| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Off topic: What did you learn to write first? Thread poster: Chinmayi Sripada
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Anne Bohy 
France
Local time: 04:03
English to French
My first year in school, I was "thrown" in a class of children who had already been learning to read and write for one year. This is probably why the first letter I remember writing was "z", and lowercase z was not easy. Anyway, all this wealth of things to learn was such a pleasure, I learned very quickly. But I never wrote well, and my finger still shows the place of the ink pen I was holding so tightly.
| | | | Melanie Nassar
United States
Local time: 05:03
German to English
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I started by copying my name out of "Gone With the Wind" at age 3 when my mother showed me how to find it. I though it was magic that my name was in print. But I never learned how to hold a pencil properly, as I was already writing by the time I started school and my handwriting always suffered as a result. Now of course, about the only thing I actually write is my signature and the shopping list.
| | | | | I don't remember! | Feb 7, 2011 |
If I could only recall how I leanned to read and write... I might be a millionaire. I remember I had a toy where the objetctive was to fit cutout images on cardbord in the corresponding cutouts on cardboard plates, and the names of those things were written under them, both in print and handwritten letters. At age 4, when my parents and teachers in kindergarten first attempted to teach me to read and write, they discovered I could already ... See more If I could only recall how I leanned to read and write... I might be a millionaire. I remember I had a toy where the objetctive was to fit cutout images on cardbord in the corresponding cutouts on cardboard plates, and the names of those things were written under them, both in print and handwritten letters. At age 4, when my parents and teachers in kindergarten first attempted to teach me to read and write, they discovered I could already do it well. I have a picture of me on stage at school, where at age 5 I'm reading my own speech on teacher's day.
I always read very fast, could 'devour' up to 2-3 books in one day, yet doing everything a normal person would do over a day, and not while reading.
There is a downside to it. More than half a century later, my handwriting is still barely readable to all humans, the writer included, unless I really work hard on it. Whenever it's acceptable, I use block letters, which I had to develop while studying engineering.
The second downside is that at age 7 I began using my dad's typewriter, against his wish. It was a mechanical Remington, and the keyboard was quite heavy, so the only way I'd hit the keys with enough strength was by using the right inex finger for all keys. So I kept that system for life. Today I use a modern light-touch computer keyboard, however only the right index finger for the letters. Practice makes perfection, so I go at steady 80 strokes per minute, all the time. The left hand "helps" with the Shift/Ctrl/Alt/Space keys only. Advantages are that I've NEVER had any CTS or tendinitis problems (as I move the whole arm, spread movemnts over shoulder and elbow), I have more time to THINK about what I'm writing, and as my right index finger will be blamed for any typo, it seldom makes any. I can do it with the right middle finger, but speed will drop to 65 strokes per minute. However I always envy someone who can really "storm a keyboard".
Taking a detour on this last point, the fastest typist I ever had was amazing. At that time, everyone in the office had an IBM Selectric, which she would run at top speed. One day, a Facit salesman came up with a new electronic daisywheel typewriter, the 8000, with a memory "buffer": the typist could be up to 256 strokes ahead of what was being printed. Of course, that girl was the ideal test pilot. She'd start typing, and from a certain moment on, the machine would begin to skip letters. The salesman said "Our headquarters guaranteed that this is impossible! Please do it again." And she did it several times, same results. A few months later, the first Apple II computer arrived at the office. So I had her run a speed test. That girl, in her early 20s at that time, could peak at 425 strokes per minute! ... and keep an average of 400 over an extended period of time. On top of that, her writing style and accuracy were both impressive. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 19:03
English to German
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In memoriam | Oh, I do remember at least some parts... | Feb 7, 2011 |
José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:
If I could only recall how I leanned to read and write...
My older sister taught me. And whenever I made a mistake she would tickle me until I screamed. 
My handwriting was lousy, and my first grade teacher made me spend extra hours after school to fill pages and pages with moronic and mind numbing loops, over and over and over... I recall that I once ripped one of those sheets into pieces because I couldn't take it any longer.
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| nice topic :) | Feb 7, 2011 |
Claudia Luque Bedregal wrote: I also learned to read and write at home before going to school (and then I got bored when I started school because I already knew this and the others didn't  )
The same with me. My busy parents taught me how to read and write, because I was "killing" them with endless questions "and what is written here? and there? and there?"
Funny I don't remember what was the first word I learned to spell (probably my short name), but I still remember the feeling of relief that finally I didn't have to ask/to beg anyone to tell me "what is written there"!
I was independent! well, almost
regards, Ewa
| | | | | Numbers....just numbers.... | Aug 3, 2011 |
I hope it is not too late to chime in...?
What I remember writing first when I was young was just numbers....pages and pages of numbers...It was my goal to write all of the numbers up to 1 million!
...It was a bit too ambitious, I guess, because I only made it to about 8000 before I tired of the exercise...!
(This IS a wonderful topic! Don’t let it die folks! Let’s hear your stories!!)
MGrant
[Edited at 2011-08-03 05:27 GMT]
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