Dropping language requirements in study of classics

I have less than a rudimentary level of Latin comprehension. I would think, however, that at least a basic level of understanding of Latin would be necessary to be a classics major focusing on Roman history.

Part of the problem, of course, is that few high schools now offer instruction in either Latin or Ancient Greek. 
 

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“Classics majors at Princeton University will no longer be required to learn Greek or Latin in a push to create a more inclusive and equitable program, an effort that was given “new urgency” by the “events around race that occurred last summer.” Last month, faculty members approved changes to the Classics department, including eliminating the “classics” track, which required an intermediate proficiency in Greek or Latin to enter the concentration, according to Princeton Alumni Weekly. The requirement for students to take Greek or Latin was also removed.”

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/princeton-removes-greek-latin-requirement-for-classics-majors-to-combat-systemic-racism/

I once received an odd look from someone in a bookstore some years ago, when he saw that I intended to purchase several books on learning Latin. He assumed they were for a university course and was surprised - very surprised - when I told him I was buying them because I wanted to learn to read Latin, and was not taking any university courses. 

When he asked why I would do this if I didn't have to, I told him, "For fun. "

He went away, shaking his head, thinking I was a very strange person. 

I haven't made much progress in the years since then, but the books are still in my personal library, waiting for the time when I decide to get on with this. In the meantime, I was able to take a classical history course at the local college, and am definitely in agreement with the instructor's announcement on the first day: "History is FUN!" 

I suppose Latin is not fun if students are forced to take it. But I intend to have fun when I finally get around to working on it.

One of the best Latin courses available online is at Wondrium (formerly GreatCourses Plus). It is a great lecture course by Professor Mueller, consisting of 36 well-planned lectures.

Unfortunately, my brain has ossified. I need to be more than merely functional in Spanish at work and I need to speak Italian to my cousins in Italy. I found learning the ultimate Latin language just confused my speaking these two Latin-derived languages.

https://www.wondrium.com/latin-101-learning-a-classical-language

I've taken a quick look at the website and there are several topics that would be interesting (I got a bit sidetracked by the "sci-phi" course (science fiction and philosophy, which is very much on my mind these days due to the Dune movie coming out later this year).

I will look the Latin course over in more detail, as the drawback of learning from books is that it's not very helpful in teaching correct pronunciation.

Thank you for the recommendation! 

Are there any sources originally in Latin that have not yet been translated into other modern spoken languages? 🙂

On 8/9/2021 at 2:37 PM, Novosedoff said:

Are there any sources originally in Latin that have not yet been translated into other modern spoken languages? 🙂

I don’t think there are any untranslated and readable large Latin texts now available.

There are, however, many small fragments in both Greek and Latin that have not been translated. There are, for example, many papyrus fragments found in an ancient Egypt rubbish heap at Oxyrhynchus that are waiting to be translated. Much of these are in Greek, however.

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“Since 1898, academics have collated and transcribed over 5,000 documents from what were originally hundreds of boxes of papyrus fragments the size of large cornflakes. This is thought to represent only 1 to 2% of what is estimated to be at least half a million papyri still remaining to be conserved, transcribed, deciphered and catalogued. At the time of writing, the last published volume was Vol. LXXXV, released on December 2020.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxyrhynchus_Papyri

There also are still hundreds of carbonized, unopened scrolls found at the Villa of Papyri at Herculaneum that was devastated by Vesuvius in 79 AD. These might all be in Greek, however. The examined scrolls have been Greek texts on the subject of Epicurean Philosophy.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herculaneum_papyri

Of course, there will always be newly discovered statues and monuments that have previously-untranslated Latin inscriptions.

Try Lingua Latina per se Illustrata: Read, learn and understand Latin in a natural way.
Be aware that you already know a lot latin words or words from latin origin from your own language.
See http://www.lingvalatina.com/p/introduction-to-lingua-latina-per-se.html

A pointless waste of time if you ask me. Who are you gonna talk to? To dead folks? It's better to have spent the same time by learning a modern language, esp. if the language is widely spoken. 

51 minutes ago, Novosedoff said:

A pointless waste of time if you ask me. Who are you gonna talk to? To dead folks? It's better to have spent the same time by learning a modern language, esp. if the language is widely spoken. 

This seems an odd point of view on a Roman history forum. Doesn't participation here assume that we all have at least some interest in the Latin language?

I have a bilingual book of poetry where one side has the poem in Latin and the other side is in English. I want to learn to read Latin without needing translations.

As for who I would talk to... you never know when someone in a time machine will materialize in your living room and offer you the opportunity of a lifetime. I'd go.

And on that note, if anyone is a fan of both Stargate and I, Claudius, I found a fanfiction story that combines both. It's a good read.

I am sorry, I didn't mean to hurt or insult anyone. Just sharing my thoughts, which could be wrong sometimes.

10 hours ago, Valka D'Ur said:

As for who I would talk to... you never know when someone in a time machine will materialize in your living room and offer you the opportunity of a lifetime. I'd go.

Yeah, sure..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xJkaKAIl_Fc