You sound exactly like what my Latin teachers sounded like ![]()
I-I thought participles didnât inflect, Sir
Sir -
Sir there was no need to throw chalk
Thatâs why I said the exercise is a lot easier in Japanese ![]()
Speaking of which, time to start doing the exercise myself.
Out of interest, what sort of school did you go to that you learnt Latin? In England the âcomprehensive schoolsâ where 90pc of people study donât teach it.
I went to what I think is called a âgrammar schoolâ in English, although in the Netherlands we confusingly call it a âgymnasiumâ. In our country we have three main levels of high school education, depending on the kind of study you want to do. The one that prepares for university and scientific study is called âvwoâ (standing for pre-scientific education), and then âgymnasiumâ is a special kind of vwo where you learn Latin and Ancient Greek.
I had 6 years of Latin, but never did anything to learn vocabulary or study the conjugations. I was pretty good with a dictionary and guessing what sentences meant, so translating always went well. Greek I did 3 years, but I found it a lot more confusing.
Ah, yes, Iâve heard the Dutch education system described a little before. It seems to me that Latin teaching has decreased a lot in England over the last fifty years as weâve transitioned from a âgrammar / secondary modernâ paradigm which separated an academic and a practical education based on an exam at age 10; in those days grammar schools (which teach Latin) were much more common. Now we have a system in which the secondary moderns were greatly academised to turn them into âcomprehensivesâ and the grammars resultantly became much fewer, and the comprehensives didnât start teaching Latin. Ofc., Boris Johnson et. David Cameron et. al. were taught Latin at the ancient fee-paying schools of the elite.
There arenât many people who go to grammar schools here either, and in a certain way itâs perhaps more useful to learn German, French or Spanish. Itâs definitely also a thing of the elite, I had a lot of rich children in my class (not me though). I donât think our politics is as elitist as it is on the other side of the Channel, though.
Definitely you can earn more money, talk to more peopl etc. with a Romance language. Iâm not passing judgement on whether Latin should be taught. And yes, our education system is very elitist. That said, I will point out that in the 1930s the illegitimate son of a farmer and a factory maid became the Prime Minister of the largest majority government this country has ever seen apart from Churchillâs wartime coalition.
Itâs a bit distortive because, as I said, grammars were once more common. So several PMs, like John Major and Theresa May, came out of them. But overall an insultingly low 40pc or so of our MPs are from state schools.
@Vsotvep thanks for not responding, I get too easily derailed if people discuss stuff with me. Thatâs why 25 posts of this thread come from the Things you like to do thread. Letâs stay on topic.
Hey, that is my fault too. When I talk normally, I will start talking about one thing and start talking about something else.
It is unrelated to languages, but an example is earlier I was talking about the rain with someone, and then we got into the subject of car crashes and we were having a debate about whether or not a car can slip.(I say a car slips and then slides, but they said that it just slides)
Ah, itâs not that Iâm not responding, Iâm doing the grammar challenge now 
@Haze_with_a_Z You want to do some Japanese? 
Sure letâs try some. Sorry if Iâm no good. I can only say a few random words.
How about learning the pronouns:
I
you
he
she
And the verbs
to go
to come
to have
to eat
to drink
And some nouns
Tokyo
Osaka
apple
water
And then combine them to make sentences
I go to Tokyo
You eat an apple
He drinks water
She has an apple
He comes from Tokyo
I go from Tokyo to Osaka
If you want help with translating, feel free to ask. I donât know if you can read hiragana / katakana
Is âhe comes from Tokyoâ in Japanese actually correct in the English sense of âhe came here (some time ago) from Tokyoâ?
I could say some of those. Some of them I get mixed up with such as the words for drink and read, and a few other things that I forget right now. I had never heard of katakana before last night when you showed me that website.
Iâm not sure, Iâll ask. I think it might mean âhe is comingâ or âhe will comeâ instead of âhe cameâ.
Itâs difficult to make basic sentencesâŚ
Show us how far you get
Feel free to use a dictionary, and Iâll help with the rest
I was doing something else for a while, but now I am doing them. I just feel bad looking up how to say half of these words. you said feel free to use a dictionary, but it feels like cheating in a way. Though my alternative is dig through duolingo trying to find one in a lesson here or there. Are you sure it isnât cheating to do this?