Hey ya,

So does any of you know the relevance of studying any of these classical languages if you are hmm say a science person? :)


"In addition, their complex structure makes Latin and Greek intellectually challenging. Studying an inflected language like Latin or Greek is one of the very best ways to learn English grammar. The sophisticated understanding of linguistic structure and syntax you will gain from a study of Greek or Latin will make you a better writer and speaker of your own language. Studying Latin also helps you build your vocabulary, since 70% of English vocabulary is from Latin. Greek will let you learn rhetoric from the first rhetoricians and persuasion from the politicians of the first democracy, as well as the lawyers of the earliest lawcourts."

does any of you think that is right? are you fond of a Classic language? Why?:p

hmm, are they just a waste of time? waddaya think? :m:

Some of the roots of science were in classical times. The well-rounded scientist would probably want to know a little about early science, and if they wanted to study these in the original language...
A common view-point is that the rigid stucture of Latin teaches you to think logically. This may well be true - I only really started becoming interested in science after studying Latin and Greek.

These are the main points specifically for a science orientated person. Vale.

storni

i can´t see the relation between latin and english ....
and "70% of English vocabulary is from Latin" is meaningless in my opinion - most europeans languages have deep roots to latin !

so i think your english doesn´t improve when you speak latin ( i don´t know about greek)


electron


A common view-point is that the rigid stucture of Latin teaches you to think logically

yeah , but there enough other languages that have the same effect .... don´t believe it ? learn japanese or german and i guess a lot of other languages i just don´t know :D

Latin is very important to anyone who is seriously interested in the classical world. I mean you have to learn it if you want to be a very well rounded individual, the Romance languages like Porutgese, Spainish, Italian, French, Romanian, and other close lanuages like, Croatian,etc would be much easier to learn and comprehend if you have the base language. For instance with Slavic lanuages Russian would be a good start to learn. It's all base, plus anyways you'll look really smart. Well because you would have to be really to learn a almost extinct language. :D

I can't speak for Latin grammar, as I didn't learn much.

As far as Latin and Greek vocabulary, they can be quite helpful in the understanding of more complex works.

For instance, have you ever scratched your head at the works of Jacques Derrida? When trying to untangle Deconstructionist ramblings, it's often helpful to be able to understand the choking multisyllables to which those authors are partial.

Certainly, there exists a potentiality for such expositors to couch their circumlocutions in the most egregiously overwrought arrangements of verbiage which can reasonably be collected within the confines of accepted English grammatical structures. Often it is the case that overly complicated analogues will be substituted for the simplest of words; in this technique one might use "discombobulate" rather than "rearrange" or "inspissate" instead of "congeal". When the employment of these synonymous terms enjoys a textual overrepresentation, we are subsequently motivated to ruminate extensively on the nearly-concealed original intention of the document, as its content and the meaning thereof become opaque to our inspection.

Most of Derrida's work has a Fog index well over forty, which is like not being able to see your hand in front of your face...

At the very least, understanding of Latin vocabulary will make complicated passages easier to understand.

Greek vocabulary is mostly helpful for understanding medical terms.

So... I can't recommend learning either language outright, since I don't speak them. But, a little vocabulary never hurts.

I have a somewhat limited knowledge of sanskrit. Nowhere near speaking or writing fluently though. It's quite difficult.