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theatrical_muse] 262 - Lines
Dec. 26th, 2008 11:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prodigalwatcher262 - Lines
amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant
amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant
amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant
Anyone who has taken even a few weeks' worth of Latin will recognise that particular grouping. For hundreds of years, the teaching of elementary Latin was done purely by rote, or memorisation of words and rules, such as the six ways of saying "amor" or "to love": first, second and third persons, first, second and third persons plural. With those rules established, the pupil is expected to then apply them to various other verbs, and deal with whatever odd exceptions might and will crop up.
I dislike teaching and learning by rote. I dislike it very strongly, in fact. Languages, particularly in their written form, have always been a source of fascination for me, and reducing any means of communication to a series of lifeless and meaningless statistics to be memorised is a disservice both to the language itself and to the student.
It is, of course, of most use to anyone seeking to learn a language, to be immersed in it. Even the most ignorant of young people, when traveling abroad for school or pleasure will, if given enough time in any one particular place, will find themselves picking up the local tongue much more quickly and with exceptional comprehension than a student with purely rote-recalled skills. This, I find, goes as much for written languages as for spoken.
Naturally, this is a difficult proposition when it comes to Latin, as it is what linguists term a "dead" language, in that it is no longer spoken in everyday use and so will never evolve or change. But given the wide variety and great depth of works available to read in Latin, a student would have no shortage of exceptional material into which they can throw themselves.
To what should be no one's surprise, the Watchers Academy taught Latin and other languages in much the same way. Groups of students, queued in front of the chalkboards, doing their lines.
amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant
amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant
amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant
And if you think Latin declensions are hard, you should try the a few demon languages.
(341, not counting Latin)
amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant
amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant
amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant
Anyone who has taken even a few weeks' worth of Latin will recognise that particular grouping. For hundreds of years, the teaching of elementary Latin was done purely by rote, or memorisation of words and rules, such as the six ways of saying "amor" or "to love": first, second and third persons, first, second and third persons plural. With those rules established, the pupil is expected to then apply them to various other verbs, and deal with whatever odd exceptions might and will crop up.
I dislike teaching and learning by rote. I dislike it very strongly, in fact. Languages, particularly in their written form, have always been a source of fascination for me, and reducing any means of communication to a series of lifeless and meaningless statistics to be memorised is a disservice both to the language itself and to the student.
It is, of course, of most use to anyone seeking to learn a language, to be immersed in it. Even the most ignorant of young people, when traveling abroad for school or pleasure will, if given enough time in any one particular place, will find themselves picking up the local tongue much more quickly and with exceptional comprehension than a student with purely rote-recalled skills. This, I find, goes as much for written languages as for spoken.
Naturally, this is a difficult proposition when it comes to Latin, as it is what linguists term a "dead" language, in that it is no longer spoken in everyday use and so will never evolve or change. But given the wide variety and great depth of works available to read in Latin, a student would have no shortage of exceptional material into which they can throw themselves.
To what should be no one's surprise, the Watchers Academy taught Latin and other languages in much the same way. Groups of students, queued in front of the chalkboards, doing their lines.
amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant
amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant
amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant
And if you think Latin declensions are hard, you should try the a few demon languages.
(341, not counting Latin)
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no subject
Date: 2008-12-27 09:22 am (UTC)OOC: Really nicely done.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-28 10:54 pm (UTC)OOC: Thanks!