Ancient Greek, anyone?

[Sappho]

So, in an attempt to further a classicist education, I was pondering learning Ancient Greek. It seems to be the last major thing missing in my repertoire and, being lucky, I'd have a good INTJ friend who'd be interested in taking it up also. (He regularly beats the hell out of me when translating Horace or Ovid, so the spirit would be quite competitive.)

Has anyone here studied the language? I'd be curious to hear what experiences you've made.

[username]

I did study a bit when i was in high school.
I remember studying in ancient greek the fascinating rapsodies: the Iliad of Homer and the Odessy of Homer.
But we had also a modern greek traslation of the text.

[Sappho]

I did study a bit when i was in high school.
I remember studying in ancient greek the fascinating rapsodies: the Iliad of Homer and the Odessy of Homer.
But we had also a modern greek traslation of the text.

What was your impression? Did you enjoy it? Since it's rather complex and systematic, I figured it could be a rewarding challenge for an INTP.

[username]

I did not study the mechanics of the language but only ancient texts in ancient greek language and the modern greek trsanslation of them.I like the way it sounds - i mean the ancient greek language. I am afraid thats all i know about it.

[ferrus]

My brother is studying classics at uni. I've always meant to do this eventually by stealing his books on the subject - and be able to say I've read the Republic in its original language - but recent years have inclined me more towards programming languages than natural languages, and I still feel my Latin needs a lot of work.

[Architect]

I did it for a year. It's a real jaw cracker, pronunciation was interesting but I don't recall the grammar being special. I had previously taken six years of Classical Latin which I preferred.

[Sappho]

My brother is studying classics at uni. I've always meant to do this eventually by stealing his books on the subject - and be able to say I've read the Republic in its original language - but recent years have inclined me more towards programming languages than natural languages, and I still feel my Latin needs a lot of work.

I did it for a year. It's a real jaw cracker, pronunciation was interesting but I don't recall the grammar being special. I had previously taken six years of Classical Latin which I preferred.

This calls for a "Post Your Favourite Latin Verses" thread.

[Architect]

This calls for a "Post Your Favourite Latin Verses" thread.

I've forgotten most of it by now unfortunately.

Reminds me of some friends. They wanted their kid to grow up speaking a foreign language - not sure why they considered that important - so sent him to a Spanish speaking school (he is white and also experienced some racism there for his troubles). So yeah, he picked it up, but after he moved on from the school they discovered they needed to keep him in classes so he wouldn't forget how to speak it. Oops ... now he's a slave to the language for the rest of his life.

[Sappho]

Oops ... now he's a slave to the language for the rest of his life.

I think people fret too much about forgetting what they've learned. Most people remember once they immerse themselves again, for instance by visiting a country in which the language is spoken.

...admittedly that wouldn't be an easy feat with Ancient Greek, though I am sure there are some philology geeks out there who are able to converse in it. My friend's Latin teacher used to speak Latin with his kids at the breakfast table. /jealous

[ferrus]

...admittedly that wouldn't be an easy feat with Ancient Greek, though I am sure there are some philology geeks out there who are able to converse in it. My friend's Latin teacher used to speak Latin with his kids at the breakfast table. /jealous

My dad has a friend who is a Latin master at a public school in Berkshire somewhere. I remember going to his birthday party as a somewhat small child where there was a whole collection of Latin educators which involved drinking wine in a living room and speaking Latin to each other with increasing volume.