Handwriting Is Better Than Typing When Learning a New Language,

Researchers tasked 42 adult volunteers with learning the Arabic alphabet from scratch: some through writing it out on paper, some through typing it out on a keyboard, and some through watching and responding to video instructions.

Those in the handwriting group learned the letters quickly, and they were also better at using the letters to make new words and to recognize words they hadn't seen before.

Even though all the groups were good at recognizing the letters, the writing training was the best at every other measure, and they required less time to get there.