Lovin' Latin

When I was in college I took a couple of years of Latin. I don't remember much except to say that very often I hear a word and intuitively know its meaning because of past memories of Latin. My wife and I homeschool our kids and try to teach as close as we can to the Classical Model. Latin is the foundation of the classical education model. In all honesty, my kids don't really like it and don't see the benefit of it. Most folks I talk to feel the same way. The most common argument is that it is a dead language.

On the contrary, as my college prof told us, Latin has all kinds of benefits today. He said that if you could learn Latin very well, you could go to any country which speaks one of the romance languages and pretty well read their newspapers. Granted, he wasn't promising miracles, but he said that with a good grasp of Latin, you could get the gist of what was being said.

Alas and alack, I have not kept up with my Latin, although I have taken my kids textbooks and hope to dabble in them a bit. I came across the following words recently at St. Stephen's Musings and these have further confirmed to me the benefits of Latin. Actually, he is quoting from Dorothy Sayers:

"I will say at once, quite firmly, that the best grounding for education is Latin grammar. I say this not because Latin is traditional and medieval, but simply because even a rudimentary knowledge of Latin cuts down the labor and pains of learning almost any other subject by at least 50 percent."

Karl at St. Stephen's Musings also points to this link from the National Committed for Latin and Greek on why you should study Latin. I would also point you to the articles page at Memoria Press for more info on the benefits of the study of Latin.

I bring this up to especially encourage homeschoolers to consider the study of Latin in their programs and also to encourage private Christian schools to offer Latin. This will definitely give our kids a leg up in their studies, so why not?