Handwriting

BBC Learning EnglishWeekenderHandwriting
Anna: Hello, I’m Anna Jones and you’re listening toWeekender. And this weekwe’re talking about handwriting. Just how much can youtell about a person’s personality just by looking at howthey write? And why do some people prefer to write with apencil rather than a pen? Well to answer those questions we’re joined in today’s programme by handwriting expertAdam Brand and poet Kate Bingham. Have a listen now to Adamwho is describing the personality of someone whose writing“slants 1” or slopes to the left. What are the words heuses to describe the personality of a person whose writingleans to the left?
　　When you have left slant 2 writing and close word spacingwhat you’ve got is somebody who values their privacy yethas adapted with ease to social relationships. The otherthing arethe margins 3 – the left margin 4 is quite wide so somebodywith very high standards at the same time slightly reservedagain but the right margin is very straight and that’s asign of self-control.
　　Anna: Well according to Adam, if your writing slants tothe left and if the words are very near to each other thenyou are likely to be “slightly reserved” – you don’tshow your feeling easily and may be quiet or shy. Hesays that you may display “self-control.” - you areable to control your emotions and your actions. Adam alsosays that you will have very high standards – you will setyourself high moral rules to follow. You also “value yourprivacy.” – you appreciate your right to keep yourpersonal matters and relationships secret.
　　So Adam is able to tell a lot about someone’s personalitysimply by looking attheir handwriting. Here he is again – listen out for thewords he uses todescribe this person’s personality: “slightly reserved” “self-controlled” “very high standards” and“value your privacy.
　　When you have left slant writing and close word spacingwhat you’ve got is somebody who values their privacy yethas adapted with ease to social relationships. The otherthing are the margins – the left margin is quite wide sosomebody with very high standards at the sametime slightly reserved again but the right margin is verystraight and that’s a sign of self- control.
　　Anna: Adam goes on to talk about the importance ofchildren learning how to do “cursive” or joined upwriting from a young age. He says that it is more importantthat children learn to do joined up writing than worryabout whether they write with a pen or a pencil. Why isthis? Well Adam says that studies in Canada found thatchildren who learn cursive writing are much more self-confident– they feel good and confident about themselvesas individuals. What is the other word he uses which has asimilar meaning to self-confident.?
　　When it comes to teaching I don’t think it’s theinstrument that you use as much as how you’re taught. It’s very important that children are taught cursive writingimmediately.
　　And the reason for that is that print writing is aboutform, cursive writing is about movement. And they’ve donestudies in Canada where they’ve found that children whoare taught cursive immediately have far better self esteem 5,much more self-confident.
　　Anna: The word Adam uses which is very similar to “self-confident” is “self esteem.”
　　– they feel confident and good about themselves. Here’sAdam again.
　　When it comes to teaching I don’t think it’s theinstrument that you use as much as how you’re taught. It’s very important that children are taught cursive writingimmediately.
　　And the reason for that is that print writing is aboutform, cursive writing is about movement.
　　And they’ve done studies in Canada where they’ve foundthat children who are taught cursive immediately have farbetter self esteem, much more self-confidentAnna: Kate Bingham is a poet and unlike Adam she doesthink that the choice of instrument is important for herwhen she writes. What does she use to write with?
　　I use a pencil – when you’re drafting it’s a little bitlike sketching 6 and I put words all over the page – it’s abit like a pictogram almost and a pencil is perfect for me,Anna: Kate uses a pencil. She says that when she is“drafting” - when she puts ideas and thoughts down ontopaper, she says its like sketching or drawing. She putswords all over the page and it becomes almost like apicture. And a pencil is the perfect instrument for her todraft her ideas. She says she prefers working with a penciland paper than writing on computer. Why does she say that?
　　If you’re writing to a screen then you have to sit up, you’re line of sight is different and if you’re with a pieceof paper you tend to bend over and I think there’s adifferent kind of, a different quality of concentration.
　　Anna: Well Kate says that if she writes at a screen thenher “line of sight” is different– her view of the words is not the same as when she writeson a piece of paper. She says that her concentration isbetter – she has to bend over the paper to work and thismake her concentrate more intently on what she is writing.
　　Well that’s about all we have time for today – have alook at your own handwriting and see what it reveals aboutyou!