Latin Roots in Other Languages (Including the Non-Romance Languages)

Description

For many years lecturers of the RSU Language Centre have been motivating students to learn Latin and they want to make their studies as easy and interesting as they can. The lecturers are always interested in the students’ back-ground and languages they know. The majority of the students from Latvia have never studied Latin, but some of them learned French, Spanish or Italian in the Secondary school or had some private language courses. Approximately 50 % of the International students studied Latin at High School; they are Italian, Spanish, French or Portuguese native speakers. Therefore, the lecturers want to show the students how the knowledge of different languages can help them to memorize certain Latin nouns and/or adjectives. They do believe if the students could notice the relationship between the languages, it would help them to learn the words quicker and the Latin course would become more attractive to the students than it is.. Students’ questionnaires from the feedback of the course; textbooks, the students use; direct observation during the classes; home assignments, the Public health students had in the previous years; comparison of these items in their native tongue and/or the languages they speak and Latin.. We are planning to introduce the data obtained in this study in our new text-books for the students of different study programs. The obtained results can be used to motivate the students to study Latin and increase their interest in learning the language not only for preparing for the practical classes but, for instance, doing research work.. The knowledge of basic Latin is essential for students to receive a good higher education. Lecturers from the Language Centre teach medical students but they believe that the data obtained from this study are beneficial for teaching other students as well.

Period	30 Mar 2023
Event title	RSU research week 2023: University Teaching and Learning
Event type	Conference
Organiser	Rīga Stradiņš University
Location	Riga, LatviaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International