tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29638226.post6172350067903233150..comments2023-09-11T18:12:17.305+10:00Comments on audio video disco: Latin LettersAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14399919314236872661noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29638226.post-71836854165452428232007-06-05T18:59:00.000+10:002007-06-05T18:59:00.000+10:00Indeed, parents can be very influential in their d...Indeed, parents can be very influential in their daughter's career paths. Well I'm very glad I chose latin. It seems that latin is the only subject I look forward to!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29638226.post-64078915430314108082007-05-31T18:06:00.000+10:002007-05-31T18:06:00.000+10:00Gosh, I hope my parents have never said such a thi...Gosh, I hope my parents have never said such a thing to you!! I love Latin and I think it is the best thing ever, even though I am failing it. Ms Knott told me to drop extension because I am so bad at Latin, but even though she is In Charge of pretty much everything, I still said no because it is just too good.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29638226.post-29124486762561677392007-05-31T15:49:00.000+10:002007-05-31T15:49:00.000+10:00Mike, thanks for your thoughts- i'm glad someone's...Mike, thanks for your thoughts- i'm glad someone's still reading.<BR/><BR/>i feel exactly the same way- at times i'm troubled by 'all the rhetoric' (as you put it) that surrounds Latin- it can often come across as a bit hollow, elitist and self-interested. But at the same time I think a 'love of knowledge.. for its own sake' is a great thing for kids to catch, and it worries me that one of my brightest students from last year's year 8 class chose not to continue Latin, but to do commerce and computers because she thought they would be important for her career- and that this is an attitude encouraged by some parents. If i had a dollar for every time i'd been asked at parent-teacher night 'What use is Latin?'...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29638226.post-51655349178167898372007-05-30T19:18:00.000+10:002007-05-30T19:18:00.000+10:00Okay. Big rant from me on this one:When I first st...Okay. Big rant from me on this one:<BR/><BR/>When I first started teaching Latin and Greek (in the late nineties), I still had my doubts about their place in the secondary school curriculum, given that - for all the fringe benefits associated with learning the classical languages - when stripped of all the rhetoric, one is teaching a language that no-one speaks anymore. On the face of it, that seems absurd.<BR/><BR/>I've gradually come to the realisation that beyond the mundane basics needed to survive in the world, <I>the vast majority</I> of what one studies in school is "optional extras". And if such optional extras encourage a love of knowledge (and the search for knowledge) for its own sake, exercise the mental faculties in a constructive manner, broaden one's knowledge of the world, and provide pleasure and entertainment, then they are worthwhile. Latin and Greek fall into these categories easily.<BR/><BR/>And the same applies for tertiary study. The first letter writer, incidentally, was dead right about courses with a blatant Marxist bias. Every single one of the "theory" courses in my Dip.Ed. was guilty of this.<BR/><BR/>Not trying to be too flippant about it, but when I hear hackneyed rubbish like...<BR/><BR/><I>...the critical tools provided by means of engaging with Marxist or feminist theory. In an age of hegemonic acceptance...</I><BR/><BR/>...I reach for the remote to change the channel. Facts over theory and half-baked analysis every time, for me.<BR/><BR/>[/ramble]Mike Salterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08133817212055957800noreply@blogger.com