Latin is in the languages list!
It has a flag. It has a description. It's 90% complete. It's due for mid September.
It's Latin! I love the flag choice (except that I would've chosen a gold background with the red leaves). That is an amazing description too!
Thank you, Latin-team! We all appreciate this!
257 Comments
If someone from the Latin team reads this: Please mark long vowels like they did in the High Valyrian course (ā or â). You can accept answers without them but it's so important that you mark them.
For many people who are serious about the language this is essential and otherwise the course would not be very useful to us.
Grātiās agō
Without them we'd have to learn every single word and ending from a different resource than Duolingo. But we would like to learn Latin the Duolingo way! :)
If you agree: https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/33618227
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They can be the difference of what the meaning is, so they are very important.
That's incredible! I will definitely devote quite a bit of effort to this course. I hope that it uses reconstructed ancient pronunciation!
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And the meaning, it’s the difference between nominative and ablative sometimes.
I definitely disagree. You never need the macrons; they are just a crutch to try and help people but you will never encounter them when reading an original text or inscription. I have never used them and I know they have their fans but I think the context should give the meaning of the sentence/phrase when the form is ambiguous.
When reading aloud you definitely need to know which vowels are long, and which ones are short. Macrons are essential for beginners, and duo is a tool for beginners.
you always need macrons if you don't already know which vowels are long and which are not. and well, you need to learn it first to know it, and macrons a great help with this besides good audio recordings. and it is not so much about distinguishing different forms but about valuing the nature of the language.
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Shane, you're absolutely right. The Romans did not use macrons. They were added much later and only serve to confuse, rather than help.
romans did not use macrons, they used apexes that served the same function. but it doesn't even matter what romans did in this case, because they had all the information, that we want to acquire, in their heads. and how you get confused by macrons is beyond me.
- 895
They did not use apexes in the same sense as macrons. They are crutches, mostly added by German 'scholars' . Most macrons, other than the line over the ablative 'a', serve to instruct on pronunciation, which is all speculation. Even when Ovid used Dactylic Hexameter, he didn't use macrons. We added them to help with meter.
I don't think this is necessary since Latin is not a spoken language anymore. When translating or reading you will not encounter these signs and you have to get used to finding the differences from the context. Furthermore, we cannot be completely sure how Latin was pronounced in ancient Rome. Latin does not have a standard pronunciation anymore, for example it is also pronounced differently at a school in Germany than at one in England. I have been studying Latin for six years now and you really only need them when reading a poem and when you need them you can still use a dictionary for those few words. PD: ago has a short o
Since you tried to correct me, I have to correct you. Agō originally had a long ō which later was shortened.
I hope you can respect that some other people want to know that kind of thing that you have to look up. If you can agree about that then you should understand that it is nearly pointless to use a resource without them to learn the language because you'd have to learn all words and forms again later (like you would have to if you started to care about linguistics).
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Ago never had a macron over the 'o' until long after the Empire fell. I don't understand the next paragraph. Could you please clarify.
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Yes, hold my beer. Kudos Latin team!!! Just a word of warning for the general public -- don't hold your breath for a mid-September release. I remember following the development of the Swedish course with much anticipation, and even after it had reached 100% it took months and months before it was released in beta.
EDIT: Oh my goodness, I was wrong, wrong wrong! They actually got it out today in beta, and it's still August (2019)! The tree is really, really short though. Anyway, Kudos to the Latin team!!!
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And the Vatican uses it, right? So it isn't dead when one thinks about it deeply. I am looking forward to this one!
the definition of a dead language is a language that is not spoken as a native language of any community when I searched it up and straight away it gave the example of latin but I guess so lol. I mean I won't really use it but I'm sure lots of other people will enjoy it. have some lingots
So High Valyrian, Klingon & Esperanto are also "dead languages" by that definition.
I don't think the pope is fluent in Latin. He has it translated, too. But speaking Latin passively is all you need, you can read so many ancient documents then, it is great.
Tony Stark and Pepper Potts were discussing that you can read and write Latin but you can't speak it in Iron Man 2. Then out of nowhere, Natalie Rushman(aka Black Widow)appeared and y'all know what happened...
They would say that.. Duolingo is a latin derivation. Nota bene: so is derivation. Ad infinitum
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This is going to be fun. Even passive knowledge of this language gives you so many insights in the European languages. I am going to make time for Latin.
100% agree. Learning Latin first has made learning Spanish a breeze; every Romance language is just simplified Latin with a few changes.
I started out in Latin in my first year of high school, but changed courses mid year. You almost make me regret that decision
Do not be so hard on yourself! My native Spanish language helps me a lot understanding some inscriptions in Latin. I can follow along a written article in almost any romantic language I have yet encountered. When it counts to pronunciation that's a different matter. I find Italian very easy to follow...also Portuguese from Brazil, French is a little harder but not so difficult. You didn't state what language you switched to....but if you picked any of the romantic languages, you will be all right! ¡Buena Suerte!
It's exciting to see Latin among the other languages here, but I'm dreading that it will also look as cheap as Hawaiian and Navajo trees :-/
I still think they should be done well before release. Imagine if they released Haitian Creole or Yiddish years ago. We could have courses with only basic greetings for years.
Would you explain please what the reference to "trees" mean? I am pretty new to Duolingo. Thank you.
Amarinthim, the tree is the course from start to finish- it's not very like a tree, really, more like a long, straggly vine. As you progress, you climb along it. You could think of the different activities as leaves. That's what it seems to mean.
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@experaguiar: not only does PotatoSanta take time to do what they love, learn languages, they take time to share their expertise on the forums with the rest of the world.
@experaguiar How do you know how long he's been on duolingo? How do you know how fast he learns? If he spends a few hours a day for a few years on duolingo he could certainly get that many levels, it all depends on different factors. How can you be wasting your time judging someone on how they spend their Freetime? Do you even have a life?
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I’m dreading that it will also look as cheap as Hawaiian and Navajo trees
I’m doing the Hawaiian tree and I don’t think it’s cheap. I’m enjoying it. Sure, the notes can be expanded a lot more and some of the lessons improved but I think I am building a good foundation as I am going slowly through the course.
The good thing about releasing a short tree first and then expanding it later is that feedback from the short tree can be used to improve the tree when it is expanded later on.
I would love more Hawaiian and Navajo! These languages need to be saved from extinguishing.
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I am really excited and can't wait for the course to be released. Thank you very much, dear Latin team! Lingua Latina non mortua est. :)
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Not sure about that -- I offered Duo a Latin noun and he just declined it...
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Second time in a few minutes you made me laugh chaered. Thanks and keep up the fun!
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Reaaally looking forward to do the course. I hope they use reconstructed pronunciation. For several reasons:
- It makes Latin easier to learn since there would be a very good correspondence between letters and sounds.
- It is the pronunciation of the classical period, the time of the standarisation of the language.
- Italian pronunciation is very anachronistic (um pronounced as /um/ but ae as /e/).
- Latin had as many regional pronunciations as countries (French, English, German, Spanish Latin pronunciations). Reconstructed pronunciation would be a more neutral choice.
- Not all of us are catholic and the Latin course should be religious-neutral (teaching both Roman and Catholic myths and rituals).
The real question is will it help me with my wingardium leviOsa? This feather has yet to levitate facepalm
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Pro tip: bring your mouth close to the feather, then say wingardium leviOsa. ;)
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I'm also really looking forward to it, and with sound it would be truly amazing!
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Meanwhile, I've been wondering whether there will be any audio at all! What are the odds that a Latin TTS even exists?...
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Yeah, and I really hope they will NOT use the reconstructed classical pronunciation, instead they should use Italian Latin, in my opinion. But I am afraid that I am quite alone with that wish. See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_regional_pronunciation
Why does it really matter whether reconstructed Classical or Italianate pronunciation is used in course? Why do people feel so strongly about this? Compared with the difficulty of actually learning Latin, it's trivially easy to make a few mental and vocal adjustments to suit one's own preference.
I am just glad and grateful that the course is nearly ready. Whichever pronunciation is taught, I'll use the Classical pronunciation because I associate Latin more with the Roman Empire than with the church (or with Italy for that matter). But everyone else is free to do as they see fit. To me, the controversy seems as senseless as the Big-Endians vs Little-Endians in Gulliver's Travels.
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I absolutely do not want the Italian pronounciation, and doubt very much I will learn it here if that's what they do. It's NOT the correct way to pronounce it. People should learn it the CORRECT way - reconstructed classical.
LOL, elsewhere you say "I don't know anything about Latin," and then you pontificate about correct and incorrect pronunciation?
We are allowed to have preferences, but the fact is that there are different ways to pronounce Latin. Reconstructed Classical pronunciation is appropriate for certain contexts. If I use Italianate pronunciation in most classrooms when reading Cicero, it will not be accepted.
Italiante pronunciate is better for other contexts. Latin is still a living language in a sense, and the people who live and breath it in part of their lives mostly use the Italianate pronunciation. Singers of Bach, Palestrina, etc, etc, generally use Italianate pronunciation too.
Again, you are allowed to have preferences, but it's simply not true to say there's only one "correct" way to pronounce Latin when the fact is that it's pronounced differently by knowledgeable people.
Should Arabic be pronounced classical/Quranic? MSA? Egyptian? Maghrebi? None of those is incorrect.
British English, or American, or Australian, or Indian? None of them is incorrect.
Spanish or Latin American? Neither is incorrect.
Beijing dialect of Mandarin with "er hua" or Southern style without? Neither is incorrect.
I could go on, but I think the point is made very clearly.
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And then some of us have no interest in spoken Latin at all. I'd only be learning it for reading purposes.
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The singers of Bach use all sorts of pronunciation: Indian German, Korean German, Italian German, Spanish German, French German... Moi, I prefer the German German variety.
I was referring to singing Bach in Latin. (He wrote a lot of music for German too of course). Anyone who wrote a Mass, listen to the recording of the "Dona nobis pacem" (just to pick one example). It's almost always Italianate pronunciation.
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@stephen_zissou, I think babcia might have been implying that when singers (who have different ethnic heritages) sing Bach, they will inevitably add a touch of their native accent. Or perhaps babcia was implying that all Bach works in Latin are sung with the German Latin pronunciation? I would have to disagree with that. I've performed Bach with prominent conductors using Ecclesiastic (Italian) pronunciation.
I don't know why you're getting a downvote for a legitimate opinion.
There are arguments for "reconstructed" pronunciation, but there is a great argument for Italianate pronunciation: the extreme majority of people who use Latin daily, use the Italianate pronunciation. It is the pronunciation I use at Mass, to pray the rosary, to pray the Office; it's what I hear on Vatican radio, etc, etc.
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I don't care if they use it at mass, and if the most people use it....it's NOT the correct pronounciation, and that's what matters most. Going with what's popular instead of what's correct is stupid in my opinion.
When it comes to pronunciation of a language, "popular" is correct. If people use a certain pronunciation, it is one of the correct ones. Reconstructed Classical is correct. Italianate is correct. Other styles are correct as well if they are in legitimate use (for example, in Spain they use a pronunciation similar to Italianate but with some understandable differences especially with consonants, like "v").
Who determines what a "correct" pronunciation is? What kind of imperialism is this? In this wonderful world, we are allowed to have diversity of pronunciation. Or do we have to choose between Swiss French and Parisian French and we can't allow both? Not to mention the African and other ways of pronouncing French?
You learn Spanish and French on Duolingo ... you should be very aware already that there can be multiple acceptable pronunciation systems for a language. Latin has been around for millenia and has been spoken over multiple continents ... there's no one single correct pronunciation.
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When it comes to pronunciation of a language, "popular" is correct. If people use a certain pronunciation, it is one of the correct ones.
If you read, for example, Classical Latin poets with ecclesiastical pronunciation, you'll lose out on some of the desired euphony and artistic value will be lost, much as if you were to read Chaucer using Modern English pronunciation.
Likewise, mediaeval Latin literature read with Classical pronunciation will lose something: this is mispronunciation.
'Correct' pronunciation is the pronunciation intended by the author.
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"What kind of imperialism is this?" -- Why, Imperium Romanum of course. They invented it. :-)
"When it comes to pronunciation of a language, "popular" is correct."
A good, valid argument, but not in some cases. In fact, even the word "pronunciation" is actually pronounced incorrectly most of the time. That doesn't make this "popular" pronunciation of this word correct, unless the written script adapts with it. This is why what's "popular" does not apply to the case of Latin, since it's an ancient language that has not evolved itself, but branched out into other languages. I would also argue that the ecclesiastical (Italian) pronunciation should be invalid as the default pronunciation, just like, say, the English pronunciation of any Latin would too be invalid for the same reasons: It's a different language's take on an ancient language's words. In the end, what matters is how the Romans described the sounds of their language, of which we of course don't have a 100 % correct overview, but based on the flows and rythms in poems and other such written art.
So writhe in what I say: C's are always /k/, and /tʃ/ doesn't exist in Latin!
FIGHT ME!
There is a book you might enjoy - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/142024.The_Far_Arena
In it there is a line that I am misquoting as I haven't read it in over 20 years. One of the characters is about to disclose that they found a Roman soldier that is now alive- and he says something to the effect of, "You know how in Latin class we all wished there was a living Roman behind the door that could speak the language and we would know how it sounded? That's the door."
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Popular is just popular, and often anything but correct. Some will always think of it as the bad money that drives out good.
And another! Be aware, some of the push for non-ecclesiastical pronunciation on here stems from anti-Catholic sentiment (whether conscious or not). But if it weren't for the role the Catholic Church played in keeping the Latin language alive, we wouldn't be having these discussions. In either case, it's still Latin and the course is something to be excited about.
I think it's fair to say the overwhelming majority of people are interested in Latin to read authors like Tacitus and not Aquinas..
I can assure you that the push for classical has nothing to do with religion. People know that eccesiastical latin is not authentic in it's pronunciation.
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I don't remember what w is in IPA, is it like the English dipthong /uʌ/ or just a /v/ ?
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As listed at/by ling.upenn.edu, the IPA W is just /w/: voiced labial-velar glide as in witch, /'kwʌɪ/ being one of the possible renditions of 'qui' (IMHO, more on the impossible side).
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Thanks for that explanation. I totally agree with you -- 'Kwʌɪ es in tʃelɪs: sanctɪfitʃetə' ? Really?
Because it takes a lot of effort to produce audio for a course that could be expanded upon in the future, it's better to go with the pronunciation that fits the best.
You too, are inexplicably getting downvoted?
Please only downvote comments that are irrelevant or abusive. Downvoting comments just because you disagree with them is cowardly.
Would anybody care to tell me the difference between the Italian and classical pronunciation? I'm quite curious!
MaxRadke Italian pronunciation (also called ecclesiastical pronunciation) pronounces the latin almost the same except it pronounces"v" as "v" instead of as "w" and it can use a "ch" sound for "c' in some instances.
MaxRadke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_regional_pronunciation
"Italian"; read ecclesiastical.
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I think a link to your wonderful How I'm preparing for the Latin course is apt.
⠀• Here's the course on the language list: Add a new course - Latin.
⠀⠀(If we scroll all the way down, we can find it listed as "Hatching".)
⠀• The incubator status report: Latin - Status Report.
⠀• Learn about the Latin course, meet the contributors
⠀⠀and get notified when the course is available ☞ Here.
Here's the Duolingo Latin Language Flag:
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 
【⦕Benediximus ad omnes!⦖】
And remember: Plenus venter non studet libenter... ;-)
My grandmother (which I love dearly and was an amazing woman) used to say this.
At the time I found it a weird phrase. (and disliked its truth. I still do...)
Now, I'm glad I've learned all of those phrases. Scientia potentia est.
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Finally! Maybe I'll stop painting Romanes eunt domus on the walls now!
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I used to be rather good in Latin when I was young - a long, long time ago :-). In any case, I am looking forward to dealing with this beautiful language again. Thanks to all the contributors and to duolingo.
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So what if it is a 'dead language' ? It can be fun too studing it :-) Carpe diem !
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I'm excited for this course too, but we know that....In the beginning, there will be errors and problems in the course. We've to be patient!
It's at least based off of it. No eagle or SPQR writings, but it's a very befitting design for DL.
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I have already pressed “notify me when Latin is available” ! I have waited ages for Latin! It’s my second favourite language and I can’t wait. The grammar is very hard, but that won’t deter me. Love the flag!
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Yes, I love French, although it’s not very interesting (to me). Italian and Latin are similar but not very. Just same as Italian and French. Latin is a tiny bit harder in some ways, but easier in others.
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I guess this will increase the total amount of Latin language learners a lot. Which is great.
I can't wait. My mom is making me learn Latin for High school. So this should be good.
I agree!!! I am taking latin in school and I cant wait for this to have latin too. I can learn latin faster!!! it is 94% complete.
im so excited! ive been checking up on the progress every week for the past six months or so and i just can't wait to learn it!
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Awesome! Hopefully in the future I'll be able to read older chronicles as they were intended.
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I took 2 years of Latin in high school in the 60's, I don't recall us using accent marks at all. As to pronunciation, that was back in the days before Vatican II when Catholic masses were still conducted in Latin and much of what the choir sung was was in Latin as well, so maybe I was already used to the pronunciation.
Our Latin teacher was also our Freshman English teacher, and he had a tendency to pronounce 'V' as 'W' even in English. When he was discussing Kipling, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi came out as Rickety-Tickety-Tawawi.
In my school book there were macrons in the vocabulary lists and grammar book. I didn't understand them then because we pronounced the non-marked vowels often long too. I doubt my teacher understood the theory about them.
The classical pronunciation of "v" was [w]. It only developed to a fricative later. Merging with /b/ between vowels like in Spanish and finally turning into [v] in most Romance languages.
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I can't wait. In my university every student had to learn it. I didn't realized at the time the value of that language. Honestly even the basics can improve your language learning effeciency. I do not know how how but it does.
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The etymology can help with related languages, of course - though native English speakers and speakers of Romance languages, especially those more literate, get a lot of that cognate bonus to start with. Otherwise, it works with any language really - the second one is easier because you get the basic idea of how to learn and what does and doesn't work for you.
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I took Latin in high school and quickly forgot most of it. What I did retain really helped me with many University classes, especially my legal studies. I look forward to relearning the this language.
I am very grateful to you, Latin-team! It's a hackneyed question, but what about pronunciation? And will there be audio at all?
would be fun with Old or Middle English. maybe langue d'oil (old French)
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That would be so good. Also Koine Greek would be good. In fact any ancient or extinct language would be amazing. Maybe someone could figure out how to teach something like ancient Assyrian...
Compared to Old English, Middle English is a piece of cake. You could learn it with online resources quite easily.
So that you could add another badge of a language in which you show no progress whatsoever? It's easy to pick up all the courses and you may even deceive yourself into thinking that you are actually learning a lot of languages.
Dear Wollishoff- That is a very big presumption to make. He's made no claims. He hasn't boasted. He hasn't been rude. Yes, it is easy to do as you've said above, but, not knowing anything of context, it's a rude comment. You don't have a clue how much or little effort has gone into anybody's 10 xp.
Fine day but my comment has nothing to do with it. It's what i actually think and it's reasonable.
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Yes, he couldn’t have learned much with all of them, but he hasn’t (I presume) stopped yet, so there’s no reason to think he won’t know much when he’s done.
A Romance language in France. Named after the early word for "yes" that unlike in the north is not a form of "oui",
The neighbouring and nearest relative of Catalan. Has many forms eg Gascon and Aranés spoken in the Vall d'Aran (where it's joint official language with Catalan and Spanish)
There are courses in most of the ancient languages people are mentioning, on Memrise.
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Thank you 'ChevyBarnes05' for the heads-up... however I'd have preferred an eagle on the flag... well, you can't have everything from life... have a nice evening!
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How cool! I would love to learn! I am not aware of the vowel issue, because I don't know anything about Latin, but I trust those here who are saying they should be marked - it sounds very much like these people know what they're talking about, so I trust they're right, and hope Duo follows their advice.
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I was going to post something when I saw it, surprised it took people so long to find out. THanks for posting!
Excellent news. Almost finished Italian which will be good for holidays, but Latin will be useful in my work as a medievalist. Thanks!
I'm thrilled about this! I took Latin for two years in school but due to transferring, I will no longer be able to learn the language as my new school does not offer it. I look forward to this release, and I'm sure many others do as well!! :)
Gratiam Mangum!
Will the audio (if there is any) be in Classical or Ecclesiastical Latin?
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Looking forward to when the Latin tree is released. I learned Latin for a year in high school. Unfortunately, I have forgotten most of what I had learnt.
Oh my, Jupiter! I'm so excited! Latinam amō! My Latin is so rusty; I will finally have an out-of-the-classroom resource for Latin!
The flag is a red background with golden leaves because it is the flag of the SPQR (The government of the ancient Roman republic)
it is in the language list of learning. It is still hatching.94% complete!!!!!!!
ıt is great that they almost completed the course. I have been waiting for it for a year and now we are really close to it!
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I hope they Duo team updates other courses soon, like adding stories feature and some minor bug fixes
I can’t wait in fact I’m only doing other languages to bide time for the latine course
Now tell me, what's the point of talking words that are no more but only descendants?
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I hope the Duo team does not go down the holier than thou path when it comes to pronunciation. Nobody REALLY knows how the Romans pronounced Latin. There are clues, but nobody really knows. So why not use the pronunciations that will be useful in daily life? If we ever mention Cicero, we will call him Cicero, not Keekero. Didn't Caesar say 'Veni, Vidi, Vici, not Kayzar saying Weenie Weedie Weekie? When we sing the 'Dies Irae', don't we sing EERRAY, not IREYE? Let's use the common parlance and distance ourselves from the false snobbery that has isolated us and allowed the phony 'authorities' to alienate the entire language.
So there should be a different Latin course for the English-speaking, the French-speaking, the Italian-speaking, and so on, and so forth... not very practical. Better stick to the reconstructed pronunciation. It's not that hard to learn and it won't prevent you from saying seesayroe in everyday life. By "common parlance" I guess you mean whatever form of English is your mother tongue, not latin.
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You've proven my point. Who says 'seesayroe' in ANY language. And Latin's pronunciation in classical music is the SAME, NO MATTER WHAT THE NATIVE LANGUAGE. Please don't fall into the self-indulgent category of a classical scholar who wants to alienate all other students because they aren't as enlightened as you.
I totally miss the point of a Latin course on DL. You don't actually have to understand or speak Latin, no one does, all you need is the ability to read the writings of ancient auctors — if that's your thing. And for that purpose, the conventional latin grammar books are an infinitely better resource. I learned Latin and Greek at the uni for two years and i don't see how DL would fit into that training. Certainly not for improving my grammar or vocab. Listening and comprehension exercises make no sense in latin, we only have a vague idea of what the classical pronounciation was like. Also it's a joke how native English speakers say Latin words in movies, or in real life for that matter — the one and only exception is Mel Gibson's Passio, they did a hell of a research to make that movie authentic.
On the other hand, Latin grammar is very complex and is way beyond the scope of what DL has to offer — a few rudimentary side notes. If you are serious about classical languages — and very few are really — i'd say you can get much farther with the good old book method.
Willishoff, (and others)- You may be right, but I know someone in my family, on holiday in Europe, was able to speak Latin to someone that they didn't have another language in common with:-)
Remember that there are lots of learners out here who respond better to aural input. I'm not one of them, but there are people who will get the language more quickly because they learn better that way- and even if they don't end up speaking and listening to the language in real life, will still pick more of it up than via a book.
Society is training us to learn more the Duo way, and there are so many people who probably don't have a book in the house. Aren't the kind of people who want to learn Latin, the type with their own mini libraries anyway? Maybe, but almost definitely, a Latin Duo course will attract a completely different bunch of people to those traditionally drawn to it.
And for those not seeing the point in studying the language: as well as its literature and as a background to many other languages- such as Romanian, etc, it's a very useful language for anyone involved in branches of science- medicine, anatomy, birdlife, botany, etc. Studying a bit of even general Latin is going to help you make sense of so many of the scientific names for things, and a small knowledge of it can help you understand new English words that you aren't familiar with, but which have a Latin root.
I've done a good bit of one of the Memrise Latin courses, and it's been an incredible eye-opener, so even though I'm in no place to be reading Latin classics, it's made my understanding of English richer- definitely worth it.
And some people will be inspired by Duo to go on and buy the books and do the more serious learning- I've done that with two of my languages, and more will follow, so don't worry- it won't be completely pointless :-)
Thomasco3, it is https://www.memrise.com/course/203070/cambridge-latin-course-14/ which is mostly basic beginner level vocabulary. Even looking into it a very low level is inspiring, in my opinion.
It seems more difficult than the one I tried https://www.memrise.com/course/133130/learn-latin/ because I have to type in answers. This will serve as a good complement to the Duolingo course. Thank you!
@wozlif an extraordinary story indeed, i never in my life heard of people who actually wanted to converse in latin, even if they were classical philology majors. Anyways this is certainly not a valid use case, no sane person would pick up latin just in case.
For the masses whom you refer to, well Duo may attract some new recruits indeed, but i seriously doubt the youtube generation have the persistence to learn a classical language beyond very basic level. Latin is difficult and takes a lot of effort to be competent in it, and the potential benefit is also not easy to see for the average joe. Just look around in this discussion board, most dudes pick up a bunch of languages, occassionally revisit them, and get tired of them around level 5-8. Which is not even basic level. Just who the hell will read Xenophon today instead of an Avengers return vol. 158 comics?
As for the lack of books, most of the classical literature is now accessible online, along with good grammar resources. This is hardly an obstable.
Dear Wollishoff- Come on and have some hope! Now you have finally found some people who do want to speak in Latin!
I doubt that many will learn L with the pure intention of chatting away in it- but, if you combine the many varied reasons for learning it, it becomes very attractive.
I don't think you would class my language-learning reasons as sane. Quite the contrary. Never mind.
Very likely you are entirely right that most people will study to a very basic level, but that's ok, isn't it? As long as we're not claiming to be experts or showing off.
We don't know each other's circumstances, and a L7 that might represent not that much effort from one person, could be the result of hard work against the odds for another. We have guys on here fighting dementia, kids and teens learning, people working stupidly long hours, harassed parents, people with learning difficulties, depression, those who struggled with school but are trying to change things, probably refugees and people in war zones, etc etc.
The thing is that Duo can give a taste. I guarantee that there will be some teenager who goes for the Duo Latin when it's out, with no special plans or intentions, and ends up putting their life into it and finding it something that they are passionate about.
I bought my Xenephon- The Persian Expedition when I was late teens or early 20's. Would my friends have been interested? No. Did they all join me when, at the age of 7, I decided to learn the Latin names of the mammals in my country, plus plant names? Of course not, but never underestimate a kid or a teenager in their capacity to surprise you and take something seriously and work hard at the unexpected. Obviously, I was weird, but so are many people.
But I've never read the Avengers, whoever they are...
Reviving Latin? Ok, I guess, but what’s the use? I just do t get why so many want to learn a dead language...
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Doesn't everybody do Gregorian chants or daemonic incantations in the shower?
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Okay that's three times you made me LOL. I wish we could follow people in the forums, I could get my daily dose of laughs.
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And also it is the start of many languages, and if Klingon and High Valyrian are on here, why isn’t Latin. And who said Latin was dead....
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Latin is only dead in that there are no people for whom it is their initial language. That's probably true of Attic Greek as well, and a few other ancient languages. But it probably has more people who use it regularly than some other languages Duo covers.
And because Latin has formal declensions of nouns as well as conjugation of verbs, studying it probably makes one more aware of grammatical constructions.
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It's also useful because so much of its vocabulary influenced the lexicology of all the modern Romance languages.
Latin is hardly unique in that regard, all Slavic languages have complex declension systems, whilst Lithuanian is apparently as archaic as Latin itself in that regard.
I can't give a really convincing explanation for why I want to learn it. I have no practical need for it. There's just something very appealing about learning an 'eternal' language, from an empire that has had so much influence on European history and beyond.
Maybe it's a feeling of wanting to get back in touch with our roots in times of rapid change. When so many cultural products today are cheap and disposable, it lends even more gravity and aura to something that has endured for millennia and laid the foundations for so much of what we have today.
I know this isn't much of a rational argument for learning Latin on Duolingo :-). But still, I feel it.
Well there are fictional languages on here. At least Latin will have historical application. Medieval studies anyone?
