I read on here that fountain pens help improves handwriting? How is that? And why is it that young students are suggested to use fountain pens (Is this in Europe? Definitely not in the US)? I'm really curious about this.

Thanks!

Less pressure applied to write (unlike ball points) leads to relaxed grip. Also you're more attuned to nib orientation. Ultimately it leads to better fundamental form. However, if you're an adult, I think it will take more than just switching to FP's to imprvoe your handwriting.

Thanks Kendall. Oh, so that's the reason. I'm perfectly happy with my handwriting. I think my print looks very good. My cursive is ok, but I hope to make it look more professional.

Yes, in Europe kids are encouraged to use fountain pens, often compelled to, as they learn to write.

Another angle to this is that when you write will a ballpoint, you hold the pen almost vertically, largely obscuring the writing tip itself. With the shallower angle of a fountain pen, there is more visibility at the point. Just a theory!

Ray

As has been said, angle and pressure are the keys. In my experience, most people even improve on the quick-and-dirty sloppy writing front when equipped with a fountain pen.

My point probably does not apply to school children who must use one color of ink, standard nib and have structured lessons to complete, but for me the fun of using the fountain pen makes me want to practice good penmanship and even try a different hand. Interest and fun make for more consistent practice and care. I think most improvement comes from practicing consistent letter forms. Writing with a ballpoint is just not as fun nor is the result as beautiful. My nine year old son does his homework with his Pelikano now as long as he knows he won't need to do erasing, otherwise he uses a pencil.

Hi,

Just get him a bottle of royal blue and an eradicator from Pendemonium. The eradicator removes all traces of the royal blue ink.

Have fun!

Dillon

My experience is totally subjective. I don't know why; all I know is that my handwriting deterioriates perceptibly when I switch from a fountain pen to a ballpoint or gel pen.

I was in a meeting last week, and hadn't the foresight to make sure my FP was filled with ink. It ran out about half way through the meeting and I had to use one of the cheap ballpoints supplied by the hotel. It was like climbing out of a sports car into the cab of a garbage truck.

Granted, it was a cheap hotel meeting room pen. If I use a Pilot rollerball or something of better quality, the difference is not as bad. But it's still there.

I'm sure the problem schools have with FPs is that they can be inconvenient. But I know Pilot makes a disposable, as do others. I don't think the schools have to go back to dip pens in bottled ink to get the benefits of using a fountain pen.

But I don't think most of them care about the benefits of a fountain pen, because they believe their students will be doing most or all of their writing at a keyboard.

Ball points require a tremendous pressure, are not ergonomical and feel scratchy.

Rollerball are smoother and fountain pen ink rollers even smoother.

But fountain pens, I use very smooth medium and bold nib, glide.

They are beautifully made, one can choose between a light plastic/celluloid pen for a day of lecture writing to an heavier metal pen for card writing.

The array of ink available is dizzying and enthraling for somebody who loves color has much as I do.

The color of the pen can be use to match ink used with it.

There is such a variety of design, width, girth and weight in the fountain pen world that one is sure to find (at least) one favorite.

There is a vast price range from the $10 plastic stypen at Pendemonium to the million dollar one of a kind pen made of platinum and precious stone.

Then there is vintage and modern pens.

Vintages produced many years ago and passed on from loving user to loving user. Usually from generation to generation of the same family.

Vintage, found new in an old shop inventory and still in their original boxes.

Vintages used, abused and broken finding their way to pen shows part boxes.

Vintages half intact, half broken so lovingly repaired by master pen repairpersons that you could swear the pen is new. See richardspens.com


Then there is modern pen some custom made of urushi by master pen makers.

Some made of such beautifull and dazzling celluloid that one's want to grab them from the screen. Uh! don't do that your family will wonder why the computer screen is scratched.

Modern pen made of strong and beautiful plastics suitable for everyday use.

Modern made as series, so that you cannot help getting the whole collection like the Pelikan Cities serie.


In short, fountain pens are writing instruments of course but they are also objects of passion and fun and frustration when they need repair and above all pleasure.

And in this board they foster kind and loyal friendships.

What's not to love?

I'm sure penmanship students in Europe are encouraged to use fountain pens. That was once widely true in the US. I know of several school in my are where students are young students are encouraged to use fountain pens including one where PCA members recently did a Pens for Kids presentation and gifted students with fountain pens for class use. One of the "magnet" elementary schools near me is offering italic writing classes to students. The students begin with italic felt tips and graduate to fountain pens.

Mary,

What country do you live in? Or what state? Sadly, here in NYC where I live, it's pencils and pens only. I didn't even know what was a fountain pen until college years where I brought a Pilot Varsity pen because it looked funny.

Its pencils and pens here in RI, too.

Hi,

Many students back here in Rhode Island use fountain pens with stub nibs. I suppose they use cartridges.

Dillon

I think working with FPs draw more attention to one's writing, the process of it, and that alone would have a dramatic impact on the quality of writing.

FPs force me to form my letters more clearly when I write quickly; my sloppiness is magnified, and so is my neatness.

FPs are much kinder than any ball pen (even gel ink) to the hand, wrist and forearm. A happy hand makes neater handwriting easier.

A friend who went through elementary school in Taiwan in the 1970's told me he never appreciated compulsory FP use, partly because of the enforcement method: homework assignments done in ballpoint were thrown away. How petty.

It's just like now, when teachers often won't accept papers handwritten rather than typed--in fact, in college, they usually WON'T. You don't type it, you might as well have not done it. And they're starting to get into typing in high school, too--I remember my English teacher, senior year in high school, always telling me I needed to type my papers. At that time we had no computer at home, and with my schedule I couldn't get into the school's computer lab to type up papers....but she acted like I didn't type my papers to be difficult or something. When we finally got the computer and I turned in a typed paper, she made a big show of writing "thank you for typing your paper!" on it, like it was a big battle and she'd won, or something, rather than the simple lack of resources that it was...(but then, this was the same woman who insisted I'd been skipping class on a day when the attendance office had simply messed up, and refused to take the black mark off my grade for it--most of the time she was cool, but some of the time she was totally unreasonable)

Using a FP makes me write slower therefore I tend to form my letters more carefully and my handwriting improves. I also like the feel more. I went to school in the UK and remember using FP's and I can still remember comments written in a beautiful hand by my english teacher on some of the papers we had to submit.
I find it rare that I would scribble with a FP.

I'm only 4 hours away from RI, and NYC students don't even know or seen what a fountain pen is. Strange...

In the UK, you have to use one, until seconday school.

I was told by one student that at his middle school, in North Carolina, a fountain pen is forbidden as it is perceived to be a possible weapon! I wonder how much more damage a nib woud do, than a ball point? Or a roller ball? Of course, they say school buses can't have seat belts as they can be weapons. What about throwing the keyboard?

Or how about hurling a roller ball at a teacher like a spear or javelin??
Please,give me a break. This "security issue" nonsense is going way too far.
Next thing they will do is outlaw books at school since they can be used as projectiles.

Handlebar

Then pencils should be forbidden too if that's their logic. Pencils hurt...and they poke your eye out, as my 6th grade teacher always says.

Hi Betty,

All kids are taught cursive writing at primary school over here, in the Netherlands, with the aid of fountain pens, yes. Most popular school pens are Lamy and Waterman.

This was no different from the time I was at primary school btw, quite a few decades ago. The difference now is that you're allowed to write with fountain pens straight away, while we were taught to write with dip pens first . Only in year 5 some time, or even later, you were allowed to write with a fountain pen, to do your home work or so, provided you had passed the "Schoonschrijven" tests (literally calligraphy in old fashioned Dutch; in reality more like cursive script ).

Only in secondary school are you allowed to write with ball point pens, although some primary schools allow BPs in the last year. I wrote with fountain pens right through all 6 years of secondary school , and my first year and a half in tertiary education .

Warm regards, Wim

Ahh...how I very wish that the USA required using fountain pens for writing in primary school...maybe US people will have neater handwriting. Some of the handwriting I see from people are, well.... I especially despise those big fat bubbly letters but are also curved.

I notice that Non-USA grown people seem to have much neater handwriting. There are some of my co-workers from China, Jamica, France that have pretty decent writing.

owww... sharper. I know how that feels. well, somone told me they make you want to write better because they(the pens) make you feel that they should get better treatment.

Hi,

Ow!!! Well, someone placed a freshly sharpened pencil on the floor and I stepped on it about a year ago!!!

Dillon

I think the real reason is the simple pleasure of writing is present with a nibbed pen, and on any other tool there is no pleasure.

It is entirely an emotional concept, the pleasure comes from all of the statements expressed before.