I've been in Latin at my high school for three years. Mostly I've only stayed because I enjoy the class and learning all of the history (we spend much more time on that than the actual language) and because French and Spanish look really boring. I was just wondering what real world applications it had, since whenever I tell people I'm in it the first thing they always ask is "Well why? It's a dead language."
Benefits of learning Latin?
- Thread starter renegade7
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Umm... you know Latin? And from my understanding, it's the basis for many languages, which basically gives you a foundation of knowledge in the languages as well. But I don't think it'd actually help other then if you're in a movie with some latin thing that needs translating to save the world.
Romantic languages such as english, french, german, and spanish are based from latin therefore learning latin will make it much more easy to learn the other languages. Also, if you find any really old texts in latin, you could read them. It's a dead language in the sense that people don't speak it, but the history is still there waiting to be uncovered.
You can read many old textbooks on pretty much any subject imaginable.
I'm a physicist and many of the original physics books (e.g. Optiks by Newton) are written in latin. I'd love to be able to read them as they were written.
So i guess you could indulge yourself in things like that.
Not a career but its something.
I'm a physicist and many of the original physics books (e.g. Optiks by Newton) are written in latin. I'd love to be able to read them as they were written.
So i guess you could indulge yourself in things like that.
Not a career but its something.
If you're studying philosophy (French and German as well) or medieval Christianity (Greek too), it's really useful. So I'd suggest studying philosophy or medieval Christianity.
It's still used in both science and medicine, looks good if you are going to be a translator, and in general it makes you look smart. By understanding latin you can improve upon english skills, establish a better grasp of proper grammar, etc.
Becoming an Alpha Nerd?
I dunno, it just seems kind of neat. Also good for looking into European history I suppose.
I dunno, it just seems kind of neat. Also good for looking into European history I suppose.
I am not too sure of that. After reading some of Marcus Tullius Cicero work in a wonderfully well made version with Latin and Spanish texts side to side and annotations from the translator, I am quite sure that i learn a lot more thanks to the annotations, also to make a good Latin translation seem to require a lot of contextual and historic knowledge.deadman91 said:
I am sure it's useful to the experts in the area, but to a student? Probably not unless he is really amazing at Latin.
I would just like to point out that both English and German are not Romantic Languages, they come from the Germanic family, you know the same family that has Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian and other such languages, now I will admit that both languages have been slightly influenced by the Latin but the fact remains they are in a different family altogether. but back on topic, Latin is a very useful language to learn because not only can you use it for a basis of other Romantic languages, and languages that have a little bit of Latin influence but you can also use it as a basis for your own constructed language.SilentCom said:
Latin is used quite alot in various natural sciences. If you study Medicine for example they use the Latin names for the various parts of the body. It's also widespread in Biology where everything has a Latin name.
I guess it's a dead language to most people but if your looking for a career in researching biology or medicine or to a certain extent archeology your going to have to pick up some knowledge of Latin somewhere along the line.
I guess it's a dead language to most people but if your looking for a career in researching biology or medicine or to a certain extent archeology your going to have to pick up some knowledge of Latin somewhere along the line.
In all likelihood. I mean I study both those things at Uni and I don't know Latin. But I keep on being told what a useful language it is to know, so I thought I'd just throw it out there. Cause let's be honest, how many practical applications of Latin are there for students these days?Tanakh said:
I wanted to learn it when I was doing theological studies but I got too lazy. The only Latin I know is Omnia Vincit Amor (Love Conquers All) which is tattooed on my arm.
It's "ave", not "awe".Scarecrow 8 said:
Looks like someone here needs to learn some Latin basics...
But seriously, knowing Latin is pretty cool, it was basically the foundation of the modern day romantic languages, whcih is pretty cool. Personally, I think Latin just generally sounds cool so now you can go around sounding like a badass member of Caesar's Legion.
As it was said before Latin is the basis for a lot of languages including French and Spanish, also I hear that taking Latin helps a lot if you go into medical school.