German 8th grade students in 200 high schools can choose to learn Αncient Greek as a third foreign language, after the mandatory English and Latin, according to a Deutsche Welle report.
According to the German education system, English and Latin are mandatory and 200 high schools offer Ancient Greek as the third language, with the students being able to choose between that and French.
The Deutsche Welle report cites the reasons many German students prefer to learn Ancient Greek instead of French. Here is what some students had to say:
- An ancient language is much more interesting and it is much more exciting to say that I learned ancient Greek than to say that I learned French. You look smarter when you say you study Ancient Greek.
- You learn a lot about life. You learn where the letters of the alphabet come from and learn a lot about history.
- There is no need to know how to speak it, but some things are important to know. The Greeks were the first who discovered democracy.
- Ancient Greek are part of today’s culture, or to put it otherwise Greece is the ancestor of today’s culture of democracy. It is something different.
- I learn Ancient Greek because I am speaking it with my father and I find it cool to learn because I can come by so many words used in other languages. It is not only the language but also the ideas that it expresses.
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