People who studied Latin, can you tell me any stories about your Latin-studying experiences? Funny or nonfunny.
I'm not collecting anecdotes for any purpose other than to enjoy them in the moment. I am studying a tiny bit of Latin right now. Salve! Nomen mihi Ellen est! Canis magnus est! Gratias tibi ago!
@GrammarTable My teacher had a strong Scottish accent which she kept in Latin, and I still think of that as the proper way to speak it. Latin speakers from Rome sound very different.
@tlbtlbtlb I have been noticing accent in Latin a lot, Trevor, because I've now listened to Latin lessons by native English, French, and Italian speakers.
@GrammarTable I recently almost bought the huge Latin dictionary I spent years thumbing through out of nostalgia...But I do live near one of the best Classics bookshops ever!
@WandaWyporska What is the bookshop?
@GrammarTable Our Latin teacher had to spend a good bit of time backfilling our knowledge of English grammar.
@ArmyOfBruce At an @actfl conference, I met a publisher of English grammar books for native English speakers studying other languages. This was the Latin one. I thought it was a good idea.
@GrammarTable My 13yo Swiss boy excitedly signed up for Latin as an elective. His verdict after week one: Mama, when you already know English and German and French and some Italian, Latin is not so hard! 😂
@c_smrstik This would be funny advertising copy for a Latin program.
@GrammarTable A schoolfriend in Rome station couldn't find his train. He had some French, a tiny bit of Latin, and no Italian. He grabbed a railway employee. Tried him in English. Got nowhere. Tried him in French. Nada. Finally: Ubi est platformus quattuor? No luck there either.
@DominickGDonald lol
@GrammarTable My teacher took extreme glee in the fact that Pliny the Younger survived Vesuvius because he stayed home to study rather than go with his father towards danger in the rescue fleet.
@des_mansfield I'm taking glee now in your teacher's glee!
@GrammarTable Not me, but a girl in my class was doing her Latin homework on the train. It was a lesson on the passive periphrastic. The lady sitting next to her looked over, shuddered, and said “Oh God, is that the passive periphrastic? I never could understand that.”
@pacdelory Hahahaha! Oh, I am sad I didn't see this myself. I would have taken so much delight in that moment.
@GrammarTable I had 4 great yrs of Latin in HS. My last 2 were w/ a legendary teacher, Michael Fiveash, who'd been there 30+ yrs. Wise, hilarious, kind. 1 time the bell rang in the middle of his lecture & NOBODY moved a muscle. We were captivated. Miss him. I teach in his classroom now.
@rcaseyLHS Oh, how wonderful that you are in his old classroom! That no one moved when the bell rang is impressive.
@GrammarTable I studied Latin (and six other languages) in high school. Although I did enjoy Latin, my greatest takeaway was what I learned about the grammar of my own language, English. It was only by studying Latin and German that I learned English.
@ScottCSchank There were actual classes in that many languages, or did you study some of those on your own? I had only three languages available to me at my high school.
@GrammarTable I studied from 8th grade through sophomore year of college. The 8th-grade magister (wow, that word just came back to me) referred to us only as “scholars,” not students. Except two who were dating. Then it was: “Aeneas, Dido, stop talking, please.” 😂
@GrammarTable My teacher (for three of my four years of Latin) taught both German and Latin. We called her Frau Magistra.
@MonicaWamsley Haha!
@GrammarTable I spent weeks building an extremely detailed diorama of Pompeii only to (intentionally) have it "destroyed" by a vinegar/baking soda volcano as part of a group class presentation.
@AndreaTheEditor Haha, that's wonderful!
@GrammarTable I moved from France to England as a teenager. I recall being asked to read a passage aloud in Latin class and the teacher laughing at my “r”, hard , French-style. I tried to argue that he couldn’t know how Latin “r” would have sounded, but to no avail.
@gillescoul After listening to recordings of Latin from native speakers of multiple languages, I have sympathy for you.