The Arabic script is cursive, a lot like the English cursive alphabet. With English cursive, depending on who's doing the writing, some letters are only distinguished by a dot. I wouldn't be surprised if the same results were found for people reading English cursive.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: goofy,

I see your point, goofy. Have you noticed, though, how very few people use cursive these days? I know part of it is due to the computer, but also people seem to be printing more, rather than writing. I wonder why.

Do students even learn cursive anymore?

Jabal al-Lughat comments on the BBC story.

I know part of it is due to the computer, but also people seem to be printing more, rather than writing. I wonder why.

I learned cursive writing at home before going to school In second grade my teacher stopped me from writing cursive because we had not learned it yet. As a result, I use a half print, half cursive fusion to this day.