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Poll: Have you studied an ancient language?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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Nov 2, 2011

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you studied an ancient language?".

This poll was originally submitted by Christine Andersen. View the poll results »



 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 18:07
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Other Nov 2, 2011

The languages I am studying were doomed to "extinction", but are now being revived, such as Lakota, Cheyenne and Cherokee.

These studies are both useful and interesting.


 
Nicole Schnell
Nicole Schnell  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 10:07
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam
Yes Nov 2, 2011

Five years of Latin at school and some ancient Greek as a hobby - priceless in my profession!

 
Paula Hernández
Paula Hernández
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:07
English to Spanish
+ ...
For my BA Nov 2, 2011

Two years of Egyptian hieroglyphs. Not useful at all for my career.

 
Martina Pokupec (X)
Martina Pokupec (X)  Identity Verified
Croatia
Local time: 18:07
English to Croatian
+ ...
Yes Nov 2, 2011

I studied Latin for 8 years and ancient Greek for two years and I hated it. I didn't find it useful at all.

 
Interlangue (X)
Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 18:07
English to French
+ ...
Yes Nov 2, 2011

Latin (6 years) and ancient Greek (5 years) in secondary school.
They shaped my brain, were priceless when studying German and Russian, and are often useful in my profession.


 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 18:07
Spanish to English
+ ...
Not really Nov 2, 2011

I assume the question refers to what I understand as "the classics" (Latin and ancient Greek), although I don't really consider them "ancient" per se, reserving this definition for older languages like Sanskrit, or Sumerian and Akkadian.

I never formally studied Latin, but it has such an influence on modern European languages that I think I have acquired a certain degree of knowledge through studying French, German, Russian and Spanish as well as my native English.


 
#JuliaC#
#JuliaC#  Identity Verified
Local time: 18:07
German to Italian
+ ...
Latin Nov 2, 2011

I loved it and was a great help when I studied German

 
Lorraine Abbey
Lorraine Abbey  Identity Verified
Ireland
Local time: 17:07
Italian to English
+ ...
Old Irish Nov 2, 2011

Studied it for three years. Very interesting but not very useful. I loved it though!

 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 18:07
Spanish to English
+ ...
Vice versa Nov 2, 2011

Interlangue wrote:

Latin (6 years) and ancient Greek (5 years) in secondary school.
They shaped my brain, were priceless when studying German and Russian, and are often useful in my profession.


My experience was the other way round. When I decided to study Russian and German, I found they kept telling me that "it's just like in Latin or Greek" when explaining the grammar declensions, which always left me slightly miffed as I had no idea what they meant! I eventually acquired any knowledge I may have of the workings of the calssics through studying modern languages.

In fact, I had never heard of the notion of "verb tenses" or any grammar systems at all until I went to secondary school and was like a fish out of water for the first year or so until I got the hang of it. I'd like to study Latin some day if I have the time - apparently it's undergoing a bit of a revival now and some people are actually speaking it - like the mysterious baddies in sci-fi series Fringe who use it as a sort of code.


 
inkweaver
inkweaver  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 18:07
French to German
+ ...
No Nov 2, 2011

And I don't regret it at all. In my opinion, Greek and Latin are totally overrated.
Knowing French, Italian and Spanish, I tend to have less problems with understanding certain Latin words than people who actually learnt Latin for years at school but forgot everything about it because they never used it again.
If I had the time, I'd much rather learn another language like Russian, a Scandinavian language or Dutch.

[Edited at 2011-11-02 09:18 GMT]


 
Catherine Shepherd
Catherine Shepherd  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:07
Spanish to English
+ ...
Yes Nov 2, 2011

Latin and Greek, in high school and university.

I also studied Old English at university but I don't think that classifies as 'ancient'!


 
Evans (X)
Evans (X)
Local time: 17:07
Spanish to English
+ ...
Yes, fascinating and useful too Nov 2, 2011

Several years of Latin and an O'level in it (a prerequisite for taking a degree in Hispanic Studies back in the day) helped me a great deal with the Latin-rooted languages I went on to study. And this grounding still helps me understand a lot about these languages that I use on a daily basis.

I also studied Anglosaxon and Middle English as part of my Linguistics and History of Language course at University, and found it fascinating. I was taught partly by a native speaker of modern
... See more
Several years of Latin and an O'level in it (a prerequisite for taking a degree in Hispanic Studies back in the day) helped me a great deal with the Latin-rooted languages I went on to study. And this grounding still helps me understand a lot about these languages that I use on a daily basis.

I also studied Anglosaxon and Middle English as part of my Linguistics and History of Language course at University, and found it fascinating. I was taught partly by a native speaker of modern Icelandic, and by a researcher of modern English local dialects which fed my passion for the quirks and varieties of my own native language. My Spanish degree course also filled in the middle between Latin and modern Spanish with a course in Spanish philology, also adding insights into the varieties of modern Spanish.

I'm only sorry that I'm the first generation of my father's family not to learn Welsh as a first language...
Collapse


 
DianeGM
DianeGM  Identity Verified
Local time: 19:07
Member (2006)
Dutch to English
+ ...
Yes Nov 2, 2011

Ancient Greek and Latin ... as the previous poster ... priceless
not only in work but also in life, the universe and everything


 
Rocio Barrientos
Rocio Barrientos  Identity Verified
Bolivia
Local time: 13:07
Member
English to Spanish
+ ...
Would Quechua count as an "ancient" language? Nov 2, 2011

If yes, the answer is affirmative.

If no, the answer is negative.



Rocío


 
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Poll: Have you studied an ancient language?






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