Dad, How Do You Say ‘Video’ in Latin?
LEARN LATIN & LEARN MORE OF EVERYTHING
There is no denying that the classical languages, Latin and Greek, have sustained quite a battering in the past 50-odd years. Pointing fingers at the culprits, producing arguments in their favor, or demolishing those against them, has all been done. My intention is to understand the phenomenon of the (apparent) demise of the classical languages, and to highlight their return with a vengeance, now taking place before our very eyes, thanks mostly to the Internet.
It has been said (and rightly) that method more than content was the real drawback in the teaching of Latin and Greek before they were “squeezed out of the curriculum” (The Daily Telegraph, May 5, 2000), but that is not the whole truth. My contention is that:
– To teach Latin, it is not enough to know it. Talent and the passion for teaching it are equally necessary, regardless of method. That combination has always been a rare one. No wonder that Latin teachers were nicknamed “gerund grinders” in the English-speaking world.
– The contents were (and still are wherever Latin and Greek are taught) boring, with no apologies.
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Method more than content was the real drawback in the teaching of Latin and Greek before they were "squeezed out of the curriculum."
Education steeped in transcendental Beauty and the Great Books of history is replaced by a dictatorial ugliness that flattens the passions and rids the heart of love.
In a place where young minds are supposed to be in training, the bodies are apparently active and the minds are apparently unengaged.