4 ms·

Apparently Latin is a very popular subject in schools. IF that popularity is genuine, it refutes the idea that children are always looking out for the easiest o

by m0nty 15y ago

Apparently Latin is a very popular subject in schools. IF that popularity is genuine, it refutes the idea that children are always looking out for the easiest option, which bodes well for CS in schools because (if it's done correctly) it will be challenging. Personally I have my misgivings about the phrase "The New Latin" but I have strong objections to the "Hey kids! Everything is fun, fun, fun!" approach which is so often the alternative.

Jach 15y ago
I actually think Latin's popularity is, at least in part, due to its easiness, and at least in my former high school. I'm inferring to other schools since the AP test doesn't require speaking it. I mentioned in a cousin-comment that I took Latin for three years, I also took French for five. French was a lot harder. Merely speaking it and understanding when it's spoken back with different accents and different speeds is a lot harder than just reading or writing it, which is all I had to do for Latin. (We learned the simple pronunciation rules and read some things aloud but that's it.) Yet for the universities around the area requiring two foreign language credits from high school, Latin was good enough. Latin was funner for me in some ways though since it has a pattern-matching or puzzle-solving feel to it at times with all the word endings and no reliance on word order. I don't think it's as neat as Arabic but it's a somewhat similar feeling. I agree that overselling things as fun is a great way to kill any fun that might have existed.
derleth 15y ago
> Hey kids! Everything is fun, fun, fun! Programming is fun if it's taught well, which is why it must always be taught poorly, if at all. After all, education and play are two mutually-exclusive concepts for humans, like they are for all somewhat-intelligent mammals.

4 ms·

Apparently Latin is a very popular subject in schools. IF that popularity is genuine, it refutes the idea that children are always looking out for the easiest o

by m0nty 15y ago

Jach 15y ago
I actually think Latin's popularity is, at least in part, due to its easiness, and at least in my former high school. I'm inferring to other schools since the AP test doesn't require speaking it. I mentioned in a cousin-comment that I took Latin for three years, I also took French for five. French was a lot harder. Merely speaking it and understanding when it's spoken back with different accents and different speeds is a lot harder than just reading or writing it, which is all I had to do for Latin. (We learned the simple pronunciation rules and read some things aloud but that's it.) Yet for the universities around the area requiring two foreign language credits from high school, Latin was good enough. Latin was funner for me in some ways though since it has a pattern-matching or puzzle-solving feel to it at times with all the word endings and no reliance on word order. I don't think it's as neat as Arabic but it's a somewhat similar feeling. I agree that overselling things as fun is a great way to kill any fun that might have existed.
derleth 15y ago
> Hey kids! Everything is fun, fun, fun! Programming is fun if it's taught well, which is why it must always be taught poorly, if at all. After all, education and play are two mutually-exclusive concepts for humans, like they are for all somewhat-intelligent mammals.