combination of lowercase letters in words in Comenia Script corresponds much better to the natural gesture of a writing hand than does a “loop” type of letter. The result, the record, is much more readable – and what else should handwriting be used for? Interrupting the writing of a writing instrument where the combination of letters does not match the logic of the hand gesture is not an interruption of the writing process; it just helps with good readability.
If Sweden’s departure from simpler handwriting is cited as a deterrent, it would also be good to state, for the sake of objectivity, that large Anglo-Saxon regions have long successfully used handwriting similar to Comenia Script. It is certainly not possible to say that it would have a negative effect on these people.
Furthermore, and often patriotically thunderous, it is emphasized against Comenia Script that only “loop“ writing corresponds to the Czech tradition. The truth is that the form of these letters reached Bohemia in the 19th century through German Kurrentschrift. At that time, the “loop” writing pattern corresponded to both the style and rhythm of the time, as well as to the sharp pen with which it was written. When using our writing tools, which do not allow the alternation of weak and strong strokes, its legibility is significantly reduced.
Handwriting is undoubtedly a seismographic record of the state of the human soul. I quite understand the reservations of graphologists, as Comenia Script significantly confounds their learned stereotypes. But a good graphologist judges how to spell and does not indicate how to write in order to judge a handwriting. Even with a signature that can be read well, he must be able to cope.
When I hear or read the argument that “loop” writing helps to develop the fine motor skills of a child’s hand, I think to what extent it is really about developing a child’s personality or tormenting children. The best answer to this question can be found only among schoolchildren. Most of them have been abandoning the learned school script very early for many years, and not only because of the textbook, but also from the need to read the written letters one after the other, they begin to write in their own block letters. This is the strongest argument that Comenia Script should be introduced in our schools. It is undoubtedly the most liberating model for teaching writing that has been designed in our country. How teachers are able to use this model depends only on their level of ability. Maybe, and I’d like to be wrong, this is the last chance to maintain the ability to write at all.
Prof. akad. mal. Jan Solpera
Typographer and pedagogue at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague
Member of international professional organizations:
Type Directors Club in New York; Double Crown Club in Cambridge