In Persian what you type with your computer and what you write with your hands is completely different for some letters. That is a little bit confusing because our handwritten scrip is a distinct form our typed fonts and newbies do not recognize some of the letters in hand writing. It is also hard see the way the letters are connected and where one letter ends and another begins.

If you like to see words in hand writing, you can use the following platform. Type your words and you would be able to view that word in different handwritten styles. This would be a great help to recognize letters in hand writing.

https://www.myfonts.com/handwritten-fonts

Since Persian and Arabic script are almost the same, please watch the following video to see how some of the letters look different in hand writings and learn some basic tips to recognize letters in hand writing:

 

Hand written Form Versus Print Form

The hand written form of the following

letters look different from their print form:

 

 

I think in all languages there are different ways of writing the letters. Children start with the most basic/simple form and this is the style that is usually used in printed material. However the way you write with a pen is different and every person has his/her own style of writing. Also in calligraphy certain aesthetic laws are followed which are different from the laws of the basic style.

All children must learn the basic print style and that’s also how the font appears in most internet websites including this forum :

صحبت کردن

پنجره

so the pen is lifted 4 times for writing the main letters and then 3 more times for writing the dots . This is how children write. A little more advanced style would be to write صـ then lift your pen for حـ then write the rest of the letters in one go and only add the dots later. Dots are always the last stage of writing a word. But to learn how to write in a little more advanced style, you need to be shown the hand movement . But for now just stick with writing the letters one by one.

It’s true that in most cases  /h/حـ  looks different in hand writing and gets attached from top to the previous letter but that’s because in most calligraphic styles there is this natural inclination : letters start from above the baseline and gradually descend.

 

 

Print Form:

محبوب

Hand Writing:

 

Dots in the letters in the Hand Writing

 

Letters with two and three dots) like ت or ش in hand writing look different from their print form. In newspapers and other printed material the fonts are not defined in that way. Also in most calligraphic forms such as Nastaliq dots are written separately. Although very close together that sometimes their corners attach.

However when writing with a pen it’s very natural to write two dots with a single dash of the pen or sometimes a little curvy line like this ~

Print Form:

صحبت

Hand Writing

Also 3 dots are written like a circle or a semi-circle often. I sometimes write 3 dots with a dash or ~ and a dot on top, but that’s only when I’m not writing very fast. I never write the 2 dots or 3 dots separately in my handwriting unless I want to really write in an artistic/calligraphic style.

Print Form:

شام

Hand Writing:

Cursive, in contrast, is used in handwriting.  In cursive, the letters join together so the writer doesn’t have to lift up the pen while writing. In a sense, the letters hold hands.

If you’re the first or the last letter in a word, you would only hold hands on the one side.  If you’re in the middle, you would hold hands on both sides.