Slovak Handwriting Style

When I first came to Slovakia, I worked as an English teacher. I was literally learning about my native tongue while preparing for a class. Present perfect tense? What the heck is that?

Anyway, I remember getting my first assignments back from my Slovak students, written in cursive. It was in English, but I couldn’t read it.

The handwriting style that Slovaks are taught, you see, somewhat differs from what I learned in Canada. A number of readers have also written to me, asking me to decipher old letters written by their Slovak ancestors because they can’t read the cursive letters.

Take the letter in the top photo, for example. Any guesses as to what letter that is?

It’s a t. And the capital S? Looks like someone didn’t finish writing an L to me. Little p is left open. O’s and A’s are more angular than I was taught.

Handwriting is one of those cultural differences that we don’t really think of until we can’t read a letter. Although, I suppose, handwriting is a dying skill due to the use of computers. But my children still learn it in first grade here in Slovakia.

Here, for your enjoyment, is the whole Slovak alphabet. I hope it can help you read Slovak handwriting!

Did you guess the letter T?