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How did people learn Latin in Europe? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| tritone Senior Member United States reflectionsinpo Joined 6121 days ago 246 posts - 385 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Portuguese, French | Message 1 of 36 26 February 2011 at 12:33am | IP Logged | ||
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...in the early middle ages - considering that most people spoke dialects that were not yet standardized written languages? With no textbooks or dictionaries in their mother tongue, how did people go about learning latin?
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| jazzboy.bebop Senior Member Norway norwegianthroughnove Joined 5419 days ago 439 posts - 800 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Norwegian | Message 2 of 36 26 February 2011 at 1:08am | IP Logged | ||
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Probably just from scholars and monks. I think that at that time, the Bible was mainly
available in Latin so monks would learn the kind of Latin used in the Bible and keep teaching that same version of Latin to those interested in Bible study or apprentice monks throughout the generations. However, many secular Roman works were studied without being translated from their original Latin, so scholars would have taught other scholars throughout the generations to be able to read these works and to be able to write their own. Edited by jazzboy.bebop on 26 February 2011 at 1:09am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| psy88 Senior Member United States Joined 5592 days ago 469 posts - 882 votes Studies: Spanish*, Japanese, Latin, French | Message 3 of 36 26 February 2011 at 1:21am | IP Logged | ||
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The majority of the people were illiterate. The monasteries preserved Latin for Church work and official documents. Latin was the common language that, in theory, would allow the kings, ecclesiastical leaders, and nobility from one country to communicate with those from another. How well did they master Latin? Keep in mind that at one point a battle of words raged between an Emperor and a Pope. The Pope sent a letter in Latin attacking the Emperor. The Emperor responded in Latin suggesting that the Pope improve both his morals and his Latin.
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| tritone Senior Member United States reflectionsinpo Joined 6121 days ago 246 posts - 385 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Portuguese, French | Message 4 of 36 26 February 2011 at 1:24am | IP Logged | ||
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But monks and scholars are regular people too.. How would they learn latin?
Imagine you're an illiterate european in the early middle ages, and you speak one of the myriad nameless dialects, how would you go about learning a dead language? Latin was the lingua franca at the time, and it was commonly know by the religious/scholarly people throughout europe. So what was the process for learning latin? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Marc Frisch Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6666 days ago 1001 posts - 1169 votes Speaks: German*, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Persian, Tamil | Message 5 of 36 26 February 2011 at 1:25am | IP Logged | ||
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I'd venture a guess and say that people were taught by others who already knew the language.
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| jazzboy.bebop Senior Member Norway norwegianthroughnove Joined 5419 days ago 439 posts - 800 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Norwegian | Message 6 of 36 26 February 2011 at 1:31am | IP Logged | ||
Because there was never a time when there wasn't someone who knew Latin and was teaching it. When the Bible was initially translated into Latin, the monks would continue teaching others in Latin and it just never stopped. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| lingoleng Senior Member Germany Joined 5299 days ago 605 posts - 1290 votes | Message 7 of 36 26 February 2011 at 1:39am | IP Logged | ||
The Wikipedia article about the grammarian Priscianus gives some hints. Edited by lingoleng on 26 February 2011 at 1:40am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tritone Senior Member United States reflectionsinpo Joined 6121 days ago 246 posts - 385 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Portuguese, French | Message 8 of 36 26 February 2011 at 1:42am | IP Logged | ||
off topic: I just realized something...what does it even mean to be "illiterate" if you speak a language that has never been written before? It wouldn't make sense...the concept of illiteracy wouldn't even exist. So just how were europeans 'illiterate' if they didn't speak a language that had a written tradition? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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