Independent Study of Latin

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dlb
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Independent Study of Latin

Post by dlb »

As a take off from the thread below entitled, "some input please", I would like to know why you study Latin if you are not enrolled in school, thus doing so independently.
Thanks,
dlb
.
Deus me ducet, non ratio.
Observito Quam Educatio Melius Est.

Quis ut Deus
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Re: Independent Study of Latin

Post by Quis ut Deus »

Salve dlb!

I reread your question and you where asking WHY, not HOW! Sorry about that.

I study Latin because of "unfinished business." In college, I majored in history and part of my focus was the ancient world. I fell in love with Rome and its history. I had planned to stay one more year in school, specifically to study Latin, but financial considerations dictated that I get a job.

So, I never got around to it until the last year. Now, I'm hooked. My goal is to be able to read Caesar, Livy, Tacitus, and other Roman historians in their own tongue, over a nice hot cup of coffee.

Vale. :D
Last edited by Quis ut Deus on Sat Feb 06, 2010 2:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

phil96
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Re: Independent Study of Latin

Post by phil96 »

Salve dlb.

- As a botanist I always regretted that I'd turned down the opportunity to learn Latin at school in favour of a modern language. (Think of all those botanical descriptions that have to be in Latin even now, not to mention the scientific names for plants).
- The sheer challenge of it. (Cryptic crossword puzzles are fun too!)
- To help keep Dr Alzheimer at bay.
- The increasing joy of finding that Latin sentences increasingly begin to make sense.

adrianus
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Re: Independent Study of Latin

Post by adrianus »

I study it to honour the past, to defy the future, to fulfill a promise to myself made many years ago, and because of the challenges its word-order poses for machine translation.

Eo versor ut tempora praeterita honorem, ut futura provocem, ut id quod olim mihi pollicitus sum praestem, et ob certamen processui traductionis instrumentalis quod ordo verborum latinè inducit.
I'm writing in Latin hoping for correction, and not because I'm confident in how I express myself. Latinè scribo ut ab omnibus corrigar, non quod confidenter me exprimam.

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thesaurus
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Re: Independent Study of Latin

Post by thesaurus »

Plain and simple, I enjoy reading Latin literature of all sorts. I originally started because I wanted to do a PhD in Indo-European linguistics and knew I needed to start learning some of the key languages. That dream has faded, but the Latin has remained! It's now fueled by more entrenched interests in literature and philosophy.

On another level, I really enjoy studying languages and linguistics in general. I find it inherently pleasurable. Latin has sunk its teeth deep enough into me that I have no reason to stop now that I've made progress in it. A snowball effect, I suppose.
Horae quidem cedunt et dies et menses et anni, nec praeteritum tempus umquam revertitur nec quid sequatur sciri potest. Quod cuique temporis ad vivendum datur, eo debet esse contentus. --Cicero, De Senectute

modus.irrealis
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Re: Independent Study of Latin

Post by modus.irrealis »

I have to admit that I don't have as much enthusiasm for Latin as for other languages but I agree with
thesaurus wrote:On another level, I really enjoy studying languages and linguistics in general. I find it inherently pleasurable. Latin has sunk its teeth deep enough into me that I have no reason to stop now that I've made progress in it. A snowball effect, I suppose.
I've put so much effort into Latin now that it would seem a waste not to put in a bit more and learn the language really well.

But as to why I first started Latin, it seemed like a logical choice for me after Ancient Greek, plus I have an interest in historical linguistics and knowing some French, I wanted to see how the language changed. I don't mind learning languages solely to read them and Latin offers a huge choice of reading material which I like being able to interact with.

justerman
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Re: Independent Study of Latin

Post by justerman »

Good question.

It gives me a sense of achievement

It's good mental exercise

I enjoy reflecting on language and grammar. Learning Latin means that I must consider the language in slow motion, and so notice more about it.

I enjoy the challenge of translating words like virtus

I enjoy discovering ancestors of English words

I find attractive Latin's association with scholarship and the transmission of wisdom

I'm too old for it to be realistic to think I could achieve verbal fluency in a modern language.

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