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[Misc] Can anyone on here speak Latin ?







Jim in the West

Jim in the West

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Sep 13, 2003
4,997
Way out West
Is it PotG? said:
Absolutely ridiculous.
The discipline and structured format necessary to learn the subject is extremely useful in other areas, not to mention the deeper understanding of the root of many everyday words.
Terrible.
https://www.theguardian.com/educati...-have-to-drop-gsce-latin-after-funding-pulled
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Completely agree. I did Latin for a couple of years (and managed to get an A grade at "O" Level). We had to read parts of Caesar's Bellum Gallicum, and I remember feeling almost incedulous that I was able to read the words of Julius Caesar in his own language! Having since learned a number of latin languages, it turned out to be an exceptionally useful grounding.
 












PeterT

PeterT

Well-known member
Apr 21, 2017
2,421
Hove
Jim in the West said:
Completely agree. I did Latin for a couple of years (and managed to get an A grade at "O" Level). We had to read parts of Caesar's Bellum Gallicum, and I remember feeling almost incedulous that I was able to read the words of Julius Caesar in his own language! Having since learned a number of latin languages, it turned out to be an exceptionally useful grounding.
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Me too. Caesar’s Gallic Wars and also the Aeneid. But I do recall just rote learning it off by heart to earn my A at O level taken a year early. After that, I never opened another Latin text again.
 






Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
57,472
Faversham
Questions said:
I mean proper Latin from school. Rees Mogg said it was his first language in his house growing up.
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In domo nostra, plerumque bollocks locuti sumus
 


Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
57,472
Faversham
PeterT said:
Me too. Caesar’s Gallic Wars and also the Aeneid. But I do recall just rote learning it off by heart to earn my A at O level taken a year early. After that, I never opened another Latin text again.
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de bello gallico. Those tellums were a bastard.
 


Eric the meek

Eric the meek

Fiveways Wilf
NSC Patron
Aug 24, 2020
7,633
Points of order.

For those who think Latin isn't spoken any more, it is still spoken in Vatican City. It is also spoken in a small enclave on the Croatian coast.

And in southern Italy, in Calabria, there are a few small communities who still speak a dialect of ancient Greek, called Griko.
 








S

Shuggie

Well-known member
Sep 19, 2003
689
East Sussex coast
Harry Wilson's tackle said:
We all took the Latin O Level a year early (along with Eng Lang). It was all part of the L stream process and the pathway to Oxbridge. Unfortunately I decided to take the fifth form a tad easy, and ended up getting grade 1s in only 3 subjects, and failed French, ending up with a disappointing eleven passes (grade 1-6). I think the system went from 1-6 to A-C the following year (when I got a B in art, taken as a lunchtime subject in the lower sixth). So you must be a couple of years younger than me. Like @Shuggie
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Morning DrM … my Latin and English Language were graded 1-6 in 1974; A-C grades were introduced the following year. Always thought you were a bit of a swot until hearing about your French débâcle.

Fond recollections of Latin ‘A’ level and a lunchtime Greek ’O’ level. I loved all that stuff but took nunc est bibendum (“now is the time for drinking” - Horace on the defeat of Cleopatra) too literally until sobering up in 1996.

Mr Ross, yellowing teeth, pipe and all, was far and away the best teacher at HCGS. He would sit at the head of the long table in the school library, Lewis & Short (dictionary, not boys) by his elbow, window behind him and two pupils destined for Oxford in front of him. Plus me. Lessons were half brutal Latin grammar, poetic structure and syntax, half a joyous romp through myth, history, philosophy and politics.

Memenisse juvat (it is a joy to remember - Vergil, The Aeneid). The History Boys / The Rotters’ Club brilliantly capture the 1970s and our 6th form way of life.
 




Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
57,472
Faversham
Shuggie said:
Morning DrM … my Latin and English Language were graded 1-6 in 1974; A-C grades were introduced the following year. Always thought you were a bit of a swot until hearing about your French débâcle.

Fond recollections of Latin ‘A’ level and a lunchtime Greek ’O’ level. I loved all that stuff but took nunc est bibendum (“now is the time for drinking” - Horace on the defeat of Cleopatra) too literally until sobering up in 1996.

Mr Ross, yellowing teeth, pipe and all, was far and away the best teacher at HCGS. He would sit at the head of the long table in the school library, Lewis & Short (dictionary, not boys) by his elbow, window behind him and two pupils destined for Oxford in front of him. Plus me. Lessons were half brutal Latin grammar, poetic structure and syntax, half a joyous romp through myth, history, philosophy and politics.

Memenisse juvat (it is a joy to remember - Vergil, The Aeneid). The History Boys / The Rotters’ Club brilliantly capture the 1970s and our 6th form way of life.
Click to expand...
Ross was certainly the best teacher I ever had.
Not only was he brilliant, he exercised complete control over the class without ever raising his voice or issuing a detention.
Hope life is treating you well, S :thumbsup:
 


S

Shuggie

Well-known member
Sep 19, 2003
689
East Sussex coast
Harry Wilson's tackle said:
Ross was certainly the best teacher I ever had.
Not only was he brilliant, he exercised complete control over the class without ever raising his voice or issuing a detention.
Hope life is treating you well, S :thumbsup:
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Happy to report that life couldn’t be better. This time last year, I was recuperating from a heart attack in Adelaide. Just a rite of passage: have heart attack, get stented, rest a bit, forget it happened, get on with life. Twice-weekly walking football is a way to celebrate life. Couple of grandchildren just had their first Christmas. Only 6 weeks until I retire from a job that has taken me all over the world for the last 20 years, including spells in Prague, Hong Kong and Southern California. Company has lost its way since Covid. Nasty people getting promoted. Fukkem. I’ll be taking the Mickey until the end of Feb. Once the season is over, I’ll be on a mission to spend a Craig Mackail-Smith quantity of air miles, hotel and car hire loyalty points. Mrs Shuggie by my side as we drift companionably into the next phase of decay.
 




G

Gwylan

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
31,927
Uffern
I got my O Level in Latin and then promptly forgot most of the Latin I knew over the coming years. About 10 years ago, I decided that it was time to revise the language and bought some grammar books and started looking at it again. I'm not sure I'm confident enough to tackle De Bello Gallico again but I have kickstarted my brain.

If any Latin scholar ever goes to Romania, he or she will see a lot of similarity between Romanian and Latin. It's often possible to gather the gist of what's being written.
 






W

Wardy's twin

Well-known member
Oct 21, 2014
9,014
Shuggie said:
Morning DrM … my Latin and English Language were graded 1-6 in 1974; A-C grades were introduced the following year. Always thought you were a bit of a swot until hearing about your French débâcle.

Fond recollections of Latin ‘A’ level and a lunchtime Greek ’O’ level. I loved all that stuff but took nunc est bibendum (“now is the time for drinking” - Horace on the defeat of Cleopatra) too literally until sobering up in 1996.

Mr Ross, yellowing teeth, pipe and all, was far and away the best teacher at HCGS. He would sit at the head of the long table in the school library, Lewis & Short (dictionary, not boys) by his elbow, window behind him and two pupils destined for Oxford in front of him. Plus me. Lessons were half brutal Latin grammar, poetic structure and syntax, half a joyous romp through myth, history, philosophy and politics.

Memenisse juvat (it is a joy to remember - Vergil, The Aeneid). The History Boys / The Rotters’ Club brilliantly capture the 1970s and our 6th form way of life.
Click to expand...
My Latin teacher ,Mr Kelly, was not necessarily a great teacher but had everyone's respect and spent half the lessons reminiscing about his WW2 adventures which were of more interest to the boys than a dead language more associated with (forcibly) going to church.
 


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