Would I be able to study Latin?
(Of course, this question is always individual, but my experience here is that some people know about it and can also give good advice)
I have a problem: what do I study after high school? I'm currently in the thirteenth grade at a technical college because high school wasn't a good fit for me due to a variety of factors.
I took Latin in high school, and I hated it. Not because I thought the subject was stupid, but because I never studied, and there's a point where you don't need to start again. That's why I always got bad grades.
But I've always been interested in it, and I miss Latin so much. In my free time, I enjoy reading translations, watching documentaries, etc. I simply love it and regret not having realized it sooner.
I actually wanted to work at the tax office. A lot of things for the dual study program there have already been sorted out, and I also like tax matters and such. But I realized that school is actually great, and I've always enjoyed working with children and young people. So why not become a teacher? However, as I said, a lot of things have already been sorted out, but nothing has been signed yet.
I've been a bit involved in it, and my parents are totally against it because I was always so bad at Latin. They think a career as a civil servant at the tax office is awesome, but I don't know if it's something for me long-term. I love it, yes. But I don't want to do it my whole life.
Is this just a stupid thought of mine? Would I even be able to do it? I've heard from friends that it's incredibly difficult. But theoretically, you could do it without having taken Latin at school, right? Is it really that difficult?
I'm really scared of the future. The tax office seems like a secure future, but studying Latin is definitely not.
What do you say? Also regarding my parents?
(1 votes)
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You don’t just need to practice Latin for Latin as a teacher, but also to follow the Graecum if you didn’t have it at school. And that’ll make you a mistake. Latin may be feasible, but old Greek is still there??
And then you’ll have to have a two out of Latin. Choose a subject if you want to study it as a teacher and also the subject of education. Thus, a total of 3 subjects in the new Bachelor and Master’s degree course for High Schools. And as already mentioned – for Latin studies, the mastery of Graecum is a prerequisite.
In the course of Latin studies, everything is coarsely repeated. But many students fail to translate from German to Latin. Maybe you’ll talk to your parents again. I can tell you from my own experience that a vocational training is an immensely soothing “polster”, to which you can resort at any time. You go much more relaxed into the exams and then you may be more likely than if you are nervous and know how much depends on them.
As a parent of 2 children who both have studied what you want now, I can only tell you the one has failed (at least 14 points in Latin), because he has not remained constantly at the ball and is now happy after he has completed a training job. The other has become a teacher with a super master’s degree and very good referer-endariat and still hasn’t got a firm place directly. Only after 2 years as a PES teacher, he was taken to the school service.
So think about it. Although a profession should also be a vocation, what does your degree use as a teacher if you don’t get a (fixed) job. More and more federal states did not banish their teachers after the referenda. So I can understand your parents in a way.
Hello,
Latin is great, but labor intensive.
In your case, it would mean that you start again at zero – from now on. Take textbook and grammar, start at lesson 1, apply vocabulary and form tables until you can sleep, familiarize yourself with constructions and other appearances of the syntax and get as fast as possible original reading. Then translate, translate, translate and familiarize with Roman history and mythology.
For entry into the original reading This book series, one of them here as an example:
Other
There you will find clauses for the Latinum with translations and explanations of how the translations were made.
In any case, a proper grammar and a dictionary like the Stowasser.
Theoretically it is possible to create it within three months from zero to Latinum. This is not recommended, however, because this is only a paukerei and in the end nothing remains. This must also be digested – and that takes time.
Take one to two hours a day to Latinize and see how far you get with it. Above all, apply the most important vocabulary (Nomen with Genitiv Singular and Genus, verbs with stem shapes), plus the shape tables that you really have to master in sleep. Without a secure recognition of the forms, no recognition of the sentence structure, because Latin has a very free word position. In the original reading it is almost standard that associated words do not stand next to each other, especially in poetry.
Learn about the most important Latin authors and their time to understand the lyrics, learn the vocabulary not only Latin-German, but also different. I don’t know if there are still feared style exercises in Latin, where you have to translate German texts into Latin without using a dictionary or grammar. Better be prepared. To be able to do this does not hurt – even if it should not be required.
Much success,
Willy
Many thanks for your answer, that helps me very much!
So you think the study is feasible? I hear so often the opposite.
Of course it’s possible. But as I said, with diligence and perseverance and above all joy and interest in this subject.
Well, a safe runway is not to be despised. What if you do this training first, in your free time, you are unfamiliar to the Latin and after three years or so you have a training and then – after you've done yourself in peace for Latin – you're thinking about changing to old philology? Taxation is not so contrary to you that you could not be friends with it at all. You wouldn't have any money, no stress with your parents, and after the completion of the training, definitely a leg. Latin can also be operated outside a study – I have been doing this for decades. I can give you the one or other tip about literature if I know how far your knowledge really is. Do you understand? Starting with the tax office does not mean giving up the Latin language. It's not either-Or. Conversely, you could not do the financial education next to your studies. You would have to work next to you to be able to do your studies; After completion of the study as a secondary teacher of course you also have an official's runway open to comfort for your parents.
If you decide to study, it was with the tax office.
If you decide for the tax office, Latin will remain you as a hobby (and the opportunity to later give secondary education), or even after completion of the training, the change to the university (maybe with a corresponding financial pad and a solid knowledge base in the back).
Remember: For a teacher it is not enough to master his subject. He also has to maintain himself in the rough days of school. It can be over quickly with enthusiasm.
A financial officer who, after the end of the evening, dives into the world of a Cicero, a Sallust, a Sueton, a Seneca, an Ovid, a Horace, a Martial, a Petron, might even be envyed by some teachers.
By the way, Rubenbauer/Hofmann is the standard program for Latin studies. However, if you still get to one of Hermann Throm in the antiquariat, get the (also). With the Stowasser you also come very far in your studies, otherwise the New Georges is the (not quite cheap) dictionary of choice. The third volume offers German-Latin. To read you into a writer, Latin-German editions (must not be Tusculum, Reclam does's too) are recommended. The translations are of course not literal, but sapienti sat. It's always important. As long as your foundation is not secure (forms, basic vocabulary and the current constructions), it doesn't bring anything to a horace.
Caesar is still a good start because of its clear and shameless language and its manageable vocabulary.
On the other hand, why not start with Cornelius Nepos, 'De viris illustribus'?
He was very appreciated in the 19th century as a school author – and certainly not without reason.
By the way, there is also a cheap bilingual Reclam edition.
You don't get past Cicero, his Latin is still the gold standard. With his time, the end of the Republic, which was ultimately also its end, you should be busy anyway.
Remember: Before the time of book printing it was very complicated to write texts and to keep them from falling. Latin texts passed on from generation to generation for more than 2000 years are worth reading in the original. There's a lot to be lost in translation. You are immersed in a world that has shaped Europe, the front Orient and the northern Africa. A literature that goes from historiography to speeches in court, from subtle love poetry to defensive zodiacs, from philosophy, theology, mythology to scientific considerations, or shows the art of a caesar who disguises clever propaganda as sober and objective war reports, should also be made accessible to future generations for development and reflection.
I also think I could do that in any case. Most fears, however, prepare my parents. As I said, I know them and they wouldn’t support it either. I’m worried. Just because it’s really great with the tax office.
It is possible to study if you invest enough time and work.
Whether it is sensible and future-proof, it is of course a completely different question. And you should also answer this question for yourself.