why learn Latin if its a dead language?

Question

I understand it helps to understand the bases of european languages, and it shows similarities between them, but why learn it intensely, if the language is dead?

When i was searching through a college brochure, in the language courses there was all the european languages, a few oriental, and Modern Greek, but then there was A level Latin, surely learning would be almost useless on the whole, right? No countries speak it anywhere, and it wouldn't even be that convincing on a C.V.

right? or.....?

Answer 1

You would need it to go to law school, become a court reporter, judge, etc... or if you're a priest or pope in a church to learn classical "Roman" texts, in Latin, of course. By "Roman", I meant this word is retained in the denomination "Roman Catholic".

Learning Latin does not make learning German or French easier: German is not related to Latin at all. Even though, French is related to Latin, the French language has changed so much that it doesn't seem to be related to Latin when spoken.

Answer 2

It isn't really a dead language. They speak it in the Vatican and Medieval Latin is spoken in parts of Switzerland. You can get course tapes for it like any other language or you can find a university that offers it on-line. Try Theological colleges. If you know French then you won't have a really hard time although the grammar is really bizarre.

Answer 3

When you learn Latin, you don't only learn the language, you learn the Roman culture too! If you can translate texts, read the texts in their original language.
When you've studied it, you can become for example a Latin teacher in secondary school (I don't know if you can learn Latin in secondary schools in the usa, but in most European countries you can). Or a researcher. Lots of things.
On a cv it isn't that convincing, but it has got a vast cultural value.

Answer 4

I learnt Latin and it is amazingly useful for understanding the root and therefore the meaning of a lot of English words and of course helps tremendously with french, Spanish and Italian. The ideal would be to learn German and Latin, that would be a help with so many European languages. Don't underestimate it's use, I am glad it is coming back in in schools and colleges.

Answer 5

To be honest you have answered your own question. It is the root of alot of modern European languages and therefore would make any future study of them 'easier'. It would also show an interest in the grammatical and syntaxical structure of language showing an analytical and versatile mind. Therefore having 'Latin' on a CV shows much more than a 'dead language'.

Answer 6

whatever just learn it if you have time and if you're interested. it's like a hobby. maybe it isn't super practical. if you find so many disadvantages, practical languages are available. chinese would be a good "living" language to pick up...or arabic. or malay. or hindi.

yeah true that it's the basis of romantic/european languages but when you learn the latin based european languages (let's say you want to learn 4 or 5 at one time) you still have to memorize a bunch of annoying rules for speaking/pronunciation. so yeah it's "easier" but there is more to find under the surface of what people logically conclude.

Answer 7

On one hand, Latin could be compared to Dinosaurs, or Ancient Egypt. They are all "dead", but Latinists/ Linguists, Paleontologists and Egyptologists study them to understand better our past, but also our present - they are inherent to their jobs. You should therefore learn Latin if it is needed in your future career.

On the other hand, Latin (just like Ancient Greek) is a key component to most European languages, and regardless from its "usefulness", a fascinating language, similar for me to English both for its "practicality" and for the fact that it was the Ancient World's universal language. You could learn it for personal pleasure or cultural interest.

This said, I would suggest picking Latin (and any other course for that matter) only if you will *really* need it in your job.

Good luck with your studies!

Answer 8

It is strongly encouraged to learn Latin if you plan on going in to biology, chemistry, geology, medicine or really any science. Knowing basic Latin can help you learn the words for animals, chemicals, illnesses, medicines and so on that you need to know in those fields.

It also helps folks I know that are majoring in Art History. It is difficult to take Spanish, French and Italian, the places where much of Art History takes place, particularly the Renaissance, but as they are all Romantic Languages, that is, based on Latin, learning Latin can help one remember or translate the names, titles, places, events and so on in works and writings about works,

Answer 9

Latin is the base of all languages, it helps to learn other languages therefore and, it comes in really handy for quizzes as it helps to work out the answer in some cases.

Answer 10

That really depends on what you want to study. If you like philosophy, religion and are a seeker of esoteric truths, then the closer you get to the original language, the more there is to understand.

I know for instance, that in Hebrew, the bible has some very dynamic meanings, which just don't exist in the English versions. I was speaking to a friend of mine and they told me when they read the bible in English, they could not believe how simple minded it was ............... So, if you really want to understand the scrolls, and books and understand the truth of them ... this is what you do, go to the source. Don't play broken phone.

So, there you go. It really depends on what you are studying.

happy choosing,
star spinner

on the link below - you will find different translations of a German poem, The Panther - same poem ... but each translation is slightly different

Answer 11

A good reason is that when they examined what degree was the best to have if you wanted to be a systems analyst or other computer system expert they discovered that a classical discipline was best - perhaps because latin has more syntactical rules than more modern languages.