Трошкова Н. В. The advantages of studying Latin and Greek (Преимущества изучения
древнегреческого и латинского языков) // Современное языковое образование:
инновации, проблемы, решения: Сборник научных трудов. Выпуск 5. 2016 / Отв. ред.
О. А. Чекун. – Москва: МПГУ, 2016. – 86 с. - С. 74 - 78.
N. V. Troshkova
Moscow State Pedagogical University
THE ADVANTAGES OF STUDYING GREEK AND LATIN
Abstract: This article is devoted to the advantages of studying Latin and Greek.
The main purpose of this article is to refute a common misconception about
their uselessness. There are classified various arguments demonstrating the
advantages and the great importance of studying classical languages.
Key Words: educational value, Latin, Greek, classical languages, ancient
languages, classical education, education, foreign languages, the classics.
Н. В. Трошкова
Московский Педагогический Государственный Университет
ПРЕИМУЩЕСТВА ИЗУЧЕНИЯ ДРЕВНЕГРЕЧЕСКОГО
И ЛАТИНСКОГО ЯЗЫКОВ
Аннотация: Статья посвящена преимуществам и образовательному
значению классических языков, греческого и латинского. Приводятся
различные доводы в пользу их изучения, предлагается их классификация.
Ключевые слова: образовательное значение, греческий язык, латинский
язык, древнегреческий язык, латынь, классические языки, древние языки,
классическое образование, образование, преподавание, иностранные
языки.
The study of Greek and Latin isn’t popular in modern society, though they
were the required languages at schools and universities until the early 20th
century. Today we can find not a lot of educational institutions, offering
classical languages, especially in Russia. In the late 20th century began the
world movement for the revival of classical education, a major component of
which is the study of two ancient languages or at least Latin. As a result, the
number of schools with instruction of ancient languages has been rapidly
increasing [11].
The importance of these languages is caused by the combined educational
effect that they provide, which no longer has any educational subject. In this
essay we will examine the advantages of study Greek and Latin in order to
change a popular misconception of the uselessness and the obsolescence of these
subjects.
From the 19th century and to the present time many authors have written
about their educational value, insisting on teaching them in schools. The most
famous among them are F. F. Zelinsky [2], K. A. Tyuleliev [7], A. V. Podosinov
[6], N. L. Katzman [4], J. A. Shichalin [8; 9] - in Russia, D. L. Sayers [13], M.
Breal [1], C. A. Perrin [12] - overseas. Through the analysis of their works the
reasons for studying ancient languages can be classified into three general
groups: practical, cultural and educational ones. Practical reasons represent the
concrete utilitarian benefits and skills, while educational ones are connected
with personal development and cultural are concerned with the human level of
general culture.
First consider the practical reasons, which Tyuleliev also called the
material or utilitarian [7] and what A. Perrin called “a very good investment”
[12].To this group we can refer the linguistic, scientific, cultural, religious and
literary ones.
It is commonly known, what an important role have played Latin and
Greek in the formation of the modern European languages. It concerns not only
the Romance languages, which are also called the Latin languages, because they
are almost entirely evolved from Latin, but also other languages e.g. Russian,
German and English, which had borrowed from Greek and Latin the most part
of their vocabulary. So, mastering classical words one is increasing his
vocabulary in all European languages. Moreover, it improves literacy,
orthography and style in the mother tongue. Many dictionary words that we
have to memorize can be easily verified through Latin and Greek wordsancestors [5]. Zelinskiy wrote that Latin reveals the student the anatomy of
language, while the Greek – chemistry and they both explain him the pattern of
language in general [2].
The terminology of all the sciences is based on Greek and Latin and is
being constantly replenished by them. At the same time, the acquirement of
terminology is the foundation of mastering a profession. Furthermore, no serious
research in history, philosophy and literature is possible without studying the
sources, most of which is written in these two languages. The same is true to the
study of religious texts, because these are the main languages of Christendom.
The cultural reasons are caused by the rich heritage of antiquity. Classical
languages introduce us to the European and universal values. Through reading
ancient books we are joining to the Great Conversation as it is called by a
famous philosopher Mortimer Adler, who counted 102 great ideas in them [10].
It is impossible to understand all the subsequent literature without knowing
ancient literature. For example, the Russian Silver Age literature is full of
allusions to it. Knowledge of ancient languages greatly develops erudition. In
addition there are a lot of established Latin expressions and idioms, which must
know every educated person.
The last group of educational reasons is the most important and can be
divided into developmental and educative ones. Tyuleliev posits them as
“formal”, whereas they are responsible for "the formation of the mind", that is
the mental and intellectual development [7]. He writes, “If one even completely
forget the Latin language, which he studied in gymnasium, then after all the
benefit that he got from it for his mind, will remain with him forever” [7].
Dorothy Sayers considered Latin and Greek to be the “tools of learning”, which
are relevant to all the three stages of learning, that she calls grammar stage, logic
stage and rhetoric stage [13].
In the 19th century it was especially popular to use the classical languages
for the so-called "gymnastics of the mind". Zelinsky believed that their
educational peculiarity depends on their language structure and on the method of
mastering them, which are quite different from those in other languages. They
demand more efforts while mastering them, because they can be studied only
through the “method of apperception”, on the contrary, the modern language
study predominantly uses the “method of assimilation”. Classical languages
“provide more food to the mind” because of the clarity of their structure on all
the levels: phonetics, morphology, syntax. That promotes the mastery of
causality. He thought their grammar to be “the first experience of logic” [2].
Observations over the language prepare for any scientific work, develop
diligence, attentiveness and analytical thinking. Through the reading the classics
are inspired ethical and moral principles.
The majority of prominent people of the past in any field were classicallyeducated and studied ancient languages such as a chemist D. I. Mendeleev,
historian S. M. Solovjev and his son philosopher V. S. Solovjev, physicist
Newton, F. Engels and K. Marx, Lenin and Stalin, A. Lincoln, J. R. R. Tolkien,
A. Hamilton, Einstein, Bohr, Fermi, Pushkin, Lomonosov, Tolstoj,
Dostoevsky... this list is uncountable. The great Czech educator John Amos
Comenius published in 1658 the first illustrated Latin textbook and
encyclopedia for children "The Visible World in Pictures" (“Orbis sensualium
pictus”), that was popular for centuries.
Nowadays as in the past ancient languages are required for admission to
several European universities. Some employers are willing to employ only
classically educated people in key positions. The noted oil man Jean Paul Getty,
considered to be one of the richest men in the 20th century, appreciated the
knowledge of ancient languages to be more valuable than a degree of an MBA
[14]. The same applies to the scientific community. Noted German chemistry
professor and scientist Bauer preferred only classically or “scientifically”
educated students. He said [12], “Give me a student who has been taught his
Latin Grammar and I will answer for his Chemistry.”
In many countries and especially in Great Britain the mastery of these
languages is a sign of a good education and it is highly valued. For example, the
head of the British Secret Service, Jonathan Evans and the Mayor of London,
Boris Johnson, both received a classical education [9].
As one of the Renaissance authors compares [1], “the disciples trying only
to learn ancient languages unnoticed absorb the great and noble ideas, just as the
people walking in the sun, imperceptibly for themselves receive health and
color”. Thus it can be concluded that the study of the Greek and Latin languages
is of great educational, developmental and cultural significance for modern
humankind.
REFERENCES
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Тип. А. И. Мамонтова и Ко. - 1892.
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выпускных классов С.-Петербургских гимназий и реальных училищ
весной 1903 г. Изд. 3-е. - СПб.: Типография М. М. Стасюлевича. - 1911.
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http://strana-oz.ru/2012/4/komu-i-dlya-chego-nuzhny-klassicheskie-gimnazii
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11. Duin J. Classical Schools Put Plato over IPad. - URL:
http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2013/06/21/classical-schools-put-platoover-ipad (дата обращения: 20.02.2016).
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