Learning languages

[Kephapaulos]

Language probably wasn't too big a of a problem. Ancient people seemed to learn languages more easily than we, maybe because their minds weren't dulled by video equipment and they didn't worry so much about getting the grammar right.

 

I got this quote of Brennus from the Attention all monarchists thread I think.

 

I wanted to better understand how videos and concern with grammar then do not help in learning a language, Brennus.

[Brennus]

It seems to me that, in ancient times, peopel would develop pidgins and  creoles more readily than now. Since there was no radio or television  around to promulgate a standard, it was easier to, shall we say "get  away with it," and once you reached the point where both sides were  able to understand each other, you just  went along with it.
 
  Now, you have to understand that I'm talking about the lower classes  here. Naturally, to get into the Roman Senate, you needed to speak  decent Latin. If you wanted to study at the Academy or Lyceum in  Athens, you had better speak really good Greek and the Rabbis in  Jerusalem would want you to know your Hebrew (I don't know if you had  to speak Aramaic to study in Jerusalem. I think they did instruct in  that language along with ancient Hebrew but I'm not an expert on Jewish  antiquities.)
 
  The poor people who moved around and about would make do with their  muddled creoles and pidgins which are more verbal based and dispense  with complex and ornate grammar. Such grammar is needed, mind you, for  the language to reach its full potential for expression, but can be  dispensed with when you are working out a sale in the market place.
 
  Now, as to video equipment, in addition to the pressure  for  speech conformity  I mentioned above,  this stuff seems  to  weaken memory and actually changes the patterns  of our  brainwaves . I think we have worse memories  and cognitive skills  because of how much television we watch and howmuch time we spend  gazing at computer screens.
 
  In ancient times, education was based on a lot of memorization and rote  learning. Peopple memorized whole books. They memorized lists and  hiearchies. They composed poetry in their heads ad lib in contests,  memorized speeches. They also were expected to follow certain forms of  conversation and argumentation (this was moreso with the higher levels  of education. The common people in the cities just learned to read and  write and do arithmetic.) As a result, their minds probably worked  better than ours do.
 
  That's my opinion but I think there is evidence for it. I'm afraid I'm  a bit of a weirdo. I think that too much technology erodes our natural  abilities and that the human race is getting weaker all the time. We're  turning into a bunch of "eloi" like in H.G. Wells "The Time Machine."
   
  We can now entertain disenting opinions.
 
  Brennus
 
   
 

[Brennus]

Oh, another point. That concern for grammar will become important to an  ancient person if he or she wants to start reading the literature of  the language.
 
   
 

[francis]

It seems to me that, in ancient times, peopel would develop pidgins and creoles more readily than now. Since there was no radio or television around to promulgate a standard, it was easier to, shall we say "get away with it," and once you reached the point where both sides were able to understand each other, you just  went along with it.

After all,French is , historically, just creolized Latin. It helps if civilization has collapsed, and there are no prissy grammarians around to tell a hulking Frankish warrior how to speak. (Except possibly Alcuin.)

[Kephapaulos]

Now, as to video equipment, in addition to the pressure  for speech conformity  I mentioned above,  this stuff seems to  weaken memory and actually changes the patterns  of our brainwaves . I think we have worse memories  and cognitive skills because of how much television we watch and howmuch time we spend gazing at computer screens.

In ancient times, education was based on a lot of memorization and rote learning. Peopple memorized whole books. They memorized lists and hiearchies. They composed poetry in their heads ad lib in contests, memorized speeches. They also were expected to follow certain forms of conversation and argumentation (this was moreso with the higher levels of education. The common people in the cities just learned to read and write and do arithmetic.) As a result, their minds probably worked better than ours do.

That's my opinion but I think there is evidence for it. I'm afraid I'm a bit of a weirdo. I think that too much technology erodes our natural abilities and that the human race is getting weaker all the time. We're turning into a bunch of "eloi" like in H.G. Wells "The Time Machine."
 
We can now entertain disenting opinions.

Brennus

 

I do agree with you here. I know that human beings before us were much wiser than our society is now. Even wiser than our own parents is seems! Now I ask what evidence is there though that we find to prove that people of days of old were much smarter and wiser than we are now? Also how do videos and technology then take away from our memorization skills, and how do they affect brainwaves?

 

What did you mean by "We can now entertain dissenting opinions"?

[Brennus]

That means people who disagree with me can now post.
 
  As to hard evidence, I'm still working on it. Some of it is common  sense, armchair stuff, simply thinking about what a person wouldhave to  have been able to do to get by 2,000 years ago, 700 years ago, 100  years ago, and now.
 
  Hard facts and studies. I'm looking for some. The inability of school  children to memorize the multiplication tables is a good place to  start. Look at all the studies on the failing of our education system  in the early grades. The kinds of things kids can't seem to learn these  days are the things I'm talking about.
 
  Brennus
 

[creimann]

Look at all the studies on the failing of our education system in the early grades. The kinds of things kids can't seem to learn these days are the things I'm talking about.

It stems from a lack of faith. They and their parents simply don't know which way is up. Once adrift the generations are fundamentally feckless.

[Kephapaulos]

Look at all the studies on the failing of our education system in the early grades. The kinds of things kids can't seem to learn these days are the things I'm talking about.

It stems from a lack of faith. They and their parents simply don't know which way is up. Once adrift the generations are fundamentally feckless.

I agree, creimann. Since the Catholic Church was rejected by many by the 1950s, the "good times" would not last long despite the apparent solid foundation of morals still present in society.

[creimann]

Here is a list I found of ways to boost language skills.