"Doss" lessons....

Share your memories and stories from your days at school, and find out the truth behind the rumours....Remember the teachers and pupils, tell us who you remember and why...

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FrogBoxed
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Post by FrogBoxed »

Rory McGrath is an absolute star!
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ludwig van
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Post by ludwig van »

AS latin lessons these days seem to consist of drink tea and tucking into biscuits as much as actually working! They are the highlights of my timetable.
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J.R.
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Post by J.R. »

Exactly why IS Latin still taught ?

Even in my day, it was referred to as a 'Dead' language.

I don't think Doctors even use it now.
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Great Plum
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Post by Great Plum »

Latin helped me a heck of a lot with other languages...

It also means I can be a smart alec at work when explaining word meanings!
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Richard Ruck
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Post by Richard Ruck »

Great Plum wrote:Latin helped me a heck of a lot with other languages...
It certainly does that, and instills a logical and organised approach to learning grammar.

For example, if young Ludwig were to spend less time slurping tea and munching biccies, and a bit more time learning about ablative absolutes and suchlike, he might even find it possible to correctly construct a sentence in English, should he so desire. :wink:
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Emma Jane
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Post by Emma Jane »

Richard Ruck wrote:
Great Plum wrote:Latin helped me a heck of a lot with other languages...
It certainly does that, and instills a logical and organised approach to learning grammar.

For example, if young Ludwig were to spend less time slurping tea and munching biccies, and a bit more time learning about ablative absolutes and suchlike, he might even find it possible to correctly construct a sentence in English, should he so desire. :wink:
Oooh... rather mean of you!
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Richard Ruck
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Post by Richard Ruck »

Emma Jane wrote:
Richard Ruck wrote:
Great Plum wrote:Latin helped me a heck of a lot with other languages...
It certainly does that, and instills a logical and organised approach to learning grammar.

For example, if young Ludwig were to spend less time slurping tea and munching biccies, and a bit more time learning about ablative absolutes and suchlike, he might even find it possible to correctly construct a sentence in English, should he so desire. :wink:
Oooh... rather mean of you!
Oh, I don't think so. I'm only defending one of the few subjects I was ever any good at.

I DO know that I've just ended a sentence with a preposition, though.

More gin, I think.....

You didn't spot my split infinitive, then? Neither did I, for a while.
Ba.A / Mid. B 1972 - 1978

Thee's got'n where thee cassn't back'n, hassn't?
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Emma Jane
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Post by Emma Jane »

Richard Ruck wrote:Oh, I don't think so. I'm only defending one of the few subjects I was ever any good at.

I DO know that I've just ended a sentence with a preposition, though.

More gin, I think.....

You didn't spot my split infinitive, then? Neither did I, for a while.
Ummm... Latin was never a strong subject of mine. Art, Chemistry and German was more my cup of tea.

And enough with the gin.. I've got a tonic with a bit of lime here to make myself feel better
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Richard Ruck
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Post by Richard Ruck »

Emma Jane wrote: Ummm... Latin was never a strong subject of mine. Art, Chemistry and German was more my cup of tea.
An unusual combination!
Ba.A / Mid. B 1972 - 1978

Thee's got'n where thee cassn't back'n, hassn't?
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ben ashton
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Post by ben ashton »

latin was the easiest gcse i did, finished the exam bout an hour early!
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Post by jhopgood »

I now consider myself almost bilingual in Spanish, having been in Latin America and Spain since 1970.
When I started Spanish in 1970, I only had a few classes in Guatemala before being thrown in at the deep end as a teacher in Costa Rica.
I discovered that I could get by with a combination of my basic spanish and when stuck for a word, I would think of an english word that probably had a latin origin. 9 times out of 10, when I said this word, my colleague would say, "Oh, you mean ....." using the correct word, and so the conversation would continue.
Like most people, I thought Latin was a waste of time, but it served me very well in learning Spanish, and I am sure the same could be said for learning Portuguese, Italian etc.
I also did some Dutch classes, where Latin was not useful, but my smattering of German was.
Maybe I am better at Spanish than Dutch because I passed Latin and failed German "O" levels.
At the end of the day, most things taught can be used sometime, even if they seem irrelevant in the class.
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Great Plum
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Post by Great Plum »

I really enjoyed Latin and I have found it helps with other languages like jhopgood says!
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Mark1
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Post by Mark1 »

Of course, it's hard to remember anything which seems immediately USEFUL about latin, except perhaps jhopgood's case... perhaps the benefit is merely part of making one a 'good rounded character'...

:?:

unfortunately i seem to have forgotten all of my latin in the course of the last six months (since exams last summer), except a few of those tables of noun endings so drummed in by the great CHK (servus, serve, servum, etc etc... not the most useful stuff)
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Richard Ruck
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Post by Richard Ruck »

Mark1 wrote: (servus, serve, servum, etc etc... not the most useful stuff)
Oh Servant / Oh Slave!

In day-to-day use, surely?
Ba.A / Mid. B 1972 - 1978

Thee's got'n where thee cassn't back'n, hassn't?
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Mark1
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Post by Mark1 »

well, "bibit servus cum ancilla" came up in the last Angus Ross concert...
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