Introduction *waves*

Cep · Post by **Cep** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 12:51 pm

Hey everyone,

Just thought I'd introduce myself, as I will no doubt be bombarding you all with copious amounts of questions in the coming weeks.

Ummmm...so, I'm 20 years old, and am currently studying psychology at university - in Brisbane, Australia. Just finished my finals for this year a week or two ago, and decided that I needed something to occupy my time with these holidays - when I wasn't out destroying my liver.

So...as a former student of linguistics (it took me a year or two to make up my mind as to what I eventually wanted to be. Most people consider this a waste of time and money, but personally I'm glad I spent a year or two figuring out what I wanted to do with my life rather than being stuck in a profession that I hate) I thought that a language might indeed be the solution. So...I did a search for summer courses on Latin, and while not finding anything that suited me, somehow came across this marvellous site.

The last couple of days, I've started on Latin for Beginners by Benjamin L. D'Ooge. Getting there slowly and am enjoying it thoroughly.

In any case, that's just a brief introduction, and a general hello (*waves*) to everyone out there who cares to read my semi-coherent introductory post. And I'm sure you'll no doubt be hearing more than you want of me in the coming weeks.

My first question...although I'm enjoying Latin, it has come to my attention that most of the classics that I'd like to read in the original language were written in Ancient Greek. So my question is this: is it a good idea to learn Ancient Greek and Latin at the same time, or to get a basic understanding of Latin before moving on to Ancient Greek? Of course, my whole plan of teaching myself any language may be rather ambitious…but…

Anyway...*waves again*

- Cep

Emma_85 · Post by **Emma_85** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 1:53 pm

Welcome to Textkit Cep!

I think that it might be too much to want to learn both languages at once. So it's probably better to learn them one at a time, that way you'll avoid being discouraged by all the grammar and vocab of both Latin and ancient Greek and can concentrate your efforts on learning one first then the other. At least that's what I'd suggest

.
Good luck with Latin!

William · Post by **William** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 2:30 pm

Cep wrote:...I needed something to occupy my time with these holidays - when I wasn't out destroying my liver.

Ah, college...I miss it so!

Welcome, Cep!

William

Thucydides · Post by **Thucydides** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 3:41 pm

The conventional route is Latin then Greek, since Greek is similarly inflected but harder. It also makes sense because you can see if you like/are any good at Latin before making the step up to Greek.

benissimus · Post by **benissimus** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 6:55 pm

I agree, Latin is simpler. If you are busy you probably won't have time for both, but if you have to choose one then you should choose the one that you are more excited about. If you plan on learning both anyway I would start with Latin though. Welcome.

Eureka · Post by **Eureka** » Sun Nov 28, 2004 5:22 am

Welcome, Cep.

(I'm also a university student learning an ancient language in my spare time for no apparent reason.)

You should pick the language you're most interested in. Motivation is the main issue, because language concepts are not difficult to understand, but there's just a fair bit to learn.

So... If you like Romans, learn Latin. If you think Greeks are more interesting, learn Greek. If you well and truly feel the same way about both, choose Latin.

Anyway, enjoy.

By the way, which uni do you go to?

Cep · Post by **Cep** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 4:54 am

Eureka wrote:By the way, which uni do you go to?

QUT Carseldine Campus. I love it there. How about you?

Timothy · Post by **Timothy** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 5:10 am

Welcome also!

Eureka wrote:(I'm also a university student learning an ancient language in my spare time for no apparent reason.)

LOL!
I say the exact same phrase all the time. If you ever discover why we are doing this, please let me know. It would be nice to have a better reason than "it just sort of came to me to do it."

mingshey · Post by **mingshey** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 5:16 am

Hi, welcome!
I had the similar question to myself. But I had to wait several years before learning Latin quite much and I could not wait to start on Greek. So I just postponed Latin for another day and started Greek.
I just keep an eye on my Latin books on the shelf.

A laguage is not math. You can start from any language as far as there are resources you can use at hand. If most of the Greek primers were written in Latin, you'll have to master Latin to a good degree. Since there are few resource in Korean, I had to learn English quite a while before I could get my hands on the books written in English. But you have no such problem as to Greek.

mingshey · Post by **mingshey** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 5:22 am

Timothy wrote:Welcome also!

Eureka wrote:(I'm also a university student learning an ancient language in my spare time for no apparent reason.)
LOL!
I say the exact same phrase all the time. If you ever discover why we are doing this, please let me know. It would be nice to have a better reason than "it just sort of came to me to do it."

How about something like, "I'm gonna make a film all in Ancient Greek, titled the passion of Socrates"?

Eureka · Post by **Eureka** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 5:32 am

Cep wrote:QUT Carseldine Campus. I love it there. How about you?

Melbourne uni, it's also not bad.

mingshey wrote:
Timothy wrote:I say the exact same phrase all the time. If you ever discover why we are doing this, please let me know. It would be nice to have a better reason than "it just sort of came to me to do it."
How about something like, "I'm gonna make a film all in Ancient Greek, titled the passion of Socrates"?

No, I would do that in Aramaic.

mariek · Post by **mariek** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 7:23 pm

Hi Cep! Welcome to Textkit! D'Ooge's Latin for Beginners book is a good starting place. Don't forget to check out the Latin for Beginners forum, where you can read and post questions about the book.

Kopio · Post by **Kopio** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 5:53 pm

I vote for Greek....but I'm biased....I don't know Latin. If most of the Classics you want to read are in Greek.....learn Greek. I learned German first (many moons ago) and I was able to pick up Greek without much of a problem (I DID study at university though). I must say, reading the Classics in Greek is quite a rush (although a very slow cereberal one)!

annis · Post by **annis** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 3:58 am

Cep wrote:So my question is this: is it a good idea to learn Ancient Greek and Latin at the same time, or to get a basic understanding of Latin before moving on to Ancient Greek?

I agree with Kopio: if you're interested in Greek, start with Greek. I'd probably not recommend doing both at the same time (as a beginner anyway) since you seem to have plenty else to study, too.

Of course, my whole plan of teaching myself any language may be rather ambitious…but…

Textkit exists to enable that.

Amy · Post by **Amy** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 11:29 pm

welcome! Remember Latin isn't all Gallic Wars either.

William · Post by **William** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 11:49 pm

Cep- From one newbie to another: welcome.

William B.

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