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Dead Languages & Polyglottery

 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots Post Reply
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Sinfonia
Senior Member
Wales
Joined 6745 days ago
255 posts - 261 votes 
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 73 of 115
27 July 2006 at 7:50am | IP Logged 
Andy E wrote:

Now while you might regard Ardaschir's statements on this as patently "silly" - that's your opinion and therefore a point of view that is no more objective than his.


Thanks for pointing that out, Andy. Except I demonstrated in an earlier post that Ardaschir's quote didn't make logical sense.

Andy E wrote:

I've always regarded Ardaschir's style of language as "well-educated" rather than "pompous" and his posts have invariably been an enjoyable and informative read.


That's your opinion, of course.

For goodness' sake, I'm only talking about one thread and a few posts of his that I read! I didn't criticise *the man*; I said his claim was 'silly/daft' (after demonstrating the illogicality), and that his writing style (in that one thread) struck me as 'a bit pompous at times'. Anyone would think I'd beaten him with sticks and burnt his house down!




[/QUOTE]
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lady_skywalker
Triglot
Senior Member
Netherlands
aspiringpolyglotblog
Joined 6891 days ago
909 posts - 942 votes 
Speaks: Spanish, English*, Mandarin
Studies: Japanese, French, Dutch, Italian

 
 Message 74 of 115
27 July 2006 at 8:05am | IP Logged 
I think we can all agree to disagree as we all have our opinions on the subject. While I would be interested in learning Ancient Greek or Latin in the future for my own interest and benefit, I agree that learning either of these is *not* a prerequisite for being a polyglot. As a polyglot is someone who is well-acquainted with or fluent in several languages (depending on one's definition of a polyglot), should it matter which languages that person should be fluent in?

I don't want to drag this into one of those debates of whether or not someone can be classed as a polyglot if they're only familiar with one or two language families. All I want to say is that whether one chooses to add an ancient language to their repertoire or not is entirely up to the individual. I personally don't feel an ancient language will make a person more of a polyglot so I can certainly understand Sinfonia's line of argument. His point was a valid one and should not be seen as a personal attack on Ardaschir as I'm pretty sure it was not intended to be one. Disagreements are naturally bound to arise in a *discussion* forum after all. :)
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Sinfonia
Senior Member
Wales
Joined 6745 days ago
255 posts - 261 votes 
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 75 of 115
27 July 2006 at 12:12pm | IP Logged 
lady_skywalker wrote:
I personally don't feel an ancient language will make a person more of a polyglot so I can certainly understand Sinfonia's line of argument. His point was a valid one and should not be seen as a personal attack on Ardaschir as I'm pretty sure it was not intended to be one. Disagreements are naturally bound to arise in a *discussion* forum after all. :)


Thanks for bringing a bit of sanity back into the proceedings, LS! I personally think you (and several other contributors) have at least as many interesting things to say about language and languages as Ardaschir, even if Malcolm doesn't :-)
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Journeyer
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
tristan85.blogspot.c
Joined 6869 days ago
946 posts - 1110 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish, German
Studies: Sign Language

 
 Message 76 of 115
27 July 2006 at 3:02pm | IP Logged 
I'm sure Malcolm recognizes this. I agree with your line of reasoning, Sinfonia (although I personally do plan on learning a few dead languges, even if only just for fun :D), but I also understand Malcolm's wanting to look out for Ardaschir on the forum. Of course, many people have been making comments of value here and are certainly worth listening to, as you've pointed out. In other words, I think you both have made valid points here.
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Sinfonia
Senior Member
Wales
Joined 6745 days ago
255 posts - 261 votes 
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 77 of 115
27 July 2006 at 3:27pm | IP Logged 
Journeyer wrote:
I'm sure Malcolm recognizes this. I agree with your line of reasoning, Sinfonia (although I personally do plan on learning a few dead languges, even if only just for fun :D), but I also understand Malcolm's wanting to look out for Ardaschir on the forum. Of course, many people have been making comments of value here and are certainly worth listening to, as you've pointed out. In other words, I think you both have made valid points here.


I agree. As I've mentioned to you before, I think the moderation on this forum is unnecessarily strict overall, but on the other hand it's nice not to have trolls and other idiots destroying threads. Which is not what I had in mind when I said those 'bad' things about Ardaschir's comments!

In any case, I'm pretty sure Ardaschir's more than capable of defending his own corner himself. I think he's staying away because he's got other more pressing things to do, or maybe he realised that after a while you start repeating yourself on any forum. I doubt he'd stay away, as Malcolm said, because of anything I had to say LOL
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Journeyer
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
tristan85.blogspot.c
Joined 6869 days ago
946 posts - 1110 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish, German
Studies: Sign Language

 
 Message 78 of 115
27 July 2006 at 3:39pm | IP Logged 
Sinfonia wrote:
...after a while you start repeating yourself on any forum.


That's a shame. I like to think there's always something new to add. =) In theory, there should be, right?
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frenkeld
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 6944 days ago
2042 posts - 2719 votes 
Speaks: Russian*, English
Studies: German

 
 Message 79 of 115
27 July 2006 at 4:11pm | IP Logged 
Sinfonia wrote:
In any case, I'm pretty sure Ardaschir's more than capable of defending his own corner himself.


It's not all that easy to "defend" oneself against a remark that one's writing is 'pompous at times'.

My "vote" is, let's tone it down a bit.

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Sinfonia
Senior Member
Wales
Joined 6745 days ago
255 posts - 261 votes 
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 80 of 115
27 July 2006 at 5:57pm | IP Logged 
Journeyer wrote:
Sinfonia wrote:
...after a while you start repeating yourself on any forum.


That's a shame. I like to think there's always something new to add. =) In theory, there should be, right?


frenkeld wrote:
Sinfonia wrote:
In any case, I'm pretty sure Ardaschir's more than capable of defending his own corner himself.


It's not all that easy to "defend" oneself against a remark that one's writing is 'pompous at times'.

My "vote" is, let's tone it down a bit.


As you can see, I'm already repeating myself. Look, I don't *know* Ardaschir, so I wouldn't presume to pass comment on him as a person. However, I *can* read, and form opinions based on that reading. Anyone who lists their 'name' on an amateur messageboard as "Dr." something or other is setting himself up as some kind of big cheese. For that person to then say things like, and I quote:

Ardaschir wrote:

"I have brought up the issue of "dead" languages from time to time, but apart from this, I do not believe there has been a single mention of the concept. I really wonder why that is, and I honestly fear that it is almost negligent on the part of those interested in a polyglot forum."

"Well, my main point is that becoming a polyglot does not simply happen."

"a knowledge of ancestral "dead" languages such as Latin, Old Norse, or Sanskrit is an integral and essential ingredient of polyglottery."

"The reason I am writing my book, and the reason I am contributing here, is because there is a lot of advice that I would love to offer younger would-be polyglots so that they can benefit from my experience"


Well, I can't speak for others, but I grew up believing that modesty and humility were virtues. You don't go around boasting that you've got a PhD, or that you were majestically giving the little people the benefit of a few crumbs of wisdom brushed from your Great Table.

Those that do, strike me as somewhat pretentious. I'm sorry if that offends American (or Germanic) sensibilities on these boards, but life's too short to sit typing responses to all those who don't like the idea of a forum where you can say someone's edicts are 'daft' or 'a bit pompous at times', let alone drive a cart and horses through some of their 'facts'.

Goodnight, Vienna.




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