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Perhaps the hardest language studied by many Anglophones is Latin. When learning latin I was surprised at how similar the genative case is in Latin and Eng
by cturner 17y ago
Perhaps the hardest language studied by many
Anglophones is Latin.
When learning latin I was surprised at how similar the genative case is in Latin and English. It would be like making an assumption about a platform by using your knowledge of a separate and familiar platform, and then using inference, and getting it right first time - eerie.
The pronounciation in latin is also easy, and the spelling, and the vocab has similiarities that helps with learning.
I suspect part of what makes Latin more difficult to learn than some indo-European languages is that it's very disconnected from practical considerations. (see http://www.frcoulter.com/latin/foster/foster6.html http://www.frcoulter.com/latin/foster/foster6.html) The ability to learn like that is a practical skill in its own right though.
- dkarl 17y agoI took four years of Latin in high school, and by far the hardest part compared to other languages I studied was the sheer number of things to memorize. Five noun declensions by five cases (more than that, really, but only five to memorize) by two numbers made fifty noun endings. Verbs were even more complex: four verb conjugations, four principal parts to memorize for each verb, three moods (that I can remember), plus the active/passive distinction. That's a hell of a lot of charts to memorize. There are patterns in these charts, but lots of exceptions to the patterns. Plus all the various ways the various moods and cases can be used. Here's a nice list of the ways the ablative case can be used: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ablative_case#Latin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ablative_case#Latin Compared to all this memorization, getting the feel of the language, even though it was very alien to my mind, seemed easy.
- balding_n_tired 17y agoAgreed. I think the regularity of Latin makes it straightforward.