I know what you are talking about… my mother is from Europe, and many Europeans have very similar handwriting. I guess they are more strict about penmanship there than we are here.

In the French educational system, there is a joke that every student is turning the same page of the same book at the same time. There is, or used to be, a certain amount of regimentation and lack of originality. That might have changed.

It’s like back in the day, penmanship was super serious. :)

You could also say that every doctor has the same handwriting. :)

Also, students do their writing on quadruled (or similar) paper, with one letter per box. I imagine that this tends to discourage evolution of one’s style away from the standardized forms, because it would be much easier for the student or the teacher to see, and eliminate, small variations. I do not believe such paper is standard outside of school, but by that time most people’s style will have solidified somewhat.

No, I haven’t

C’est imposible!

Well I went to a french school for my primary education, and everyone was taught to write in a particular way. We learnt to write each letter a particular way, and to join the letters in a particular way. Everyone in the class learnt the same thing, and to a certain extent our handwriting was very similar. As Jayne said, all work is done on specific paper and we were supposed to make efforts to keep the writing even within the lines. My handwriting is completely different now, and I would think that this is the case for many people, who as they grow up develop their own way of writing (perhaps to adapt to requirements in their line of work or for other logistical reasons). However, I think penmanship is still quite important in French primary schooling.

It is interesting. When I was in college I taught English in a French lycee for a semester, and they all wrote so similarly, including the teacher. I felt ridiculously self-conscious writing on the board, with my choppy irregular style.

As an American English teacher, I’m all for students learning to write like American architects!

I find it interesting, however, that in the American school system (at least in my area), everyone learns cursive at around the same time, using the same mode… yet people form their letters extremely differently; I’ve evolved a few variations on my own, some based on the fact I hate picking my pen off the page, and some (ironically) based on the few French letters I learned while in kindergarten. I would attribute the difference between French irregularity and American free-wheeling to the focus on penmanship in Europe, which has essentially gone completely to the wayside on this side of the waters—it’s almost a mark of pride to have illegible handwriting (doctors to blame? who knows).

And whatever causes it, French handwriting sure is gorgeous. I wish I wrote like that.