Latin: oral component?

[coureur]

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<blockquote>
<p>• Finally, transcriptions into other writing systems, such as Greek and Sanskrit, often pin down the ancient pronunciation of Latin very precisely.<<</p>
</blockquote>

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<p>^This is the method they used to reconstruct the Roman pronunciation of “V” as “W.”</p>

<p>But this result is contradicted by the results from another of the bullet points:</p>

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<blockquote>
<p>• Languages derived from Latin give us a lot of evidence. In fact, many of the letters of the alphabet are pronounced the same way in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. It stands to reason that the original Latin pronunciation has survived.<<</p>
</blockquote>

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<p>Then it stands to reason that Latin V is pronounced like a modern V and not like W, because modern Romance languages all pronounce it like V (and sometimes in informal Spanish more like a B). </p>

<p>So which is it?</p>

<p>Latin teachers often claim that we know exactly how Latin was correctly pronounced, but then in the next breath they disagree with each other on what that pronunciation actually was.</p>

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<blockquote>
<p>I was taught the reconstructed pronunciation. But it appears that the French reconstituted pronunciation differs from the British and American version.<<</p>
</blockquote>

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<p>Exactly my point.</p>

<p>Mortua lingua sola est bona. “The only good language is a dead language.”</p>

[mythmom]

<p>S is a Classics Major at Williams, studying both Greek and Latin. He was very dedicated to his Latin studies in middle school and high school.</p>

<p>Like the old joke, I agree with both sides.</p>

<p>He did learn reconstructed pronunciation and was called upon to memorize and recite many passages of Latin for classroom work and contests.</p>

<p>However, most graded situations, including SAT II’s and AP’s did not have a listening or speaking component as living languages do so I think it would be a good choice for a student whose greatest weakness would be spoken language.</p>

<p>Today he called a glow because his current Latin professor wrote a 25 page list of things he noticed about the first line of the Aeneid. It was really cute.</p>

[marite]

<p>

Then it stands to reason that Latin V is pronounced like a modern V and not like W, because modern Romance languages all pronounce it like V (and sometimes in informal Spanish more like a B).

</p>

<p>Interesting. There is no V in ancient Greek; beta is used instead. Many Chinese tend to mix up V and W.</p>

[justmytwocents]

<p>It totally depends on your child’s teacher(s) how much of an oral component there will be to the instruction in the classroom.</p>

<p>I took Latin for six years (7th-12th grade). The teachers at my school used what they described as “the British Method” for teaching Latin along with a British textbook series published by the Cambridge University Press (called the Cambridge Latin Course - any other fans of Quintus Caecilius Iucundus out there? The books were originally published 40 years ago).</p>

<p>As part of this pedagogical approach, in the early years (probably first two-three years of instruction) our class en mass would have to repeat after our teacher as she declined or conjugated.</p>

<p>For example, she would say, “fama, famae, famae, famarum, famae, famis, famam, famas, fama, famis.” Then we would repeat, in unison, “fama, famae, famae, famarum, famae, famis, famam, famas, fama, famis.”</p>

<p>And so on.</p>

<p>Of course we also read Latin outloud and read our translations (homework assignments were always translating lines) outloud. </p>

<p><sidenote></sidenote></p>

<p>Granted this was in the late 1990s, when there were still two different AP exams in Latin (Lit and Vergil) and seems totally Lancastarian by today’s pedagogical developments However, as a rule, I think we enjoyed it. We had a number of students go on to major in the Classics in college and I know at least two people who I took classes with who are now getting graduate degrees in the Classics or a related field requiring knowledge of Latin (and/or ancient Greek which was an elective at my school which I thankfully did not take!) - a fairly significant thing given the size of the field.</p>

<p>All of that said, I do feel a responsibility to also point this out: though I also took two years of another language in HS (besides Latin), I was <em>woefully</em> ill-prepared to study a “spoken” language in college and to this day I have never overcome this tendency to be unable to “think” in another foreign language enough to engage in a serious conversation with a native speaker. I can initiate conversations and I can read and write in two other foreign (“spoken”) languages, but I still struggle with basic interactive language skills - and it’s not because I am shy or embarrassed! This could be totally unrelated to taking Latin - but I do wonder if I had taken six years of French instead if I would have struggled so much with picking up the spoken/verbalized components of the other new languages. </p>

<p>ALL that said, Latin is fantastic. I love it. I bet your daughter will too.</p>

[obsessedparent]

<p>My son is a Latin major at Oberlin and probably will teach latin at an independent school for a while. His older brother majored in Greek. Go figure. My son started Latin in 6th grade and went through AP latin in high school. He didn’t take it his first year at college but missed it miserably and took a summer refresher at U of Chicago to get back into the swing of it. He always has loved taking over the kitchen table with his translations.</p>

[mommusic]

<p>This thread makes me reallize why my S is a natural at Latin…he is better at writing/memorizing than speaking! He’s pretty taciturn in English, too.</p>

<p>Very little oral component here. As someone pointed out, reciting memorized verses is not the same as making up things to say/ask orally.</p>

<p>But it is an excellent language choice for learning roots, helpful on SAT verbal, and good if you take AP bio. :)</p>

[Little_Mother]

<p>I attended the old Girls’ Latin School in Boston and took four years of the language - I loved Latin because it was so predictable. In fact, my Latin SAT II score was the highest College Board score I had.</p>

<p>We even had Latin jokes like “sub ubi semper ubi” - always where (wear) under where (wear). ;)</p>

[beltrami]

<p>My daughter is taking Latin to fulfill her foreign language requirement in college. It’s perfect for her since she speaks slowly and deliberately; she’d be lost if she had to converse in a modern foreign language. Her professor is an excellent teacher and they’re using rather lively Latin texts - have you ever checked out the racy passages in Catullus? Latin is especially appropriate for her science major.</p>

[passthepotatoes]

<p>It is not accurate to say students will not encounter any oral component so this is a safe bet for students with auditory processing challenges. It depends on the teacher/professor and the program. Our son’s Latin courses (both high school and university) have involved quite a bit of conversation.</p>