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No Vested Interest

(5,156 posts)
51. Four years Latin, French - 4 yrs high school, 3 yrs College
Wed Mar 5, 2014, 12:50 AM
Mar 2014

I have always felt the Latin helped give me a command of English, where so many words have Latin roots.
The French language I enjoyed studying, but never could get past my Midwestern accent re speaking French, so didn't do it well.

I knew Mrs. Merkel was from E. Germany, but hadn't put 2+2 together to figure out that she would thus be fluent in Russian.
Also wasn't aware of Putin's time in Germany.
Thanks for passing this along.

Thanks, very interesting elleng Mar 2014 #1
Yeah I knew that nadinbrzezinski Mar 2014 #2
I studied five years of Latin 1000words Mar 2014 #3
It's astounding Mira Mar 2014 #6
Indeed. 1000words Mar 2014 #7
Same. Eight years of Latin here. NYC Liberal Mar 2014 #13
Eight? ... Impressive. 1000words Mar 2014 #16
Latin helped me to learn... ReRe Mar 2014 #47
Four years Latin, French - 4 yrs high school, 3 yrs College No Vested Interest Mar 2014 #51
Lol, I HAD Latin for a few years, wouldn't say I studied it because I was not very good at studying. sabrina 1 Mar 2014 #53
k&r... spanone Mar 2014 #4
Mitt Romney speaks fluent French wheniwasincongress Mar 2014 #5
Yes - but in my observation of American's interpretation Mira Mar 2014 #8
George Bush, Sr., destroyed Pete DuPont... DonViejo Mar 2014 #10
Mitt speaks Mormon French... icarusxat Mar 2014 #39
That's a liability in the GOP. moondust Mar 2014 #52
It came in handy when living in a French chateau while avoiding the Viet Nam war. Ikonoklast Mar 2014 #72
I just cringe when I realize dixiegrrrrl Mar 2014 #9
So Merkle knew what she was talking about when she said Putin "was not in touch with reality".. Cha Mar 2014 #11
Indeed. Good point (and scary). nt SunSeeker Mar 2014 #18
I think that 2naSalit Mar 2014 #35
What part of "not in touch with reality" is so vague? From what I've seen Cha Mar 2014 #60
I think there's 2naSalit Mar 2014 #64
That's right.. we can't know everything now.. it's all unfolding. All we can do is go by past Cha Mar 2014 #66
Actually, I do like it 2naSalit Mar 2014 #67
All right then. :) Cha Mar 2014 #69
Speaking of reality cprise Mar 2014 #57
Yeah, I heard that reported several times, but I think we should not assume that report is accurate. 2banon Mar 2014 #58
For now he's just a mean ol asshole who cracks down on Gays and Journalists in Russia. Cha Mar 2014 #61
Sounds ok, a bit too fast jakeXT Mar 2014 #12
German words, Russian cadence 1000words Mar 2014 #20
That's why her phone was bugged. CK_John Mar 2014 #14
Which one ? Stasi or NSA ? jakeXT Mar 2014 #15
Actually there is some suspicion that the Merkel family was well connected in East Germany JVS Mar 2014 #37
think I recall that mentioned several years ago, and forgotten it. 2banon Mar 2014 #59
I took 2 years of Latin in high school in the late '50s pangaia Mar 2014 #17
I graduated high school in the mid 80s NewJeffCT Mar 2014 #19
I started school 2naSalit Mar 2014 #41
Merkel also speaks English...with a slight British accent. KoKo Mar 2014 #21
Putin speaks English kskiska Mar 2014 #74
English-speakers mostly don't need to learn another language. Spider Jerusalem Mar 2014 #22
Yes 2naSalit Mar 2014 #46
Sure... Spider Jerusalem Mar 2014 #56
Indeed 2naSalit Mar 2014 #63
Even during the First World War in the forces of Austria-Hungary Sognefjord Mar 2014 #68
There's a thread saying MERKEL tried talking Poot down & said he's out of contact with reality n/t UTUSN Mar 2014 #23
My teenage daughter TuxedoKat Mar 2014 #24
... Mira Mar 2014 #25
In Scandinavia, everyone is required to study English, starting in elementary school Lydia Leftcoast Mar 2014 #26
Early in the internet years I had a correspondence zeemike Mar 2014 #44
I speak 3 languages and also had 7 years of Latin and Ancient Greek.. HipChick Mar 2014 #27
Putin stopped WW3. kitt6 Mar 2014 #28
To be fair... awoke_in_2003 Mar 2014 #45
You know, I think we finally found our Putin fan. Hekate Mar 2014 #50
I hope you mean... awoke_in_2003 Mar 2014 #70
It was definitely an aside to you about her/him. See post #40 & my reply #48... Hekate Mar 2014 #71
Those countries are so small and all their neighbors in all directions speaks a different launguage Auntie Bush Mar 2014 #29
a lot of Americans are bilingual. mackerel Mar 2014 #30
We definitely do not invest enough in culture in general. go west young man Mar 2014 #31
I think we should be multi-lingual here. Cleita Mar 2014 #32
Tea party is the epitome of American know-nothingness. Imperial measurement system is close second. Bernardo de La Paz Mar 2014 #33
I am, as ever, impressed with the company I keep on DU... icarusxat Mar 2014 #34
" know we don't have a need for being multilingual..." < I don't know about that. While I jtuck004 Mar 2014 #36
Years ago we went to Switzerland. My wife and I were having lunch lob1 Mar 2014 #55
Come and say hi if you ever manage to return! Democracyinkind Mar 2014 #75
Thank you, I'll do that. I still only speak English, tho. lob1 Mar 2014 #77
Fluent Japanese, stilted German here. nt Bonobo Mar 2014 #38
This President needs to stop kitt6 Mar 2014 #40
That is a bizarre and untrue statement.If it were true we would be embroiled in several more wars... Hekate Mar 2014 #48
The best public school systems in the US still offer mnhtnbb Mar 2014 #42
K&R DeSwiss Mar 2014 #43
We confuse "ignorant isolationism" and "American Exceptionalism" NightWatcher Mar 2014 #49
THanks. K&R. We Americans should try to learn languages. JDPriestly Mar 2014 #54
Latin & Spanish here. ANOIS Mar 2014 #62
I mentioned something similar when it came to various countries' foreign policies: MisterP Mar 2014 #65
Disregarding Spanish while speaking of US languages in use is very odd. Bluenorthwest Mar 2014 #73
I agree...I think it's atrocious young children aren't required to joeybee12 Mar 2014 #76
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