Learning Latin

[Matthew R. Popalisky]

On Tue, 22 Oct 1996, Gunnora Hallakarva wrote:

> <snip>
> >By the by, these days the pronoun cases are nomitive and objective, or at
> >least they are in OK and AR--
> >
> >Kateryn Englishteacherdottir
> 
> The actual noun (and pronoun) cases are:
> nominative (used for subject of sentence)
> genitive (used to indicate possession)
> dative (used for indirect objects)
> accusative (used for the direct object and the object of some prepositions)
> ablative (used for the object of some prepositions, also used to indicate
> "the means by which something is done")
> 
> English doesn't change the form of the word for every possible use of the
> noun, unlike most languages.  All five noun cases were once taught in
> English grammar classes, but I'm afraid that the praxctice died out with the
> demise of copperplate handwriting.  Sentence diagramming held on until the
> late 1950's or maybe even the 60's in some places.  It is a sad commentary
> on our educational system that most people don't learn English grammar until
> they sart learning another language.
> 
Ok, I give.

Actaully, I never saw the point of diagramming.  I would rather, and had
better success with, sentence building, but any discussion on this should
be held in private so as not to bore the populace.  This also means that
at least in one place diagramming held on til the 80's.

Of course, if you really want folks to learn the language correctly, then
SPEAK it correctly from the moment the child is conceived until the day
the model dies.

My personal opinion is that they make English waaaay harder than it has to
be these days, including spelling, and I still feel German is much more
rational.  Romance languages make my teeth ache, but that's just me.

Kateryn