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Little Latin Explorers | ||||||||||
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Why learn Latin
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WHY LEARN LATIN For the scandals, war, sex, monsters, politics, and volcanoes of course! But............... LATIN IS DEAD! Right? Or is it just sleeping? Answer the following questions......... Can you speak English? Have you ever learnt French, German or Spanish? Do you cook with olive oil, drink wine or beer or eat honey? Have you ever been to a theatre or stadium to see shows? Have you ever been to a swimming pool or gym? Do you bath at home? Are you interested in renown and "bling"? Would you like fame and fortune? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, then you are still benefiting from Roman culture and life styles. Latin is not dead - it has simply evolved. Roughly, one quarter of the world's population speaks English and between 50% and 60% of words used in the modern English language have Latin (Roman) origins. And it's not just any half — it's the most difficult half! The common one and two syllable words of every day speech are in English from a German origin, but the big three to five syllable words usually derive from Latin. There is probably no other language in the world that affects English as much as Latin. In fact, the origin of the name "grammar school" came from the days when the most important subject in elementary school was Latin grammar! The key to English Latin and English represent two different language structures: Latin is a highly inflected language, showing functions of words by adding endings to base words; English is non-inflected, showing functions of words by their placement within the sentence. By comparing and contrasting these two languages through translating, a student will understand the basics of how most languages of the world work. This is why Latin students have the ability to pick up other languages so quickly. It makes the best first foreign language to learn and teach. The fact that no one speaks Latin today is the reason some people consider it “dead”. With Latin there is no need for conversation and so time is spent teaching the structure and vocabulary of the language. But Latin is very much alive in the “living” languages of Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian, and Portuguese. Latin is learnt in the same manner as phonics teaches children to read. Based on systematic analysis, recognizing parts leads to an understanding of the whole. It's great for grammar To really understand the structure of language (and that is what grammar is), students must study a structured language. With Latin, grammar is the organizing principle rather than a vestige, as it is in most modern languages. A student can't learn Latin without learning grammar. Studying a disciplined, organized language like Latin helps students learn to think in a more disciplined, organized way. The very nature of the language affects the way the children think and write. A report from May 2006 by professional writers working with students in Universities showed that the students can not write decent English. Worse, many can not follow a logical train of thought or present a reasoned argument. The Report goes on "they do not know what a sentence is, what a verb is, what a noun is...often they don't know what tense they're writing in". Unity Unity comes from Latin because it is the language that transmitted our cultural heritage for over 2,000 years! It pulls together language, arts, history, geography, culture, art, architecture, music, values, religion, government, science, and math. Everything in the modern world seems to be related to Latin and the ancient and medieval cultures that spoke it. By examining the roots of our culture in its mother language of Latin, knowledge begins to integrate naturally. With a strong link to KS2 History and Literacy, Latin is an excellent umbrella subject. Latin & Special Needs For
the dyslexic child, educationalists suggest a method which involves a
highly structured, cumulative, phonic, multi-sensory programme. This
is also the thinking in the Minimus
teaching materials, capturing the imagination visually, building up from
the beginning, using structured stories, games and songs, tapes for
auditory help with phonic representation of words, and rhymes to
encourage enjoyment of the tasks in an appropriate way. A good career path In the Press in June 2006, it has been claimed that University admissions tutors, frustrated by the large number of A-grades gained by candidates at AS level, are turning their attention increasingly to performance at GCSE, particularly in those subjects known to require some intellectual rigour, such as German and Latin. As such, Latin is regarded as a useful discriminator and correspondingly valued. Conforming to the strict rules Latin demands comes in handy for computer programming (I should know...), putting yourself into the "mindset" of a different age is needed for the business analyst and Cicero is surely the best salesman of those early days............. With a Classical education you can be a footballer (Frank Lampard), pop star (Dido, Chris Martin), author (J.K.Rowling, Colin Dexter), a comedian (Eddie Izzard), design a vacuum cleaner (James Dyson) and even be a phone a friend on "Who wants to be a Millionaire"..........
"I appreciate having studied the Classics so much that I wish that I had the power to influence/persuade the curriculum writers in my district to make the study of Latin mandatory for all students. I see the study of Latin as one possible remedy for the plummeting SAT verbal scores." -English teacher |
Learning Latin
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