Paolo,
>
> I had a discussion with a student, last year, about what role is played by
> memory in the study of Latin (expressed in percentage). He started from
> over 70%. I had to fight quite a lot to bargain for less. The lowest I
> could get was 50%. May I say that in my opinion he hasn't understood much
> of the study of Latin. I dare to say that 10 or 20% would be more than
> enough. To me, Latin is reasoning on syntax and on the actual meaning of a
> word in the specific context.
>
I am curious. What kind of memory do you have in mind? This is obviously
not something short-term (e. g. remembering the beginning of the sentence
as you reach the end), but it seems to be not "deep" long-term also
(remembering the reality behind the sentence, e. g. Roman law procedure in
translating a passage from a speech by Cicero, or the game of politics in
general as you translate Sallust).
For me, in reading, memory, and cross-connections, are everything.
But your idea about measuring memory in language study seems interesting.
You should try to use computing to measure, or model, it.
Yours,
Neven
Neven Jovanovic
Zagreb, Hrvatska / Croatia
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