[greggman3]

Not being able to write is common in Japan. Of course the average adult can write quite a bit but they'll forget how to write various kanji and most people blame it on the fact that they usually they no longer have to write them, they just type the sounds and the computer/smartphone turns it into the correct character.

This is especially funny in a Japanese class where the Chinese students end up correcting the teacher's kanji mistakes. Though, now that computers and smartphones are as common in China as Japan I suspect the same thing will happen in China.

Maybe it's the same thing as forgetting out to spell because we know the device will spell check and correct for us.