Hello everyone! I am a new member and I look forward to getting to know you guys. I found this message board by chance. I am Learning French. I saw this old French movie from like 1980 the other day called " The Aviators Wife" and a character in the movie said that knowing some Latin helps when you are trying to learn a new language. I know that French is a romance language so I figured Iād better try to learn some Latin. I think itās a shame that Latin is a dead language. Does anyone know why Latin fell out of favor?
It fell along with the Roman Empire ~500 ADā¦While it was in use, there were two forms: Vulgar (for common speech) and Classical (for literary works and speeches by diplomats like Cicero etc). Vulgar, not Classical Latin was the language that morphed into the Romance languages because when Rome fell, people moved out of cities and cut themselves off from the world in order to be safe from the attacks of Germanic tribes, and because of this a common language was unnecessaryā¦Vulgar Latin mixed with the common language of the lands emperors had conquered, forming the Romance languages. Classical Latin, however, only fell out of use among scholars worldwide very recently. Many authors WAY after Latin stopped being spoken wrote books, not just scientific, in Latin and developed a distinct style. (The Vulgar and Classical Latin words for āhorseā are ācaballusā and āequusā respectively. In Spanish āhorseā is ācaballoā, in French āchevalāā¦these are totally casual unassuming words. in English we have āequestrianā and āequineāā¦this is how classical and vulgar latin affected language differently 
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Ave!
Iām Nora from Hungary. Iām a university student. Iām studying Italian grammar and literature. Learning Latin is obligatory for us, to understand the connection of the romance languages and the roots of the Italian grammar. Iām also interested at other languages like French and Spanish. I only studied English in high school, so I might make some mistakes: Iām better at speaking than writing.
If you have any kind of question about Hungary (itās a small country in Center-Europe), I can answer it! 
Hi Incognito!
Welcome to Textkit! Like you, I am also trying to learn Latin and French. Have you seen the books that are available for downloade here on this site? There are two beginners books, give them a try and feel free to ask questions in their respective Latin forum.
Good luck!
Salve Incognito! I learned (and forgot) 2 years of French decades ago, but as I study Latin, some of the French comes back (Iāve got a lot of Latin to go). Iād still have to restudy it again and will. Learning Latin definitely teaches me more about English grammar than I ever learned in school, I wish Latin was still required.
I donāt consider Latin ādeadā - it lives on in many languages, most of us tend think ours is better, until we study the real thing. I love Latin, and wish I had more time for it. Iām learning the language and the history.
Again welcome, enjoy your studies.
Salve Incognito! I wish you well with your journey of learning French & Latin! Which Latin grammar book are you using?
Thanks for your input everyone! Youāre so kind. 
School just finished last week and my professor told me I would get a C. I really didnāt think I deserved that because I had so many other things from other classes to study that I didnāt have the time I wanted to study. I also think that although it was french 101 it seemed like it was for people who had some knowledge of French already. Most of thestudents in the class took French in High School. I took Spanish because that was the only foreign language they had. I also found out that some of them took both spanish and french in High School. I tried hard not to look like a fool getting such low grades on the tests with most of the class getting 80ās and 90 somethings on the tests. A friend in class suggested I try childrens books, so I took a few out from the library. Another friend who knows Italian says she moved right to young adult books because childrens books were too brief. Iām all confused. I donāt have enough money to pay for french lessons. Theyāre $25 an hour. But I really want to learn French and eventually spanish or Italian. I love Opera so i might try to learn Italian. I donāt have the internet at my place so I canāt download one of the books here. I am at the public library, but I will try to download it here.
I donāt have a french grammar book. Iām strapped for cash so Iām still shopping around for the cheapest price. It seems that there are absolutely no french books or cassettes for under $30.
Positive note.*
I found a church that is going to give free french lessons on sunday mornings starting in September. Iām looking forward to it.
sorry for such a long post you guys. I wanted to reply to each of you. I only have a couple of minutes left on theis computer. You guys have a great day.
Sorry to hear of your woes! By chance, does your public library or school library have French tapes? You could just check them out instead of purchasing them.
Good luck!
Hi Eeris.
I have taken out some french cassettes from the library. I think Iāll definately master french some day.
You want to learn a language for a Mcdonalds meal price? Which one pick one (as Jay-Z said) : French, Spanish, Italian, German, Dutch etc. In the U.K. they cost but Ā£4.79 on Amazon.co.uk. Hugo In Three Months search for them. You donāt really need the cds, just listen to some french on the net for the accent. Iāve learned Italian with Hugoās system.
I think itās a shame that Latin is a dead language. Does anyone know why Latin fell out of favor?
Donāt be silly. All languages fall out of favour. We still have descendant languages of Latin, just as we speak the descendant of Old English. But no one asks why English āfell out of favour.ā
Thanks again everyone for your input. I donāt know if you got the reply I just sent.
Pete~ I was always told that if you didnāt have anything nice to say, you shouldnāt say anything at all. a person doesnāt seem intelligent when they have a snide remark to a question. I have sense found out about the demise of Latin. I will leave you in the dark about it.
I hope my last mesage got through.
Twice
Welcome