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Author Topic: Language Lessons  (Read 3291 times)

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Offline wolfgang336

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Language Lessons
« on: September 30, 2005, 07:25:22 pm »
The though has occured to me several times, that a fair number of our members may benefit from quick and easy lessons on languages such as French, Italian, German, and most importantly Latin. Would anybody like to post some knowledge on verb conjugation, tenses, basic vocabulary and that sort of thing? I'd be happy to do some French is anybody's interested...

Evan

Offline curtislclay

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Re: Language Lessons
« Reply #1 on: September 30, 2005, 11:28:21 pm »
    I would bet that you can find lessons in those languages already on the web, and certainly in numerous books, though naturally these lessons will not have a numismatic slant.  It would be quite a job to teach a language via e-mails or list posts!
Curtis Clay

Offline Bill S

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Re: Language Lessons
« Reply #2 on: September 30, 2005, 11:54:08 pm »
   ..... It would be quite a job to teach a language via e-mails or list posts!
Transcribing the equivalent of even the briefest of language text books here would be a bit intimidating.  Although I'm gradually convincing myself that I do need more background in Latin, I think I'll opt for buying a real text book - maybe one with a CD so I can hear how it's pronounced.

Offline Ecgþeow

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Re: Language Lessons
« Reply #3 on: October 01, 2005, 01:43:58 am »
I would certainly be in favor of these kinds of lessons.  I remember we started with a little numismatic greek a while ago.  It didn't really go very far, but it was helpful, as now I can read the Greek on coins!  ;D
But if anyone would be generous enough, that would be a great addition.
~Zach

Offline Potator II

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Re: Language Lessons
« Reply #4 on: October 01, 2005, 02:24:32 am »
Hi
An easy way to learn basis of numismatic vocabulary in a foreign language is to get a mail bid sale catalog, then you have all the descriptions of coins, states of preservation, and so on. I do with German catalogs. I don't speak German at all, and after a while you understand most things are writen in them.
As some of you know, I live in France. Please feel free to ask the meaning of any french word or vocabulary you want (in a post or a PM). I would be very glad to help, with my limited knowledge of both english and numismatics.
Regards
Potator

Offline Pscipio

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Re: Language Lessons
« Reply #5 on: October 01, 2005, 05:08:29 am »
I live in Switzerland, so I do speak German. If anybody has a question about German language, words, conjugation or texts, feel free to ask. I speak French as well, but I guess you'd better ask Potator in that case. Dutch is my native language, but since I never went to a Dutch school, I never learned to write it properly. Well, basically, I can write it, since I learned it by reading, but I make mistakes. I don't know if Nico is from Wallonia or from Flanders, if from the latter, he should be able to write Dutch more properly than I do, I guess.

Lars
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Offline Robert_Brenchley

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Re: Language Lessons
« Reply #6 on: October 01, 2005, 05:44:50 am »
Learning languages on your own is an appalling slog; I have bits of Latin, Greek and Hebrew, but never got that far with any of them, though admittedly I was put off Latin at school. I could probably lean any of them quite quickly in a better environment. On the other hand, I picked up Krio (my wife's language) just from listening to it.
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Offline slokind

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Re: Language Lessons
« Reply #7 on: October 01, 2005, 02:46:16 pm »
I noticed that the Münzen & Medaillen, Deutschland, auction now up on line, is provided in French and English and, of course, German, and since I downloaded the .pdf for English I'm sure you can download all three languages.  As a stopgap for numismatics this is useful.  In much the same way, for Bulgarian, to a certain extent, once you memorize the Cyrillic alphabet (an overnight job), the coins listed in Sear GIC are translated direct for listing in Varbanov I-IV, and that is highly useful.  There are other German auction houses that post on the web in multiple languages, too.
I'm afraid there really are no short cuts, in this or any other learning, but a stopgap or two can be handy for the time being.  The best investments I know of are to learn Latin and Greek properly and thoroughly, at least three or four years (high school) or semesters (college/university) of each.  That may seem like a large investment, but it greatly facilitates learning the modern languages, and it gives you extra confidence in writing your own.
Patricia Lawrence

Offline Pep

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Re: Language Lessons
« Reply #8 on: March 07, 2006, 04:20:02 pm »
Want to learn Greek and Latin?  There is a website called "Textkit" running in the Website Awards right now at:  https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=26760.0

They sum up what they offer on their main page better than any way I could put it:

"Textkit is the Internet's largest provider of free and fully downloadable Greek and Latin grammars and readers. With currently 146 free books to choose from, Greek and Latin learners have downloaded 736,342 grammars, readers and classical e-books.

There are also many other areas of Textkit which can help you learn Greek and Latin. Register in our Forum where you can meet and learn Greek and Latin with other learners. Join a Textkit Study Group where you can move through a textbook at a set schedule with others. Subscribe to our newsletter. With a subscription you'll be able to download our growing collection of Greek and Latin answer keys. Explore Textkit Tutorials - a growing collection of in-depth Greek and Latin grammar discussions. Finally, check out our newest area, Textkit Vocabulary, where you can create entirely free online vocabulary courses complete with quizzes."

Kevin  :)

P.S.:  Be sure to vote in the poll!  Thank you.

Offline b70

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Re: Language Lessons
« Reply #9 on: March 08, 2006, 02:22:45 am »
I'd like to chime in on this thread as someone who is about two years into teaching himself Latin.

Pep posted a link to www.textkit.com . That is a great website for anyone wanting to teach themselves Latin and/or Greek. There is a very friendly and helpful community there that helps people with their Latin and Greek language studies. In addition they have put a good number of Latin and Greek textbooks into pdf form, which are available for free download. Textkit kind of reminds me of Forum. A great group of very knowledgable people sharing their interests and helping out not so knowledgable people like myself.

If anybody is interested in learning Latin on their own, I'd like to recommend one of the downloads from Textkit. Latin for Beginners by Benjamin L. D'Ooge. The forum members on Textkit have also made an answer key for this book. I've used this book myself. I tried three other ones first and had problems or issues with all three of them. Then I tried this one. It was thorough, concise and explained everything well. After that I found a second year textbook and some easy readers on Ebay. Since then I have read Caesar's Commentarii De Bello Gallico, Eutropius' Breviarium Ab Urbe Condita and am reading Cornelius Nepos right now.

So I highly recommend this book.

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Re: Language Lessons
« Reply #10 on: March 08, 2006, 06:14:09 am »
When learning Latin, I found this book was a nice gentle introduction:
Teach Yourself Beginners Latin by George Sharpley. An optional cassette is available.

When learning Greek, I found this book was a great introduction: The Elements of New Testament Greek by J.W. Wenham. Mainly intended for students/would-be scholars of the New Testament, It neverless gave me an invaluable introduction to this wonderful language.
To complete the Greek kit a good lexicon helps: I found Abbot-Smith's very useful. :)

 

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