[frabert]

I had to learn to write with fountain pens in Italy, too, when I was in Elementary school. I am glad I did: nowadays I try to only use pencils and fountain pens when writing long pieces, just because other pen types just require too much pressure and give me pain the wrist and/or fingers. With the right ink, the writing is also very contrast-y, which helps readability IMO. Of course, it doesn't count much if the handwriting is not intelligible!