Should Etymology be a school subject?

Etymology, Def:
1. The origin and historical development of a linguistic form as shown by determining its basic elements, earliest known use, and changes in form and meaning, tracing its transmission from one language to another, identifying its cognates in other languages, and reconstructing its ancestral form where possible.
2. The branch of linguistics that deals with etymology

The little I know of etymology I gained in the study of Latin at school.
I wasn't very good at the language, but I always loved the way words in this old language had found new life in English.
I wish I had studied Etymology as a subject, because then I would have had knowledge of how Greek, French, Indian, and other languages impacted on the words that we use.

Why isn't it a school subject?

 

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Hmm, it probably should be a subject. But more as an extra thing.

I guess it's not a subject because it isn't that 'important'. There's no job nor carrier where you'll be needing this.
But, I'd bet if you look around, you'll find some special school with Etymology.
It's very interesting and something you definitely should look up.

 

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This is a really popular topic.
I wonder if I can still add a poll?

Yes! Get voting everybody. You too Toxichazard.

 

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I teach it as much as I can in a variety of subjects (mathematics, science, English, history, etc.)

 

Thanks for joining this very small group Walter.
Were you taught Latin or Greek at school?


I do believe that young people are becoming more intellectually stupid, and that this would help them.
I think it gives you precision in the words you use, and more understanding of what they mean.
It gives weight to the words.
I bet if you did an analysis of the words I use, there is a deficit of Greek words which would do the job better.

 

4 U 2 c or 4 me 2 b? This new form of words is something that confounds me as I can't keep up with many of the new variations that words are being shortened into.

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I studied Latin for two years in HS, and German for three years. I found Latin helped me immensely in learning the origin and meaning of english words with underlying Latin origins; and the Latin grammar helped immensely with learning German grammar (I had no clue about cases and case-endings until studying Latin).

 

I'm fairly sure it was taught as part of routine English class when I was at school. Of course we were all writing in cuneiform then and Polaris wasn't the pole star.

 

Nine planets too I bet.

 

No just the six.

 

Yup, English was four classes a week - reading writing grammar and composition. We learned about weird stuff like gerunds and had special books where you touched lines on the top and bottom while writing entire pages in cursive

 

We did that writing too.
With scratchy pens you had to dip into ink.
I bet you didn't make your own ink to write with.
We did. Out of powder.

 

Etymology would definitely enliven kids' English classes and give meaning to language -- similar to researching one's ancestors.

My English class taught dreary names of things (eg, "past pluperfect tense", "subjunctive clause", etc), which, not amazingly, are only used in English classes. I worked as a technical document writer and editor for a few years and, even then, I never used those names of things.

 

I think that instead of etymology, there should be more of an emphasis on the study of modern foreign languages. These are infinitely more useful and, certainly in the UK where I live, not taught as much as they should be.

 

In what way?
Should people learn to be conversant in a number of languages, or concentrate on one?

 

I think we should be taught at least one of the main European languages from primary school, and it should be compulsory until we are 16. At my school, for example, most people learnt French (and about 6 months of German alongside) between the ages of 11 and 14. The little you do learn is soon forgotten, so it's a bit of a waste of time really. As for the methods of teaching, I think there should be more emphasis on spoken communication instead of the thoroughly exam-orientated listening exercises and comprehension of articles that we have at the moment.

All that, of course, as a language student at college, is just my opinion. However, I think that instead of introducing highly specialised subjects like Etymology, we should invest more hours in Maths, Science, English and Modern Foreign Languages.

 

It is already... Oxford

 

Two views of the world. One says we should teach kids etymology in school. Another says we shouldn't even offer classes on Latin.

http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2011/01/the_case_agains_5.html

Truth is, the only reason to teach etymology to anyone is because they are interested in it, so it should be elective. If you want it because it helps them learn English, then it would be more cost-effective to spend that money on additional English classes, rather than an etymology course.

If the students elect to take it, though, I have no issues with that.