Anyone here speaking Latin?

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06-21-2009, 01:05 PM
Kirsten

Anyone here speaking Latin?

Just curious! :) I have to admit, I would very much like to learn it, at least the basics. All my life I regretted that I choose French as the second foreign laguage back at school, instead of Latin.

Now I'm looking for a way to learn it as an adult, but it's not so easy. Evening school here does not offer Latin courses, and there doesn't seem to be any courses online, at least not for newbies. I ordered an old school book a while ago, but it's not helpful 'cause it has a lot of Latin text, but no translation, and it does not explain the grammar. Now I'm thinking about trying to find a learning software. Need to find out if there's something like that...

My co-workers btw think I'm a freak! :D

Kirsten
06-21-2009, 01:20 PM
Barbara

I learned Latin in school for 6 years-but to say I speak it would be exaggerated;) I loved it however. It was the only language I wanted to learn- and the rest would be mathematics and physics- can you say I was a nerd ;)
If you want a dictionary I can send you one.
Plus I see we have a course:
http://www.langenscheidt.de/katalog/..._2529_738.html
If you want it, send me a PM.
06-21-2009, 01:31 PM
Kirsten

LOL, yep, could very well be that some people would have called you a nerd those days! ;) :D

I'm going to send you a PM. :)

Kirsten
06-21-2009, 01:34 PM
Grace

I took one year of Latin - over 50 years ago. I cannot speak it - but I can sing it - Adestes Fideles, and I know lots of Latin vocabulary. My youngest grandson is taking Advanced Latin in high school, and the older one also took it for 4 years.
06-21-2009, 01:50 PM
Medusa

I've always been interested in it, too, Kirsten. Have you considered Rosetta Stone? They have Latin courses. www.rosettastone.com.
06-21-2009, 02:08 PM
Kirsten

Quote:

My youngest grandson is taking Advanced Latin in high school, and the older one also took it for 4 years.

Wow, very impressive! :) Everyone who took Advanced Latin said how difficult it was!

Quote:

Have you considered Rosetta Stone? They have Latin courses. www.rosettastone.com.

Thanks for the link! Never heard of Rosetta Stone so far; now I see they also have a German page. Will check that out.

Kirsten
06-21-2009, 02:11 PM
pomtzu

The only course in school that I ever came close to flunking..........:o

I don't think Rosetta Stone would even help me! :p
06-21-2009, 02:17 PM
Kirsten

Well, I have no idea if I'm smart enough... :D Think I just have to try. Who knows, maybe I'm going to make a complete fool of myself! LOL

Kirsten
06-21-2009, 02:24 PM
Grace

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirsten

Well, I have no idea if I'm smart enough... :D Think I just have to try. Who knows, maybe I'm going to make a complete fool of myself! LOL

Kirsten

If you are determined and truly interested, which you seem to be, I really don't think you will have problems. I thought Latin was an easy language to learn, and would have loved to had more than one year. But at that time, one was all I could get.
06-21-2009, 02:38 PM
Kirsten

Quote:

If you are determined and truly interested, which you seem to be, I really don't think you will have problems. I thought Latin was an easy language to learn, and would have loved to had more than one year. But at that time, one was all I could get.

Too bad that you couldn't get more of it!

Well, what I find really interesting is that you find so many words in various languages that derivates from Latin. Of course there's a lot of it in Italian, Spanish and French, but you can also find a lot of it in the German or the English language. I find things like that very interesting.

And you may be right that determination and interest can be helpful. As long as I can remember, I always wanted to learn English, and I never had too many problems with it. On the other hand, for some reason I never really liked French (mostly because a cousin of mine always made such a fuss about it). And believe me, I was really bad at school when it came to French, even though I found out recently that I kept more of it in mind than I thought I would have.

Kirsten
06-21-2009, 02:46 PM
Grace

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirsten

Well, what I find really interesting is that you find so many words in various languages that derivates from Latin. Of course there's a lot of it in Italian, Spanish and French, but you can also find a lot of it in the German or the English language. I find things like that very interesting.

So do I!! I'm a retired nurse, and there is so much of Latin in medical terminology. I wondered about the German. I took German, 2 years, in high school. Can't speak it, but for a few phrases - Wie geht's? - but am amazed at what I remember when hearing it spoken in a movie, for instance.
06-21-2009, 04:49 PM
lizbud

I did take Latin classes in high school. We were told that learning
Latin helps to understand English.We were a Catholic school so we
used Latin in church services.
06-21-2009, 05:41 PM
Edwina's Secretary

I took one year of Latin in junior high school. I rmember the teacher seemed old enough to have been around when Latin was still spoken...:rolleyes:

I went back to studying Spanish.

I can still remember some of the Latin Mass...et tu spirtu tu al...or something like that...
06-21-2009, 05:41 PM
Grace

The one thing about German that confused me the most was determining the gender of nouns. Which would it be this time - Der, Die or Das :confused:
06-21-2009, 10:20 PM
kokopup

The main reason Latin is taught in high school and college is because it is the root to most languages. Learning Latin will help you understand all languages better. The problem with Latin as a spoken language, unless you plan on visiting the POPE/Vatican you are going to be hard pressed to practice actually speaking the language. Latin is a dead spoken language for all but ceremony.
06-22-2009, 12:09 PM
Kirsten

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grace

So do I!! I'm a retired nurse, and there is so much of Latin in medical terminology.

That is true! I was working for an oncologist in the 90s, and I also had to learn the medical terminology. I still remember a lot of that!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grace

I wondered about the German. I took German, 2 years, in high school. Can't speak it, but for a few phrases - Wie geht's? - but am amazed at what I remember when hearing it spoken in a movie, for instance.

Yes, I guess we keep more of the learnt stuff in mind than we would imagine. Had the same experience with French lately. Btw, I'm also wondering how German sounds to people from other countries. I figure it sounds awfully hard and stiff... :confused: And I think it's difficult to learn.

Re. the gender of nouns: I figure that this is hard to understand for someone who doesn't have something like that in his language. But many languages have that, the French language has masculine and feminine nouns, and so does Spanish... German even has a third gender, neuter. "Time" for example is feminine, so you would say "die Zeit".

Quote:

Originally Posted by lizbud

We were told that learning
Latin helps to understand English.We were a Catholic school so we
used Latin in church services.

Yes, I can see many words of Latin origin in the English language. But after all, the Romans spent several centuries in Great Britain and had a strong influence on their culture (like everywhere else in Europe as well).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwina's Secretary

I took one year of Latin in junior high school. I rmember the teacher seemed old enough to have been around when Latin was still spoken..

LOL!! :D Good one!

Quote:

Originally Posted by kokopup

The problem with Latin as a spoken language, unless you plan on visiting the POPE/Vatican you are going to be hard pressed to practice actually speaking the language

That was the reason why everyone talked into me to take French instead of Latin when I had to chose back at school! But I love reading medieval novels and stories, and they often contain Latin quotes. Like the one I'm reading right now, Pope Joan by Donna W. Cross.
Besides, I'd love to visit the Vatican and Rome one day, even though I'm not Catholic. But it must be such an interesting place, so full of history...

Kirsten
06-22-2009, 01:40 PM
Barbara

Latin is an excellent base for English as there are so many cases in which you have two words for very similar things a) with an Anglo-Saxon origin and b) a Latin one.
I had 3 years of English in school and while nobody can ask me about English grammar and subtleties I get around, don't I?:D
06-22-2009, 02:43 PM
Kirsten

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barbara

Latin is an excellent base for English as there are so many cases in which you have two words for very similar things a) with an Anglo-Saxon origin and b) a Latin one.
I had 3 years of English in school and while nobody can ask me about English grammar and subtleties I get around, don't I?:D

Wow, only 3 years? I would never have thought that! I had 8 years! :o

Kirsten
06-22-2009, 05:36 PM
RICHARD

If I went to a latin mass I probably could remember the responses to the priest.....Now?

No way!:eek:
06-28-2009, 10:27 AM
Kirsten

Found out that a co-worker of mine used to have Latin back at school, and even though she doesn't remember much, I think it could be helpful, for example when it comes to things like pronounciation etc. :)

Kirsten
06-28-2009, 02:35 PM
Suki Wingy

I took one year, I liked it but I barely remember anything anymore. Ced means but, I know that much!