I can't read old formats like Waka, so I can't say anything... That's the premise. lol
One day, I had a conversation with two young men (21 years old) from the UK. One was British of Chinese descent, and the other was British of Irish descent. I knew the latter was of Irish descent from his last name, and asked, 'Are you of Irish descent?' That's how our conversation started.
He said, "That's right, my family is scattered across the US, and we once had a family reunion in Boston with about 200 people." That's true, there are many Irish people in Boston.
So I asked, "I heard they don't teach cursive in the US anymore, what about you guys in the UK?" and was immediately laughed at.
'Why is cursive necessary? All communication is done via phone or PC. People don't even write letters anymore, do they?' That's true. But I was interested in their way of thinking and continued to listen.
When 200 family members gather, suppose there's a letter from your great-grandfather from 100 years ago, right? You probably wouldn't be able to read that letter. He didn't have an answer to this comment, and it seems he'd never considered that possibility important.
(As I thought this, I myself tested it by holding my phone camera over cursive writing, and the camera automatically scanned and read it. Perhaps this question itself was foolish, I'm thinking now.)
I asked one more question. A Chinese Australian was also joining the conversation next to me.
"So, do you learn Latin?" When I asked, I was immediately laughed at again.
"Only snobs, rich people, or arrogant people study Latin."
I see, I kind of get it. lol
I shared my thoughts again.
My English is a second language, right? But ever since I started studying Italian (which is close to Latin), I've come to understand etymology, and it's made understanding English easier. For example, I think my repertoire of English verbs that can be used in specific situations has definitely increased, not just the combinations of Get, Have, Make + prepositions.
Again, the reaction was "Silence" lol
I don't intend to engage in a debate to make them realize anything. I just wanted to hear their opinions. Why? Because they seem to think that if they come to Japan, they can get by with just English in local entertainment districts, that they'll have relatively few problems, and that there are plenty of English-speaking guides. So, I wondered if their interest and effort towards the tool of 'language' might be minimal, and to what extent. (After all, it's clearly less effort for them during a trip to Japan than for someone whose native language isn't English, right?)
But as these people say, maybe efficiency first is a form of language evolution. Perhaps it's one of the survival tactics of 'selection and concentration' to navigate this information overload... In the future, people raised in Japan will probably gradually forget how to read and write kanji.
Putting aside the debate of whether that's good or bad, I felt like I had confirmed something, like, "That's probably the reality, isn't it?"
PS. The etymology of CURSIVE comes from the Latin word CURS, meaning 'to run.' Indeed, the letters seem to be running. Interesting. By the way, CURS = CORRERE (to run) in Italian. The words are close. I love discovering things like this about language.