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So far, I've only seen the symbol $\aleph$ in its printed form and am wondering how this symbol could be written by hand on paper or on a board (in mathematical contexts, of course). Whenever I try to write it, I seem to have two options:

• Paper: Unwrap my nib and attempt a nice piece of calligraphy. (However, this is a bit too time-consuming.)
  Board: Rotate the chalk to produce a broader line. (However, this only works with chalk of appropriate length.)
• Approximate the printed form $\aleph$ as good as I can holding the pen/chalk ordinarily. (However, this leads to a letter that can hardly be distinguished from an $N$ or $\chi$ or $X$.)

So, how can I produce a neat, distinguishable $\aleph$ by hand (in a reasonable amount of time)? And in what order should the strokes and wiggles be written?

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4 Answers

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This is the letter א as commonly taught to schoolchildren in Israel:

If I remember correctly, we used to draw the main diagonal first, starting at the top left, then the upper arm starting from the top and angling towards the main line, then the lower leg starting from the main diagonal and curving downwards.

There's no need to use a particularly thick stroke; the letters are written with the same stroke style as letters in Latin and other alphabets.

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I have always written it as three disconnected strokes:

and as far as I know, nobody has ever had trouble recognizing it.

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I usually don't try any bolding or curling - I just draw a diagonal line for the "main" line, and two vertical "legs" jutting out of it. To keep $\aleph$ distinct from $X$ or $\chi$, I make sure to space the "legs" out away from the middle and not too close to the endpoints (to keep it distinct from $N$), at about the one-third and two-third points laterally. I also write $\aleph$ slightly larger than the other symbols. This seems to work well.

Also, I often leave a slight gap between the left leg and the main line. You can also slope the legs a bit to the right so they aren't vertical (if you do this you need to be extra careful to keep the legs away from the center).

I stay away from bolding, curling, etc. just because I've not found it helps much, and it slows me down.

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Minute 1:05, I think you need a special pen for writing in paper, but I think you will be able to do it with a chalk.

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