Last benefit of a classical education......?

I think I can safely say that I didn't have a classical education, if ever there was any doubt!

When DH applied to Manchester University in the early 60s one of the requirements was a foreign language. He'd failed French 3 times with a worse mark each time but he'd passed Latin - and they accepted that as his qualification!

I think I could manage 3 and guess at a couple of others (and I never did any Latin)

Go to the top of the class, Ana! Any advance on one out of 12?

I know the answer to the first one, Elegran!

At the risk of upsetting anybody who might think we are having a "secret" conversation, jalima ja mogu govoriti samo češki

eirel I always did better at Latin to English than at English to Latin - if some of the Latin words made sense I could have a go at fill in the gaps, but when translating into Latin all the declensions and grammar had to be correct plus there was all the vocabulary.

Failed O level Latin 3 times. Nearest to a pass the second time!
Latin to English translation is, it seems, not the place for creative guessing!

Away, not asway.

Well, some of them, anyway. That education was asway back in the mists of time.

if you had a classical education, you will be able to answer the following questions:-

Which animal fed the twins Romulus and Remus?
What name did Octavian take when he became emperor?
Who could attend and vote in the forum?
How many tribunes were there at any one time?
Would a victorious Roman general expect to march his troops through the city in triumph?
Who is supposed to have said "Veni, vidi, vici" and in what circumstances?
What was different about the toga worn by underage Roman boys?
Which goddess was particularly venerated by the citizens of Athens?
What happened at Marathon?
How did Socrates die?
How was Archimedes said to have died?
Where was Helen the Queen of, before she was taken to Troy by Paris?

So, are you saying we did have a classical education Jalima? I've honestly never considered the question before...

I think a classical education is different to reading Classics at University.

Everything was about armies and Romans crossing rivers and fighting wars...
Oh yes, Gallia est omnis divisa in partis tris (as far as I remember!)

More enjoyable than Maths! but not as useful in the end.

wars, not wards!

Can we really claim to have had a 'classical education' if we only did three or four years of Latin at school?

Think I got 31% in my last Latin exam, gave it up after that.

I do think the text books had a lot to do with the reason I never got to grips with it. Everything was about armies and Romans crossing rivers and fighting wards...

It doesn't help a jot when trying to converse with DD's FIL.
Ja ne govore hrvatski

Galen, I can beat your 23%, I got 10% for O level maths!

That sounds about right,*Katek*. I think they all come from the Latin sedere. I've always been fascinated by etymology.

Yep, at the time a green Octavia ("my car is a green Skoda" -eternally useful )

Is that anything that do with your car being a Skoda daphne?

My newly discovered fluency in written Italian took me down another road. Italian for car seat is 'seggiolini' - does the medieval 'siege' for seat/chair (as in Siege Perilous in King Arthur) come from same root?

(This is what happens when I take things easy- head goes into overdrive!)

Feeling smug <ducks>
Latin,to Highers then a degree in French and German get me through many situations, but a few days in Prague feeling totally flummoxed at the language led me to a season of evening classes so that I could at least be polite and furthermore identify Gents and Ladies lavatories as necessary.
I could also say
moje auto je zelená skoda
which may or may not be of use to anybody

I know exactly what you mean Katka! I find I can read written Italian through having learned Latin! I also found it to be helpful when I studied law!
My father always used to tell a story that when he and my mother were on honeymoon they were staying in a small fishing village in Sardinia, the inhabitants did not speak any English nor French (which both parents were fluent in) however my father was able to chat to the local fisherman in the bar of an evening by speaking Latin and they replying in Italian!

I enjoyed Latin at school and found it very useful with the children who would sometimes ask me how a word was derived and I would be able to explain. It was useful for French too.

The mass of my childhood also had a short repeated verse "Kyrie eleison" which is Greek, I believe, for God have mercy. I'd sit through these masses bored stiff, not really listening, but years on I appreciate how much of it has stayed with me.