Mobile Phones, Email Destroying Penmanship

According to International Business Times, the profusion of mobile phones, tablets, email software and other electronic communication devices is being blamed for the gradual disappearance of Japanese people who can properly write in kanji, the characters used in the Japanese language.

According to a survey released by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of the Japanese Ministry of Education, two-thirds (66.5 percent) of respondents said they are losing the ability to hand-write in kanji since communication devices automatically generate kanji characters.

A similar survey conducted 10 years ago put that figure at only a quarter (25.2 percent) -- suggesting that the omnipresence of mobile devices has rapidly eroded peoples’ ability (or even willingness) to hand-write the beautiful characters of the Japanese tongue.

Read full article.

emily | 5:32 PM | News, Buzz |
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