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Latin
This is by far the question Latin teachers are most frequently asked. The fact is that until recent years, most considered Latin a necessary staple of a good education. Thomas Jefferson, himself a great supporter of quality education in America, wrote to J.W. Eppes in 1787, “In general, I am of opinion, that till the age of about sixteen, we are best employed on languages: Latin, Greek, French, and Spanish.” As Mr. Jefferson suggested, up until the 1920’s Latin was a common course amongst elementary and secondary schools alike, oftentimes a requirement for graduation. However, the times have changed and it seems necessary to defend the virtues of Latin. These are far too numerous to elaborate on here, so we will offer the five most common reasons for the teaching of Latin in classical schools.
1. Understanding the English Language. The most commonly regarded benefit is the great improvement in the understanding of the English language. We derive approximately 60% of our English words, and 90% of those words consisting of more than two syllables, from Latin. However, it is not only English vocabulary which benefits from the study of Latin but English grammar as well. English grammar, like its vocabulary, can be quite complex in all its variances and exceptions. Latin grammar is much clearer and more organized. Many students find it easier to learn more complex grammatical concepts in Latin and then apply them to English.
2. Understanding Other Languages. There are five modern languages that call Latin their parent language. These Romance languages are Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian and Portuguese. These languages derive more than 80% of the words which make up their vocabulary from Latin. Their grammatical structure is also much more similar to Latin than English. Consider the number of nations who claim one of these languages as their official tongue: French -27; Spanish – 20; Italian, Portuguese, Romanian – 10. Can we truly call Latin a dead language when her words have spread so vastly across the globe in her descendants?
3. Increased Vocabulary and Analytical Skills. Many are not surprised to learn that Latin significantly increases verbal scores on tests such as the SAT and even GRE exams, scrutinized carefully by prestigious colleges and universities everywhere. It may surprise them, however, that the analytical and problem solving scores, often associated closely with math skills, also increase significantly among Latin students. Because Latin does not depend nearly so much on word order as it does on agreement amongst word endings, students must carefully analyze the grammatical components of each word in order to determine sentence meaning.
4. Understanding History. Another truly wonderful feature of Latin is that it is not merely a means of communication, but a key to unlock the past. Through the writings of Cicero, Caesar, Livy, and others we learn so much about the world of ancient Rome and Greece; a world which has greatly affected our own. In writing the Constitution, John Adams thoroughly scrutinized the writings of Pliny and other ancient historians in order to determine the best means of governing. He read these great works in their original languages – Latin and Greek. The documents reveal why our government is more like the Republic of Rome than the Democracy of Greece, where our Senate found its title and shape, why we choose to use jurors to determine many court cases. The ancient past is not far removed from our modern lives, but instead is quite close and relevant. To quote the great orator Cicero, “Whoever is ignorant of the past remains forever a child.”
5. Understanding Literature. Perhaps the greatest benefit that Latin affords is the great door it opens into the world of literature. To be able to read Cicero in his own language is truly to understand his famed rhetorical skill and abilities of persuasion. To read Vergil’s Aeneid as the author penned it is to comprehend fully the poetic battles of mortal men and gods who inspired John Milton’s own epic, Paradise Lost. To read Ovid’s wondrous tales about strange metamorphoses is to find Shakespeare’s muse. Certainly these may all be read in English, but then one misses much of the imagery and beauty which these words possess and which are often lost in translation.
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