Some of you were confused when I said that I was taking Ancient Greek at school. A few people mixed up Ancient Greek and Modern Greek. Well, there is actually a difference between the two! Ancient Greek, the one that I’m studying at school, is an earlier form of the Greek spoken today, spoken at around the 5th century BC. You could compare it with the variant of English spoken at the time of Shakespeare - although much earlier! Even though it’s a linguistic subject, we cover elements of Ancient Greek history as well.
Modern Greek, however, is different from its ancient relative - there are differences in grammar and pronunciation, amongst a few other things. It’s the form of Greek that’s spoken in today’s world. But although Ancient Greek is no longer spoken anywhere in the world, it can be a very useful language to learn. Quite a few English words are derived from Ancient Greek (if you’re going into biology or medicine, it’ll be quite useful). For me, a linguist, the constructions and grammar of the language are good challenges for the brain, one of the reasons why I chose Ancient Greek over other modern languages. And of course, learning another language can be great fun!
So before you go to assume that learning a 'dead language' is useless, remember: there are quite a few hidden benefits to it!
Kala na pernas,
O. Mukhtar O. Mukhlis
#theomarmukhtar
#AncientGreekVSModernGreek
p/s: 'Kala na pernas' is MODERN Greek for 'have fun'!
