Do You Mind Learning Really Inflected Languages?
I am currently learning Latin, and it is so incredibly (and often frustratingly) inflected. Almost every single word must be changed to match and agree with the other words in the sentence. It's a lot more different than I thought it'd be.
I learned French in the past and it was surely inflected (more than English), but Latin is like the king of them all. At least the Romance languages.
I learn Russian which is reasonably heavily inflected. It was weird at first but quite manageable in the long run. Once you learn the patterns it's not really a problem. Word stress location, for example, has been a hundred times more difficult than inflections.
I don't know much about Latin, how does it compare with Russian?
well with Latin, I would be annoyed as it is a dead language, and the main reason most (English speaking at least) people learn it is to improve vocabulary and use terms like "cassus bellum" instead of just saying "cause of war". That said- while learning Czech it was a bit like math, a pain in the ass to learn/remember the rules, but after that it's a breeze.
a pain in the ass to learn/remember the rules
===========================
Tha is so true of learning any foreign language!
Then that pain is instantly XXX times multiplied for learning any inflected language, X depending on the degree of inflectedness!!!!
Back to the question of the thread:
I DO!
<<well with Latin, I would be annoyed as it is a dead language, and the main reason most (English speaking at least) people learn it is to improve vocabulary and use terms like "cassus bellum">>
It's casus belli.
Quod licet Iovi non licet bovi.
If you like playing games with many strict rules, it can turn out to be real fun (not easy, but fun)
I've never had a problem with conjugtions, but declension kills me. Polish has got seven cases, three genders and each combination has two or more declensions based on the last sound in the stem. I can't keep it straight.
Does anyone know any good ways to learn and remember declensions, or is rote memorization and drilling the only way to go?
Sarmackie Fri Jan 16, 2009 3:11 pm GMT
I've never had a problem with conjugtions, but declension kills me. Polish has got seven cases, three genders and each combination has two or more declensions based on the last sound in the stem. I can't keep it straight.
Does anyone know any good ways to learn and remember declensions, or is rote memorization and drilling the only way to go?
--------------
Why bother to learn languages as such?
Your time can be better spent on things more profitable!
Languages with heavy inflectedness are simply not competitive on the linguistic market of the world!
They have to learn from either Chinese or English!
Verb conjugations are fine - masculine and feminine, even neuter - are fine. Cases / declensions - HORRIBLE. I've got the hang of them in German, after 4 years - and my stab at learning Lithuanian was darkened by these cases - something like 22 endings that can go onto one noun! And then, there are the adjectives...
Prepositions make minds lazy.
You're not being a good advocate for your language Shuimo. You're turning people away.
I prefer inflected languages to analytical ones: on the whole they are more "primitive" and logical. German cases are ridiculous, very very simple. Verb conjugations may be quite hard sometimes I don't mean their endings but verb syntax, the proper use of tenses and moods.