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In it for the literature | ||
Tags: Ancient Greek | United States | Literature | Esperanto | Latin | College/University | Introduction | Italian | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Members profiles |  | |
| dmaddock1 Senior Member United States Joined 5378 days ago 174 posts - 426 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Esperanto, Latin, Ancient Greek | Message 1 of 6 24 May 2010 at 9:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hello all. Since I've stuck with my language studies long enough to know it's not a passing fad (4 months so far), I thought it might be nice to put together a member profile. I've always been an introverted bookworm and autodidact. The past 5 years or so have been a self-learner's dream as universities have posted so much great audio and video lecture material. But since much of it is of the "freshman survey" variety, it occurred to me that I'd studied the equivalent of a couple bachelor's degrees this way. At the same time, I got a job which required a lot of international travel and really became aware of how ignorant I am of other cultures (though I consider myself well above the average American in that department). It hit me that languages are this vast uncharted territory for me that, while worth learning for their own sake, provide direct access to the best that other cultures have to offer. So, as this post's title says, my interest in other languages is as a means to access the literature of cultures of which I am ignorant as well as to deepen my knowledge of those of which I am familiar.
The most intriguing post I've read on HTLAL is this one by Dr. Arguelles wherein he describes his "ideal well-educated" person. This is exactly the approach I've taken to my own (non-language) studies.
This sounds daunting, but here he crunches the numbers and it certainly does seem like a reasonable lifetime goal for me. Taking his criteria as a baseline, I'd like to have some competence in (roughly ordered by interest): Greek (Ancient) Latin Esperanto French Italian Old/Mid. English German Russian Hebrew Spanish Chinese Notice that practicality isn't an important factor for me. ;-) I'm 4 months into Greek, a month into Esperanto, and loving it. Finally, a big thanks to all on HTLAL. I've picked up so much great information on how to go about my studies and reading about other's success is a real inspiration. Dave. Edited by Fasulye on 09 February 2013 at 6:23pm 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Smart Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5284 days ago 352 posts - 398 votes Speaks: Spanish, English*, Latin, French Studies: German | Message 2 of 6 26 May 2010 at 6:29am | IP Logged | ||
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Welcome.
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| dmaddock1 Senior Member United States Joined 5378 days ago 174 posts - 426 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Esperanto, Latin, Ancient Greek | Message 3 of 6 05 February 2013 at 4:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, it's been almost three years since I wrote the above. I don't post much on HTLAL anymore. Instead, the time I was spending here learning how to learn languages I now use for actually learning them. ;-) But I'm proud that I've earned more votes on the site than I have number of posts. Hopefully that means I've given back a little of the wisdom I've acquired here.
Here's some of what I've accomplished since I began back on 2010 as a monolingual American: Developed a reading proficiency in my top three languages: Greek, Latin, and Esperanto. Greek: I've read the entire gospel of John and various excerpts from the New Testament, Septuagint, and several classical authors in Greek. I feel pretty comfortable now reading from the GNT, partly because I'm familiar with the contents so new vocab isn't much of a hurdle. Esperanto: I've read about a dozen books in Esperanto, half of which have been "native" books--that is, not didactic content, but intended for a fluent audience. Efforts to find a community of speakers nearby were unsuccessful, but I know I could activate this language pretty quickly given an immersion situation. Maybe someday I'll attend a congress... Otherwise I don't spend any time "studying" Esperanto, just reading in it for enjoyment when I get the urge. Latin: The last year and a half I've spent on Latin. I took a two semester course using Wheelock, worked through Lingua Latina I, and have read some neo-Latin readers. Last summer I took a huge vacation in Italy and it was fun to use my Latin to read inscriptions, manuscript pages on display in museums, etc. Italian: In preparation for the trip I also worked on some Italian, which was fun to use. I consider myself at tourist/simple-conversation level. Going forward, this will be my first attempt to attain a "traditional" level of fluency in a modern language, which is a very different goal than I had in the above three. So, here's the plan for the next 5 years: Primary Goal: start tackling living languages, roughly following ProfArguelles' outline for Spanish French Italian German, though swapping the order of Spanish and Italian. (1 hr daily min.) Secondary Goal: continue to improve my Latin by "swimming back to it through the centuries" (30m daily min.) Tertiary Goals: take a class on Philology (already lined up). Basic reading abilities in Old English and biblical Hebrew. (occasional) I'll let you know how I'm doing in 2016... d. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| renaissancemedi Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Greece Joined 4303 days ago 941 posts - 1309 votes Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew | Message 4 of 6 06 February 2013 at 10:50am | IP Logged | ||
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I was also tempted with the professor's ideas on these subjects, so I understand you. I am impressed with all the progress you've made, and I hope that you will keep posting, and not do it again next year (or in 2016!). Any way, classical education, humanism, Le siècle des Lumières and all that has always been my spiritual "home" .
Good work on your greek by the way. You've come long way for one year. When you started, were you a complete beginner in languages? That's what I understood. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| dmaddock1 Senior Member United States Joined 5378 days ago 174 posts - 426 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Esperanto, Latin, Ancient Greek | Message 5 of 6 11 May 2013 at 2:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks for the encouragement renaissancemedi. I only just saw your comment today, but I've been feeling discouraged recently and needed to hear that. I'm finding it surprisingly hard to stay focused on studying a big living language.
Yes, I was a complete beginner when I started Greek. Well, I had Spanish in high school, but learned just about nothing--the typical American educational experience! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| renaissancemedi Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Greece Joined 4303 days ago 941 posts - 1309 votes Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew | Message 6 of 6 12 May 2013 at 8:59am | IP Logged | ||
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I think most of us have wasted time and energy one way or another. I've been struggling with all of that myself. Useful and non useful (to me) languages, and how many they are. Ars longa vita brevis! I wouldn't have it any other way :)
I am a bit behind myself, for reasons unrelated to languages, but I know things will pick up. Maybe it's a normal cycle or something, and we shouldn't give it too much value. I hope. Edited by renaissancemedi on 12 May 2013 at 9:00am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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