Question:
can anybody tell me whether it is worth learning latin in order to
help me keep track of other languages. My problem is that having
recently started learning portuguese I have now forgotten my spanish,
which in turn ruined my french.
Will latin help me overcome this problem
Answer:
You`ve got to have a pretty secure base in one language - ie, really
understand how and why it works like it does, how to construct complex
sentences, moods, tenses etc. I don`t think it matters too much whether
that is Latin, French or even English. Once you`ve got that, then
transferring that knowledge to another language is not that difficult.
One of the problems is that thorough learning of grammar has been for a
while regarded as a dirty word - which is a bit like learning a musical
instrument without coming to grips with scales: you can get a bit of
the way, but progress will be strictly limited ! One reason why Latin
is held up as a model for language learning is that it is difficult to
teach it any other way than thoroughly, because of the way it works;
with modern languages one can much more easily learn a few phrases and
get by.
It sounds as if (like most of us !) you`ve done a fair bit of dabbling
but not enough real study. My advice would be to go to whichever
language you actually want/need to learn, whether modern or ancient,
and go for it properly; daily study, written practice, oral practice,
evening classes, visit the country, whatever you can get. It`s the only
way !
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