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Learning Latin - Has It Helped You?
4/3PI*R^3 asks: "CNN is reporting that Latin is experiencing a revival in schools. The reason - Latin is used in the sciences and technology is based on science. Latin is also useful for registering .US domain names :).
How many Slashdot readers have learned Latin and how has it helped you in your life/career? 'non impediti ratione cogitatonis'"
I took latin in High School, and it easily boosted my SAT's by a good hundred points.
While I have a strong vocabulary, it never hurts to improve it, and learning latin made learning new words much easier!
It has helped in more ways than I can possibly express.
Definitely worthwhile.
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I got my regents (for those of you in NYS) in Latin after taking it for 2 years, and it helped me tremendously on the SATs.
...but...
If you're looking for the perfect language, learn Esperanto. Its hella 1337.
THERE IS NO DATA. THERE IS O
Where Latin has helped me is Languages. I think it helped me immensely with Languages. Particularly with romance languages but even others. I really had to learn grammar and structure with Latin and I gained a facility with pronunciation of new languages.
I would suggest, however, that an introduction to Latin - maybe one year - is enough. After that it is diminishing returns for a (mostly) dead language. Move on to a modern spoken language after an intro to Latin (unless you really love it).
Move on. There's nothing to see here.
Latin, besides being damn cool, IS important. The simply ability to trace words back to their origins (even though English isn't a romance language) makes you understand your own language much better.
Since chat room speak is on the rise in more formal settings, I think a focus on the core of our language will help stem such idiocy. Not to mention the portability of its vocabulary and concepts such as declensions and noun gender into other languages.
It's all going according to
Now I can't speak for Latin, as I don't know it, but I learned more about my own language (English) learning a foreign language than studying it through high school and college. Professionally or scientifically learning a new language does nothing more than help you learn how to learn, at least in my own field of software.
I believe having learned another language, I have a better grasp on getting ideas across and even communicate technical issues. Also, I know how it feels to not be understood and probably even more so the frustration of not understanding. What someone else is saying.
It's a pretty humbling experience being 22 years old and talking at a 3-year-old level with adults.
For me, Latin has been a Godsend. My friends familiar with Spanish or French try to pass coded messages to each other or speak over my head in their languages of choice, thinking I won't understand it- I took the "dead language." However, I have discovered I can understand about 40% of the average Spanish or French periodical without knowing anything about the language, and about 80% of the conversational forms of those languages. While it is true Latin will not help the average geek in most fields, it can be a lifesaver in the biological sciences, and helps with chemistry as well. For that matter, in the more advanced math courses knowing Latin can help with memorization of key terms. Yes, you have to work at vocabulary to benefit from Latin studies. But do not forget that approximately 60% of English comes from Latin, with even higher rates in specialized fields. Do you really want to deny yourself a resource that, with use, will form the core of a broad knowledge base applicable in any number of places in life? I chose to pursue Latin, and I believe I have profited. Your mileage may vary.
Agreed, but I think Latin is particularly good because (a) it seems to have more structure than both English and the romance languages I (marginally) know, forcing me to really learn grammar and abstract some concepts and (b) it is immediately applicable to said romance languages, a not so small subset of the languages to which I am exposed.
I don't know German but I have the impression it is also full of structure and grammar that I didn't get in English (e.g. declensions), so maybe it's just that I haven't had enough exposure.
Disclaimer: I took only one year of Latin and that was 20 years ago.
Move on. There's nothing to see here.