Why not?
- Shorthand standardised responses to almost all situations, now with SMS becoming an art form, deprive us of the ability to think our way through them, increase frustrations, decrease communication, and rob us of the pleasure of expression that an understanding of our own language provides, especially as so much of grammar and etymology derives from Latin.
- —Guest starlight3rar
How would you persuade?
- We are living in a world where languages are facing the threat of exctinction...we have already lost the last speakers of Great Andamanese... it is our responsibility to bring about a revival of our classical languages - like Latin and Sanskrit. I studied Latin during my school years (Virgil's Aeneid and Cicero's De Amicitia) and felt delighted to note that in Kerala (South India)Latin is being taught in schools! Currently, I am translating De Amicitia into Tamil. My mission is to present the classics in the vernacular - even a layman should be able to understand and appreciate the richness and grandeur of our literary gems...
- —Guest Uma Balu
Learning Latin is a way of opening doors
- An understanding of Latin grammar helps you understand the grammar of your own language so much better. Studying Latin makes learning other European languages like French, Italian and Spanish so much easier since they all derive from Latin. So much of English and European literature is built upon the foundations of Greek and Latin literature. Sure, you can read these works in translation but studying them in the original gives you a much greater understanding of them. Latin poetry in particular is so rewarding and enjoyable. The Roman poet Catullus could be said to have invented the love/hate relationship. His poetry of unrequited love is exquisite and can only be truly appreciated in the original Latin. For hundreds of years no person could consider him or herself educated unless they could read and write Latin. By not acquiring these skills we cut ourselves off from so much of our own culture and tradition.
- —Guest Brian Keaney
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