Sodomy non sapiens
Sep. 18th, 2009 01:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
A friend of mine has a daughter at school and is wondering whether they should take Latin - whether they would find it actually useful later on for other subjects. They think that it would be useful for science, and also for wanting to be a doctor or a vet.
Anyone got any opinions on this?
Anyone got any opinions on this?
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Date: 2009-09-18 12:22 pm (UTC)But then, that's me.
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Date: 2009-09-18 12:24 pm (UTC)I can totally see people being fascinated by language, and Latin/Greek contribute massively to language. If someone is interested I certainly wouldn't stop them.
I know that latin used to be vital for people studying medicine - I'm just not sure that's still the case.
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Date: 2009-09-18 12:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-18 12:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2009-09-18 12:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-18 12:26 pm (UTC)I enjoyed it because it opened up that extra dimension to Roman history which I loved as a kid.
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Date: 2009-09-18 12:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2009-09-18 12:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-18 12:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-18 12:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-18 02:09 pm (UTC)I thought you'd disappeared from the internet, but it turns out that Xanga had just moved it's RSS feeds, without putting a redirect in place.
Updated my feedreader. look like at least 4 other people still have the old link :(
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Date: 2009-09-18 12:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-18 12:39 pm (UTC)You haven't said what level she's thinking of taking Latin at, or what the other options are, so it's hard to give real advice. All I would say is that, while learnign Latin is useful for other things, the same can be said for just about anything else. I would only suggest studying for a qualification in Latin to someone who is at least somewhat interested in the language for its own sake, otherwise it would be a pretty miserable experience.
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Date: 2009-09-18 12:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-18 12:50 pm (UTC)The Latin texts that tend to be taught alongside the language are also both interesting and educational, and something I wouldn't have been exposed to if not for using them to learn the language.
Also, I don't think I've ever been to a job interview without it drawing comment as it's on my CV, and for all that my employers weren't looking for it, it's a point of interest... I've even used it to strike up conversations with people I thought looked interesting, though your friend's daughter may be a little young for that to be an important point yet ;-)
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Date: 2009-09-18 12:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-18 01:08 pm (UTC)(The most real-world use I got from it was on a trip to Italy, where I managed quite well by mangling together French and Latin....)
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Date: 2009-09-18 01:31 pm (UTC)It would also be useful for being a doctor at least - all the terminology I've come across in my excursions into the medical world (mainly as a typist) have had Latin or Greek roots, and having Latin was very useful for that.
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Date: 2009-09-18 01:53 pm (UTC)On the practical side, I have a better idea how English grammar works, it's enhanced my spelling ability (on a few occasions I've found myself thinking "oh, it'll be spelled like this because it's derived from that"), and I'm sometimes able to guess what an unfamiliar English word means by thinking about what Latin word(s) it might be derived from.
But most of all, as with anything else we learn, it's added a kind of overlay to the way I look at the world, and increased the number of connections I see between things I experience. It's enriched my life in numerous interesting ways - and I think that's the point of education. So I think I'd advise your friend's daughter to have a preliminary look at it, decide if it's something she'd find interesting (rather than necessarily useful) and base her decision on that, because I think interesting things are always useful in some way.
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Date: 2009-09-18 02:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-18 02:06 pm (UTC)I did it
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Date: 2009-09-18 03:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-18 05:00 pm (UTC)I can agree with posters who say that knowing the latin word helps you remember English spellings; I'd warrant, though, that the same thing would be true of any romance language (it's certainly true for French).
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Date: 2009-09-18 06:10 pm (UTC)I also think, though, that parents dictating which subjects their secondary-school-age kids learn is fucking annoying. If SHE wants to do Latin then she should do Latin and if she doesn't, well, then, she shouldn't.
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Date: 2009-09-18 06:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-18 08:40 pm (UTC)But seriously - yes, Latin will help in the future anyone who studies it. Perhaps not so much for technical language - that's quite a superficial reason - but for training a disciplined mind, and giving an understanding into how languages are built that will help with any language in the future, and I mean ANY language, including computer languages.
But other subjects can also give a student this. And a student won't get this from Latin if they don't want to be doing Latin. The worst thing a parent can do for a child's academic success is make them take a subject that they have no affinity for or interest in, just because they believe that subject will be more useful for them in future.
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Date: 2009-09-18 08:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-18 09:46 pm (UTC)