I really do. My daughter is in her second year and I really wish I had taken Latin in school myself. The number of things she can pick apart and understand because she has learned the root words amazes me. I think it’s pretty cool that she can now do this for several languages, not just English.
Yesterday she taught me about i.e. and e.g. Yeah, I knew those terms, but apparently not as well as I’d thought. I guess the worst misunderstandings in any language are the ones you don’t realize you don’t understand. Well, something new every day right?
I.e. is Latin for id est, which means “that is” or “in other words”. E.g. is Latin for exempli gratia, which means “for example”.
The trick to using these correctly is to put the definition in the place of the abbreviation and see if you’re using it right.
I wish I’d studied several foreign languages (e.g., Latin, Japanese and Gaelic).
I wish I’d studied several foreign languages (for example, Latin, Japanese and Gaelic).
I really enjoy learning foreign languages (i.e. Latin).
I really enjoy learning foreign languages (in other words, Latin).
For a fantastic write up on this with lots of examples check out The Grammar Girl.
