Harvard's Latin Salutatory Address 2007

[KayShayC]

PRO!

whats funny is that most of them probably understood most of it

[BramowitchIII]

Learned and learned. Everyone with only the slightest bit of intrest in latin can get a piece of paper with this text, learn it the next month and then preform this. People think speaking latin is the 'summum' of brilliance. it is most certainly not.

[oterrivelivan]

For an English speaker the Latin procunciation can be very hard. He did it very well dispite of his acccent. It's ok!!! I also have an awful accent when I speak English.

[oterrivelivan]

@oterrivelivan Pronunciation I mean

[alex65468]

The worst accent ever. But i like it.

[mervin3x]

too bad their accent and pronunciation is bad

[breeeegs]

Fagoticus Penile et Nivirsina Vaginus!

[SanguineBullet667]

i wonder how much of his parent's privilege got him there. nobody at harvard or any ivy league truly earns their admission there on academics alone. you shouldn't look up to these people.

[DELAPORTEYVESDENIS]

Guerre des Etoiles et Latin font bon ménage... merci gentil Maître JEDI Charles Joseph McNamara!

[PianoFreak0127]

@Godmyx would you rather he be boring and someone fall asleep while he is talking? Being so exuberant while he speaks is what makes him such a good speaker, keep that in mind. And take in to account if you, honestly, could do half as good as he could if you were up there in front of all those people

[PianoFreak0127]

Wonderful speech, some people get caught up in "Ah listen to his pronunciation!", well honestly, I did not see anything at all wrong with it, focus on the meaning of the speech people

[Enriqueszoo]

ma perchè questi anglofoni si ostinano a parlare latino?!?!

[bood3e]

gay

[bood3e]

Sounds bad

[Vampiratelycan]

Genius. Fantastic. Just love how some of the lecturers are having to read the translation as he goes. lol :D

[GodmyX]

I can't help myself but it looks kind of girlish when he's so overplaying... does talking latin means to behave yourself as lovely little girl? (Not talking about the accent). It wouldn't harm to behave and speak naturally for a moment.

[roodybrew]

Anyone speaking Latin on YouTube is just terrible... Why Latin is known as a language of education is unclear to me. Every language is the same. Everyone just sounds like they're egotistical when speaking LINGVALATINA @n@

[terrendously]

FREAKS!!!!!!!

[jowtas]

vou fingi que entendi tudo essa phorra

[thekingofmoney2000]

Americans are usually very bad at other languages, especially when it comes to accents. Don't use the excuse about not knowing what latin really sounded like. Most people know what French, Spanish, Italian etc. sound like, but yet most Americans still have horrible accents when they speak those languages. Americans just suck at other languages. Go to Europe, most people speak several languages with little to no foreign accent, with the exception of the UK.

[TheTrieutran]

@thekingofmoney2000 Don't stereotype, people are different. I can easily grab a person with horrible foreign language skills for you in 2s if we're in Europe.

[akamuyaja]

@thekingofmoney2000 so true..

[kaindrg]

The standard to compare it to might be florentine italian it has 98% lexiconical similarity

[PaulDiLillo]

LATIN IS NOT A DEAD LANGUAGE its been kept alive in the Roman Catholic church for over 2,000-years. The pronunciation, like all other languages has different dialects and Latin is no different.

[TheTrieutran]

@PaulDiLillo Dude, do some research. "A dead language is still known and used in special contexts in written form, but not as an ordinary spoken language for everyday communication". It's still being used by the Vatican, but there isn't a particular community speaks it as a first language.

[TheTrieutran]

I wonder how people know the "correct" pronunciation of Latin, which is a dead language. There is no standard pronunciation to compare, so what are these criticisms based on?

This is like 2 non-native English speakers arguing who has the "best" pronunciation. =))

[thekingofmoney2000]

@TheTrieutran The accent would probably sounded somewhat similar to modern day romance languages, probably Italian especially. I doubt it sounded anything like his accent.

[CiaoBello21]

Damn he this guys is really good giving speeches, and is ver fluent at speaking an extinct language. But he needs to clean up his accent to make it perfect latin.

[defeater28]

damn that kid needs to be in the j.g. wentworth commercials except he yells "it's her pussy, i need it now!"

also i think he was just trying to act funny to make people laugh because let's face it, his jokes are as funny as the first 20 minutes of saving private ryan.

idk, im high as fuck

[defeater28]

the guy with the top hat is fuckin pissin me off

[kenjokenjo1]

if he spoke spanish or italian his accent would have been better. but he is better than the harry potter kids.

[lolboy546]

So let me get this straight. There is vulgar latin, classical latin and also gay latin?

[tija1012]

I wanna learn how to speak Classical Latin. I just don't know I can.

:[

[ofekzpeggy129]

the o sounds so english

[Tomsanbomsi]

@ofekzpeggy129 exactly my thought :)

[shabedinirad]

He is like a stand-up comedian!

[ciarepairs]

Impressive; is he going to be the next pope?

[xgteenterritory]

We really should appreciate his effort. It's not about the accent. It's about how much effort a person put into understanding the art of pronunciation.

[geels]

suub tuum praesidium

[randombliss1]

what's with the gay ass hand motions?

[TheTrieutran]

I don't understand a word he says but it sounds like he's telling a bedtime story or so =))

[s2679719]

Lame. I wish people would stop speaking "classical" Latin. It sounds ridiculous, like an American trying to speak Italian. Not to mention that it doesn't help having a complete knob speaking it.

Speak Latin like the Catholic church; like the Italian, and you wont sound like a toss.

[AliYuseph]

@s2679719 But you will because Italians sound like tosses.

[PianoFreak0127]

@s2679719 maybe focus on the crux of the speech instead of critiquing his pronunciation. After all, that is what the speech is for. It being spoken in Latin is because he is a classics major, which I would most deffinately call a "knob"

[bashibazouks77]

I don't understand a word but this is exceedingly entertaining

[elsicariodesinaloa]

holy fuck is this how they learn in harvard ??? he sucks balls i didnt went to school and i speak better than him and i speak farsi italian spanish english and zapoteco

[PianoFreak0127]

@elsicariodesinaloa you didnt went to harvard? ..... hm, I can tell that, and im only 15 years old

[chowderandspoon]

pshh haters gonna hate.

i personally would be thrilled to be witnessing this in person

[jcozzamorrisvideos]

Ok, Maybe im a little glad I wasnt smart enough to consider Harvard. Glad I can keep some dignity and personality.

[nigandmad]

can someone help me translate this into latin: the will to serve

[Heyprinny]

It's mostly the combination of his literally gay voice and horrible American accent that kills me. If he were gay but also had the necessary accent then I would be a lot happier.

[XKS99]

@Heyprinny

Seeing as it's a dead language what accent would be more acceptable to you? Anyways considering history it seems fitting to have an American speak Latin.

[Heyprinny]

@XKS99 There is such a thing called the Latin accent. It's called the Italian accent.

[hotferrari95]

stupid american accent :D

[Leviwosc]

All the haters are just jealous! They'll never be able to do it even slightly better.

And of course he has an American accent. He's American! I think this guy did a wonderful performance!

[LiviuFloreaRo]

@Leviwosc A Roman Grammarian would say his pronounciation is full of barbarisms.



[Leviwosc]

@LiviuFloreaRo - That's a laborious description of an accent. My English pronunciation is also full of barbarisms, because my native language is Dutch. So I have a Dutch accent when I speak English. Fortunately you'll understand me.

[LiviuFloreaRo]

@Leviwosc Absolutely. I merely wished to introduce the opinion of a Roman in this contemporary argument about accents. In his Meditations, Emperor Marcus Aurelius goes as far as to praise and admire his Grammarians in helping keep his Latin " clean of barbarisms".

[rococospero]

Eff the haters, this guy is awesome.

[friulano]

Latin with american accent! Who can understand that  clownery?

[hd9xc1k2]

@friulano Americans who have studied Latin for years and think it's a marvelous idea to deliver a speech in that language. It's their only time to shine. Be gentle.

[purebloodfreedom1]

Stultior Asinus est!

[DougVbg]

O Tempora, O Mores!

[EdwinMarc]

Anglo-Saxon Language speakers + Latin = Disaster

[sweentnhot0104]

He has nice vocabularies and speaks fluent latin, but his pronunciation is horrible. Typical American accent

[macarari]

@sweentnhot0104 at least he speaks LOL

[uaxutum]

american pronunciation , also gay

[pkddixie99]

i can guess that after the first 10 seconds there would be a spear in this fags chest.........then he would be necro raped

[Ilir7777]

lol his accent is some wrong

[brightlights456X]

This guy sounds too camp. I hear monks, priest sing or talk in Latin and they have the deep baratone voices to pull it off.

This guy makes it sound crap.

You know in Roman times he would have been thrown to the Lions!

[TheRealSmacker]

gay

[RWT683]

Somehow I doubt the Romans sounded this gay.

[Ticonio]

ha,ha,ha,ha, right

[merts487]

His accent is killing me. "Rs" Needs to roll a little bit.

[gaBehcuoDsuoitneterP]

@merts487 He's not speaking Spanish..

[MrJahka]

@merts487

what are you talking about? I know classical and church latin pronunciations and there are no rollin r's.

[itsanawesomeguy]

@merts487 exactly, white people...they have such a strong accent, its irritating...they can properly pronoucne the phoenitcs, and for some reason these children commend him for it? lmao children, im only 15 and I refer to them as children because of their naivety

[professormom108]

@merts487 To be fair, he does roll them here and there. At 3:10 he rolls the r in "primum" as well as "praecipit" at 3:34.

[verevie]

@RWT683 As gay as Italians. Roma est Roma.

[DsaiTheWhite]

@verevie Umm, you clearly have never heard Italians, and have no idea what it sounds like...

[lukakiwi]

@RWT683 im pretty sure they didnt

[Canonpixmalogitechko]

@RWT683 Elagabalus probably did.

[anythingnew]

Latin: Language of the Elitist and language of the reptilians. We should all learn it.

[crashowie11]

@anythingnew

Hence the Latin textbook in my lap:)

[arnolddao]

@anythingnew

I agree that we should learn Latin. But I disagree that Latin is a language of the elitist. One arguably best Latinist in the world (he actually speaks Latin) once said; Every bum and prostitute in ancient Rome spoke Latin!

[novanine9]

@arnolddao - EVERY BUM IN ANCIENT ROME SPOKE LATIN - BUT IT WAS VULGAR LATIN, HENCE THE TERM VULGAR.

CLASSICAL LATIN VS. LATE / VULGAR LATIN IS AS DIFFERENCE SOUNDING AS PRINCE CHARLES AND SNOOP DOG THE RAPPER, SPEAKING LATIN...

GET IT?

[arnolddao]

@novanine9 - I am well aware that there was Vulgar Latin as well. I'm not sure so I say this; almost all of the classical Latin texts we are learning now are speeches, poetries, novels, letters. Are you sure when they, the Romans spoke to each other, they spoke like the way they wrote? I am not talking about speaking in courts or in the senate.

Do the queen, prince Charles speak English as in Shakespears? No! Do you notice they speak differently in different occasions; Speeches vs interview?

[novanine9]

@arnolddao - Prince Charles sounds pretty much the same all the time...that is a product of his upbringing and culture...as opposed to say...

the Cockney accent of the the Gallagher brothers from the band Oasis...

get it?

or the difference would be Prince Charles having a conversation with Ali G.

[brightlights456X]

@novanine9

The Gallagher brothers are from Manchester, so they're not speaking with a Cockney accent, but Mancunian one......dick!

[novanine9]

@brightlights456X - WHEN YOU DIGRESS....YOU ARE UNCONSCIOUSLY CONCEDING MY POINT....MORON SHEEP.

ANYTHING ELSE, EINSTEIN?

THE FACT THAT YOU THINK PEOPLE WALK AROUND CHANGING ACCENTS AND VOCABULARY LIKE ACTORS DO....IN REAL LIFE....

IS PURE MONKEY LOGIC, LOL....BW\AHAHAHAHA!!!

LIKE I SAID...THE DIFFERENCE IN ACCENT AND VOCABULARY WOULD BE PRINCE CHARLES HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH THE NOEL OR ALI G

GET IT, NOW....MENTAL MIDGET?

CHILD'S PLAY

[oneguyincalifornia]

@brightlights456X - Man, that one guy really beat you down with his words. I've never seen anything like it. Holy shit

[brightlights456X]

@oneguyincalifornia

I know right. I find it hilarious that an on-line stranger (me) could have an affect him with just a few words. I have offered to adopt him as I find it quite cute.

[brightlights456X]

@novanine9

How do you know Snoop wouldn't speal Latin correctly?

[novanine9]

@brightlights456X - How do I know Snoop dog would not speak Latin correctly?

I don't

I'm citing his English and vocabulary as an indicator of variational examples in the English language, itself

MORON

[rudiherold84]

Julius Caesar would have capped his ass.

[scbwrhcp]

Sounds like he's harry potter or something. An accent is part of a language. Learn it. -_-

[raincoatsxumbrellas]

@scbwrhcp Unfortunately today all we actually know is how to pronounce Latin, not the accent of Romans.

[scbwrhcp]

@raincoatsxumbrellas There are accents for Latin, like the Italian-Latin accent.

[Rextacy3]

@scbwrhcp And? Why would the Italian-Latin accent be any more authentic than the French, Spanish, or English?

Don't say because of proximity it has deviated less; I don't buy it. Time has affected the evolution of Italian as much as any other language.

Who cares exactly how the accent would have sounded anyway? He followed the pronounciation.

[scbwrhcp]

@Rextacy3 I never said that? I said like the Italian-Latin accent. -_- example. don't get all down to semantics on me, no need to get mad there buddy ol pal.

[PianoFreak0127]

@scbwrhcp Stop being so critical. Could you do the same in his shoes? Could you, honestly, come up with such a well written speech?

[DavidfromPalmdale]

charles Jospeh est LUPA! Translation: Charles Joseph is a prostitute

[murqtaad]

veni , vidi , vici

esne paratus

[Kevinsufacation]

Terrible accent for latin!

[jezmuff]

@Kevinsufacation Yeah, badly. Americans have woeful pronunciation as a rule.

[yournameheresch]

I could understand like half of this :(

[64orpheus]

Very good speech in latin, thinking that is not easy the latin pronunciation for english-speakers. Congratulations for this young man, and my best wishes for the future,

[akukama]

IIlle heros mihi est. Bene, adeo optime!

[ScapularSaves]

Respondeo. Carolus Ioseph McNamara Latine dixit aequitate atque decore sophiae totiusque Romae fabulam de continuativa forma cum classicarum litterarum multis generibus orbis terrarum pro Ciceronistarum collegio Bostoniae. Gustavi hanc fabulam propter eius personam confessam aestimarum positivarum bonis artibus. Plaudo canoque altas laudes eius! Bella verba erant, verumtamen philologiae sensum profundum solummudo datur omnibus qui possunt audire. Adeoque, Veritatis vis sit semper vobiscum!

[8av8today]

Sounds like a drunk fag. Good luck using that degree in the real world.

[PianoFreak0127]

@8av8today Just an FYI, where would we be today without the classics? What would we do without people who studied languages and dedicated so much time, when others would not do the same

[kenjootaku]

those people laughing do they actually understand Latin or someone/something's coaching them?

[Anal3t1cia]

terrible accent!

[AddyTheAwesome]

Okay, so it's a guy who goes to Harvard speaking in Latin about Star Wars. You cannot get any nerdier.

Optime, dude.

(to everyone else: for all we know, real Roman Latin could've been spoken like that.)

[ExMxO59002]

I am aware that my Latin sucks by the way!

[ExMxO59002]

te latiana es stultissimus!!!!

[HunsV]

why did he defile his own commencement with painfully awful star wars references. he might as well have said "Ego virgo. Moriar virgo."

[marcisthabest]

unnatural grammar, aweful accent.

me: Te audire no possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure. (I can't hear you. I have a banana in my ear)

[Gnickk]

@marcisthabest Cut him some slack, he's American.

[TheDambadamba]

@marcisthabest hahahhaa

[Might1789]

there is a lot of fuss about which latin accent is better: the classical or the italian one....but this is an authentic nerd's accent LOL

[SOLID2INFINITY]

italian spanish latin and many more same shit you know 2 therest is a breeeeeeze,,,.... speaking it like the natives speak it that the hard part.. o no mamon lol

[TheChosenOne2902]

His pronunication is horrible, too much english.

[Kochisarlii06]

Just like Italiano!

I like the Harvard-students. Who are going to reach much levels in their lifes. Thank the Lord!

[hbanana7]

i like his enthusiasm. I wish I could have enjoyed my college years.

[187prettyboy]

Nobody else there understands Latin. For all we know, he could have been swearing at everybody and talking about his last sexual experience.

[martynblackburn1977]

Elitism.

[blaznfattyz]

awful accent.

[hotterpotato]

I began studying Latin to help my studies in Roman history...this is just silly

[Ladysensei]

I Love this guy! Wow how impressive! After taking Latin in the 7th & 8th grade I can say this is no easy task to do! Awesome job! Bravo!

[fagbowsa]

this guy has some SERIOUS enthusiasm. D: scary.

[mita232]

dude i know a little latin and like star wars but that just reaches new levels of nerdocity! this guy will die a virgin trust me!

[beatlesmack9]

@mita232 I disagree, I would bet that that speech got him some serious nerd tail.

[mita232]

dude i know a little latin and like star wars but that just reaches new levels of nerdocity!

[muulka]

Latin always sounds so nice, even if the words are nonsense, as this speech is TBH.

[MrRickyticky1]

I liked the speech. It was great. I would like to see how many people could actually memorize an 8 minute speech in a foreign language and keep your audience interested. It is so much easier to tear down than to build up. Hate is not a family value.

[frogblunt]

Suus voce moleste

[Imbetterthanmost]

@OakPark11MileRd and you're a dick

[TrueNegro]

There is a reduced incentive for English speakers (particularly in USA) to learn new languages as English is essentially the global lingua franca. They are also not exposed to media from other countries (ie French cinema, Arabic literature). In Quebec for example most French speakers learn English but in Anglophone Canada most will not learn French

[Jrink30]

ECCE ROMANI!!!!!

[sashafromthealley]

He looks like a Ravenclaw student...and act likes one as well. :D GREAT JOB

[physphilmusic]

I got the highest respect for Latin, but this guy is simply ridiculous. Perhaps nowadays just being able to memorize a speech in Latin is already a great achievement.

[StephenCymraeg]

I like Latin, but he's pissing me off.

[calza13]

Ave caledonia! Lol ;-D

[DieForSnacks]

What an Idiot

[asc3asc3asc]

...or PHAGUS if you wish...

[asc3asc3asc]

The definition of FAGUS !

[winrx]

Damn, they could have at least found someone a little more photogenic to speak in front of this entire crowd...

[sirredmondbarry]

mistake at 2:30 - stellis, not stellaribus.

[astop13]

at 1:55 it sounds like he is saying stupid fuck hahahaha

[cutemedli7]

Latin is a beautiful language, but he ruined it with his accent and star wars.

[Timrath]

@cutemedli7 At least his pronunciation was better than that of the lady that introduced him. For an English speaker he's quite good, actually.

[emile345]

Maybe his pronunciation had an American tint to it, but I bet not a single one of the haters could memorise (and achieve an acceptable level of pronunciation in)even one sentence of his speech, let alone translate it or even create a sentence... One different letter and the whole sentence is wrong. I'd like to see the haters do a speech like that. And he didn't even have much stress up front for such an audience.

Guess haters gonna hate anyways...

[manoshwesso]

No way out man Asian women lushfmlk.info

[WarThug13]

NERDUS TO THE MAXIMUS

[WarThug13]

NERD

[Cutlerylover7]

biggest fucking loser in the world not only did he go and study lating but he did it so he could talk about star wars in lating

[ryanXsoulia]

Mures comedam

[RedRiverGolf]

Licetne lingua Latina vite ad eternis et infinitum!!!!!!!! Excuse the missing macrons, as these pathetic American keyboards are'nt advanced enough to have them!

[LapisGarter]

Do all the students understand him or something?

[azn1azn2azn3azn4]

@LapisGarter look at the background, people are reading the translated version.

[disamjisa]

Give the kid a break. I recall he'd only studied Latin for about 8 weeks when he gave the salutory address. He overacts it, but he's got an adorable face, and at least he tried it out.