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  • “Why Study Latin?” Series — Reason #5: Modern Language Learning

    “Why Study Latin?” Series — Reason #5: Modern Language Learning

    A Solid Foundation in Latin Boosts Modern-Language Success

    Like much in this series, this may seem counterintuitive, but in fact, one of the best ways (if not THE VERY BEST way) to achieve long-term success in a modern language is to study the Latin language first. Obviously, starting with Latin may seem like a weird detour when your real goal is to learn a completely different language, but decades of experience in both learning and teaching ancient and modern languages have convinced me that this is the best route for most students. 

    The vast majority (well above 95%) of English speakers who study a modern language never achieve even minimal fluency in the language, most quitting before they’ve learned even the basics. It isn’t that these students are incapable of learning (or are lazy), but that they’re being taught the language in a short-sighted and ineffective way.

    Conventional modern-language curriculum ignores grammar as much as it possibly can, instead emphasizing an intuitive understanding of the language built up through long-term repetition. I will admit, since the sentence structure of most modern European languages is so close to that of English, this approach CAN work to some degree. Still, it’s far from the best (and most efficient) way to go about it. In fact, students learn languages far more quickly and effectively (and are far more likely to be successful long term) if they develop a detailed understanding of the grammar and vocabulary-logic of both English and the language they’re learning. And the best way to achieve this (BY FAR) is through the study of Latin.

    Latin Teaches Grammar

    Long-term study of Latin compels students to learn not just the grammar of Latin itself but, by extension, the grammar of English and most other modern European languages. Latin students develop both 1) an awareness of the very existence of grammar and 2) a solid knowledge of specific grammar categories. And even though the grammar of the modern language will not match Latin or English exactly (it will be the same in some ways and different in others), because Latin is so good at revealing the “skeleton” of not just Latin and English but language in general, the student will now be able to identify the similarities and differences between various languages FAR more easily. A student who has previously studied Latin will learn another language’s rules of grammar FAR more easily on account of this awareness of universal grammar categories.

    Modern-Language Curriculum Avoids Grammar

    A solid understanding of grammar is a tremendous shortcut for the student, allowing him or her to learn, retain, and apply concepts far more easily. Unfortunately, most modern-language curriculum includes very limited grammar instruction. The reason for this should be obvious to most language teachers — very few 21st-century students have had even minimal previous instruction in the elements and rules of English grammar and for this reason will find it quite challenging to learn new grammar concepts. Because of this, curriculum creators know that, if they do teach grammar in a real way, most students will quickly become frustrated and likely quit the course.

    Course creators can, as I said, get away with avoiding grammar to some degree because of the grammatical similarities between English and other modern European languages. Students can lean on their intuitive “understanding” of sentence structure since the new language will have pretty much the same structure as English. Unfortunately, the flipside of this poor understanding of grammar is a permanent limitation on students’ long-term progress.

    Avoiding Grammar Limits Student Success

    Without a complex and detailed understanding of grammar it’s very difficult for students to achieve anything resembling fluency in a language. I’m not saying that students who are native speakers of one modern language can’t learn another modern language without this understanding. In fact, many students do, particularly those in Europe (most of whom are learning English). But these students learn within a very different system, one that mandates the continuous study of the language over MANY years alongside their peers. Because so many students are learning the same language (English more than any other), it is relatively easy for the student to practice speaking it and optimize the intuitive method. I would argue, though, that they’re still making it far more difficult than it needs to be. An advanced understanding of grammar would accelerate learning AND allow the student to reach a much higher level in the language.

    Students Never Get Beyond a “Broken” Version of the Language

    Most students of modern languages (even the ones who achieve some level of fluency) never get beyond a “broken” version of the language, continuing to make very elementary mistakes even after decades. In fact, these students are essentially incapable of correcting these mistakes because they have little to no understanding of grammar. They tend to impose their native language and its idioms onto the non-native one, creating their own unique version of the language. Their non-specific, intuitive “understanding” becomes a barrier limiting how well they speak and write the language. This is an even bigger issue when the grammar of the native language is significantly different from the grammar of the one the student is learning.

    Latin Corrects This Grammar Deficiency

    Native English-speaking students who first take Latin THEN a modern language tend to be far more successful in the modern language than other students since they’ve already developed a deep and complex understanding of grammar. This makes up for many of the grammar shortcomings of the modern-language curriculum, giving the student a framework for the language that allows him or her to achieve fluency and understanding. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that previous Latin instruction combined with typical modern-language curriculum will almost always be MORE effective than modern-language curriculum with grammar instruction integrated into it. Latin teaches students the elements of grammar FAR better than other languages BECAUSE its overall logic and sentence structure are so different from modern languages. This contrast between the structure of English and Latin makes it impossible for students to rely on their intuitive “understanding” of language. They are forced to develop a detailed, conscious understanding, which in the end is what they need the most.

    Latin Improves Modern-Language Vocabulary

    A good knowledge and understanding of Latin vocabulary provides tremendous insight into the vocabulary of modern Romance languages like Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian. As I discussed in my “English Vocabulary” article, Latin reveals the meanings of words in English and many other modern languages through its word-construction patterns, combining simpler Latin words together into larger compound words or basic Latin verbs with a limited number of prefixes. Latin students’ understanding of these patterns allows them to guess and remember the meanings of Latin words as well as the Romance-language words derived from them. This turns memorization of vocabulary, the bane of most students’ existence, into something far more manageable.

    Since English is a Romance/Germanic combination language, with the majority of its words derived from Latin, a solid knowledge of Latin vocabulary creates a direct link between much of the vocabulary of English and the Romance language. At the same time, though — and this is a surprise to most people — a solid knowledge of Latin vocabulary may be even MORE helpful for linking Germanic-derived English words with their modern-Romance-language translations.

    For example (one among MANY), the English verb “understand” can be translated into the Latin:

    “intendo, intendere, intendi, intentum” 

    Which combines the basic Latin verb:

    “tendo, tendere, tendi, tentum” (which means “extend” or “direct”)

    With the Latin prefix:

    “in-” (which means “in”, “toward”, or “upon”)

    And so:

    “in” (“toward”) + “tendo” (“direct”) => “intendo” (“direct [the mind] toward” = “understand”)

    Understanding how this Latin word was constructed from a basic Latin verb and prefix makes it far easier for the student to learn and remember its meaning (considering that it has no direct linguistic connection to its common English translation) and better understand the corresponding word in a modern Romance language. The following chart shows the equivalent words (which are all translated “understand”) in several other Romance languages:

    English: “understand”

    Latin: “intendere”

    Spanish: “entender”

    Portuguese: “entender”

    French: “entendre”

    It’s easy to see how the Spanish, Portuguese, and French versions came from Latin, but the average student will still have no idea why these words mean “understand”. Over time, as these three Romance languages evolved from Latin to their current state, the clear structure of the word (verb stem + prefix), with the well-understood meaning of each part, was lost. For this reason most native English speakers’ only option is to memorize the translation of “understand” (and countless other words) in the modern language without the help of any structural understanding. Of course, most people are VERY bad at straight memorization, which is one of the reasons most native English speakers fail in their attempt to learn another language. Students who have taken Latin, though, understand WHY this verb means what it means, creating a mental chain between the English word and the translation in the other language that makes learning and remembering the word MUCH easier.

    “Understand” <=> “direct [the mind] toward” <=> “in + tendere” <=> “intendere” <=> “entender” 

    Latin Is the Key to Modern-Language Success

    Study of Latin is the key to understanding the grammar AND vocabulary of Romance languages. Without this understanding the average student will have a MUCH harder time progressing in the modern language and retaining what he/she has learned. In my mind Latin is the true solution to the crisis of modern-language learning in the English-speaking world.

    Check out the main article in this series: Why Study Latin?


  • “Why Study Latin?” Series — Reason #4: SAT and ACT Scores

    “Why Study Latin?” Series — Reason #4: SAT and ACT Scores

    Latin Boosts SAT and ACT Scores

    While long-term Latin study has a variety of benefits, one in particular is most likely to get the attention of high-achieving students and parents — a significant increase in SAT and ACT scores. In previous articles in this series I’ve outlined precisely how Latin study improves students’ understanding and command of English vocabulary and grammar, which the SAT and ACT test in a very direct way. (In fact, students without a large English vocabulary and in-depth understanding of English grammar can’t possibly score well on the verbal part of these standardized tests.) I’ve also discussed how study of the Latin language develops students’ logical-thinking skills — which is also essential for success on these standardized tests. The structure and logic of the Latin sentence is so different from that of English that the process of translating sentences from Latin to English and English to Latin is necessarily quite complex. And while this makes Latin a more challenging language to learn (especially early on), this built-in complexity is hugely positive for the growth of students’ lateral-thinking abilities. Being forced to identify, apply, and reorganize a wide range of individual rules of grammar and information-points forces students to develop advanced logical-thinking skills. And unlike a broad knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, which is really only helpful on the verbal portion of the test, excellent logical-thinking skills give the student a huge boost on BOTH the verbal AND math sections of the SAT and ACT.  

    Students who’ve studied Latin for at least a year will see significant improvement in the following three areas:

    1) English Vocabulary
    2) English Grammar
    3) Logical-Thinking Skills

    Obviously, growth in these areas is beneficial to the student in myriad ways, making him or her far more successful not just in other subjects in school but later on in life in general. One specific (and important) benefit of these skill sets is improved performance on the SAT and ACT standardized tests. In fact, in my experience there’s nothing a student can do that’s more effective for boosting SAT/ACT scores than to study Latin.

    In the following article I’ll explain precisely how a solid knowledge of Latin improves students’ command of each of these three areas, then demonstrate how each plays a part in boosting standardized-test scores.

    English Vocabulary

    Approximately 56% of words in English are derived from Latin words, either directly borrowed from Latin or passed down through French. (Finkenstaedt 1973; Xiao 2020) In addition, many of the words in English with a Latin origin were later purposely Latinized, their spellings made to conform to the spellings of their Latin “parents”. These two characteristics of English allow students with a solid knowledge of Latin vocabulary to learn and remember English word spellings far more easily. Even more positive, though, is the significant improvement in the understanding of English word meanings. The vast majority of Latin words are combinations of shorter, more basic Latin words or of bases or stems with different prefixes added. The study of these components, their translations, and how they fit together gives Latin students insights into English word meanings that no other language can provide. I’ll do my best to illustrate these points with a couple examples.

    First, let’s look at verb stems and prefixes and how their combination creates new meanings. If we start with the fourth principal part of the following basic Latin verb:

    traho, trahere, traxi, TRACTUS (which means “drag”, “draw”, or “pull”)

    Then add the prefix “ex-” (which means “from” or “out”),

    It becomes:

    “ex-” (“out”) + “tractus” (“pull”) = “extractus” => “extract” (“pull out”)

    But if we switch the prefix to “con-” (which means “together”),

    It becomes:

    “con-” (“together”) + “tractus” (“pull”) = “contractus” => “contract” (“pull together”)

    Or if we switch it to “re-” (which means “back” or “again”),

    It becomes:

    “re-” (“back”) + “tractus” (“pull”) = “retractus” => “retract” (“pull back”)

    And this pattern holds across the entire Latin language. If a student knows the meaning of a basic Latin word and the meanings of a couple dozen Latin prefixes, then the student can quite easily guess the meanings of new verbs formed from a combination of the basic verb and a prefix. This then allows the student to guess the meanings of English words derived from these combination Latin verbs quite accurately. 

    Second, let’s take a look at how the meanings of non-verb Latin words compounded from multiple basic Latin words can also be guessed quite easily.  

    A good example is the English noun “equilibrium”, which comes from the Latin noun:

    “aequilibrium, -i”

    This is a combination of the adjective:

    “aequus, -a, -um” (“equal” or “even”)

    And the noun:

    “libra, -ae” (“balance”).

    And so together:

    “aequus” (“equal”) + “libra” (“balance”) = “aequilibrium” => “equilibrium” (“equal balance”)

    Another example is the English adjective “multilateral”, which comes from the Latin adjective:

    “multilateralis, -e”

    This is a combination of the adjective:

    “multus, -a, -um” (“many” or “much”)

    And the noun:

    “latus, lateris” (“side”).

    And so together:

    “multus” (“many”) + “lateris” (“side”) = “multilateralis” => “multilateral” (“many-sided”)

    This combining of multiple words into new longer words or of basic verbs with a limited number of prefixes is characteristic of the Latin language. And since the Latin student can’t help but develop an understanding of these patterns over time, it becomes extremely easy for him or her to guess the meanings of compound Latin words (and their English derivatives) accurately and with little effort. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that gaining an understanding of how Latin vocabulary works while simultaneously learning the meanings of a relatively small number of basic Latin words is the EASIEST and MOST EFFECTIVE way to expand one’s English vocabulary. As you might guess, this deeper understanding of Latin (and related English) vocabulary is a huge boon to any student looking to raise his or her SAT/ACT verbal test scores.

    English Grammar

    One of the best ways (if not the VERY best way) to learn the subtleties of English grammar is by studying Latin. Because the logic of a Latin sentence is so different from that of an English sentence, students are forced to move beyond their vague, intuitive understanding of grammar toward a clear, conscious understanding — translating between these two languages would be impossible otherwise. Most modern European languages, on the other hand, have a sentence structure so similar to that of English that students are (unfortunately) never forced to move very far beyond an intuitive understanding of sentence structure and grammar. 

    The following is a summary of the four basic English sentence templates. Though there are many variations, every English sentence or clause will fit into one of these four.

    1) subject – action verb – direct object – “to” – indirect object

    Ex.: “A man gives a present to the woman.”

    2) subject – action verb – indirect object – direct object

    Ex.: “A man gives the woman a present.”

    3) subject – linking verb – predicate nominative

    Ex. “The man is a teacher.”

    4) subject – linking verb – predicate adjective

    Ex.: “The man is tall.”

    English speakers have an intuitive understanding of these four templates, knowing the role that each noun has in the sentence by its position in the template. A Latin sentence, on the other hand, has a completely different structure and logic. Latin has all the same roles for nouns (subject, indirect object, direct object, possessive, etc.), but the role of a noun isn’t determined by its position in the sentence. Rather, the ending on the noun, which varies according to the noun’s case and number (singular or plural), determines the role. This concept becomes clearer in the following example.

    English Sentence: “The girl gives the girls a girl of the girls.”

    Latin Translation: “Puella dat puellis puellam puellarum.”

    I’ve used the same noun several times in this sentence as a way to make the structural differences between the two languages a bit clearer. As demonstrated in the four templates above, English indicates the role of each noun by its position in the sentence and/or an introductory word or words (e.g., “of”). The subject precedes the verb, the direct and indirect objects follow the verb, and the possessive is preceded by the word “of”. Latin, on the other hand, indicates the role of each noun by its ending. (“Puell-a” = subject; “puell-is” = indirect object; “puell-am” = direct object; “puell-arum” = possessive.) The upshot of this very different method of indicating the role of each noun is that the pieces of a Latin sentence don’t need to be in any particular order, and therefore the following variations on the Latin sentence all have the exact same meaning:

    “Puella dat puellis puellam puellarum.”

    “Puellarum puellam puella puellis dat.”

    “Dat puella puellam puellarum puellis.”

    “Puellis dat puellam puellarum puella.”

    And these are just some of the possible Latin translations! As you might guess, this structural difference makes it impossible for the student to translate between Latin and English without an extremely clear idea of the grammar of both languages. For this reason, Latin students have a far better grasp of English grammar overall than students of modern languages, and so tend to score much higher on the SAT and ACT verbal sections.

    Logical Skills

    Because translation from Latin to English (and vice versa) requires transporting meaning from a sentence with one type of structure to one with a completely different type of structure, the student is forced not just to acquire a detailed understanding of both but also to develop some very advanced logical skills. Unlike translation between English and most modern European languages, which doesn’t require the English-speaking student to move outside of an intuitive understanding of sentence structure, translation between English and Latin necessitates the comprehension and application of a wide range of grammatical rules in the context of a complex and ever-changing process.  

    This complex process of translation between Latin and English must be learned gradually over the course of years, and while this is clearly a significant time commitment, the benefits are great. Not only does the student learn the subtleties of English grammar and vocabulary far better than he or she would through study of a modern language, but at the same time, that student is forced to develop logical problem-solving skills that will make a huge difference on both parts (verbal AND math) of the SAT and ACT, raising the student’s scores significantly.

    Check out the main article in this series: Why Study Latin?

    References

    1. Finkenstaedt, Thomas; Wolff, Dieter (1973). Ordered Profusion: Studies in Dictionaries and the English Lexicon. C. Winter. p. 119. ISBN 3-533-02253-6.
    2. Xiao, Xiao (2020). “The study of loanwords in English”. Journal of Contemporary Educational Research. 4 (12): 36–43.

  • “Why Study Latin?” Series — Reason #2: English Grammar

    “Why Study Latin?” Series — Reason #2: English Grammar

    Latin Teaches English Grammar

    It’s counterintuitive, but BECAUSE Latin and English grammar are so DIFFERENT from each other in so many ways, Latin actually teaches English grammar far better than modern languages do. In fact, a major reason for the general decline in English-grammar understanding is the steep decline in the number of students studying this ancient language. Latin teaches English grammar effectively because it provides students with a unique grammatical perspective that reveals the structure and logic of the English language, a perspective that most modern European languages don’t provide BECAUSE their sentence structure is so SIMILAR to that of English.

    How It Works

    English and most modern European languages have pretty much the same basic sentence structure. Every English sentence contains (at the very least) a subject and a verb, and may also contain a direct object, indirect object, predicate adjective or predicate nominative, objects of prepositions (in prepositional phrases), and/or possessives. All of these words are nouns (one of the parts of speech, along with adjectives, verbs, prepositions, etc.) except for the verb and predicate adjective.

    English speakers know (though usually only intuitively, not consciously) what “role” a particular noun has in a specific sentence from the position that the noun has in the sentence. The English speaker is able to identify the verb quite easily because it indicates an action (action verb) or a state of being (linking verb). In English the noun that precedes the verb will then have to be the subject of the sentence, and nouns that follow the verb will have to be a direct object or indirect object (if it’s an action verb) or a predicate nominative or predicate adjective (if it’s a linking verb). Possessives and prepositional phrases can be placed pretty much anywhere in the sentence but are easily identified by the way they’re expressed (possessive = “of the noun”, “noun’s”, or “nouns’ “; prepositional phrase = “preposition + the noun”).

    Here is a summary of the four primary English sentence templates. Every English sentence or clause will fit into one of these, though there are many variations within each template.

    1) subject – action verb – direct object – “to” – indirect object

    Ex.: “The boy gives the book to the girl.”

    2) subject – action verb – indirect object – direct object

    Ex.: “The boy gives the girl the book.”

    3) subject – linking verb – predicate nominative

    Ex. “The boy is a student.”

    4) subject – linking verb – predicate adjective

    Ex.: “The boy is smart.”

    As you can see here, we know what role each noun has by its position in the template relative to the verb and the other nouns. The logic of a Latin sentence, on the other hand, is totally different. Latin has the same parts of speech (nouns, adjectives, verbs, prepositions, etc.) and the same roles for nouns (subject, direct object, indirect object, object of preposition, possessive, predicate nominative), but the role of a noun in Latin is determined by its “case”, indicated by the ending on the noun, which changes depending on the case (role) and the number (singular or plural).

    If we translate the following English sentence into Latin, which uses the same noun in a variety of roles and numbers, we see how this works:

    English: “The man gives the men to the man of the men.”

    (subject – action verb – direct object – “to” – indirect object – possessive)

    Latin: “Vir dat viros viro virorum.”

    In the English example we know which noun is the subject, which is the direct object, and which is the indirect object by the position, and we know that the final noun is possessive from the word “of”. In the Latin translation, on the other hand, we know the role of each noun by the ending. And while in the example above I used the same word order in Latin as I used in the English sentence, this isn’t actually necessary because position isn’t needed in Latin to determine role (which is instead determined by the noun’s ending). In fact, the main parts of a Latin sentence can be put in any order. Therefore the sentence above (“Vir dat viros viro virorum”) could be written in any of the following ways:

    “Vir dat viros viro virorum.”

    “Dat vir viros viro virorum.”

    “Virorum viro dat viros vir.”

    “Viros vir viro virorum dat.”

    “Viro virorum viros dat vir.”

    And these are only SOME of the word-order possibilities for this sentence. In fact, the primary elements of the sentence (subject, verb, direct object, indirect object, prepositional phrases) could be in any order and the meaning of the sentence would still remain the same since the endings determine the roles.

    As you can see, this is a VERY different way of structuring sentences compared to English, and a successful Latin student will have no choice but to learn and be able to apply every single rule of grammar relating to the structure of both Latin and English sentences. Over the years I’ve had very few students who genuinely understood the structure of English sentences before they began their study of Latin. After a relatively short time studying Latin, though, they all developed an advanced understanding of English grammar and sentence structure. Students learning languages like Spanish, French, or Italian, on the other hand, end up understanding English barely any better than they did before because the logic of sentence structure is pretty much the same in those languages as it is in English.

    Latin students really have no choice–they HAVE to develop a detailed understanding of English grammar or they won’t be successful in Latin. But what does this mean in real terms? Well, because Latin students are forced to understand the logic and grammar of their native English language, their relationship to English tends to change in the following ways:

    Change #1) Common mistakes in English grammar are greatly reduced in speech and writing.

    An example of a common English mistake is the confusion between subject pronoun forms (I, we, he, she, they) and the corresponding object pronoun forms (me, us, him, her, them). Because the average English speaker has never learned the overall logic of the English sentence and because subject and object forms are exactly the same for all other nouns, he or she may have a hard time understanding why “Bobby and me love sports” is incorrect but “Bobby and I love sports” is correct. Most people end up relying on what they hear the people around them say, even though those people may understand English grammar no better. But because Latin nouns have distinct forms for each role in the sentence, Latin students rapidly learn the difference between subjects and objects, making the correct use of English subject and object pronouns quite easy for them.

    Change #2) Students write English more clearly and efficiently.

    Because Latin students learn the grammar and logic of English better and in more detail than other students, they develop a conscious control of the language that allows them to write in English at a higher level and much more easily. Since they now understand English sentence structure, they’re able to put sentences together with little effort and fewer mistakes. Writing skills are key for every student’s long-term success and should be a central focus of a good education. Unfortunately, the general quality of students’ writing has degenerated over time with changes in educational norms, and in recent years accelerated with the advent of AI (artificial intelligence). If you are a parent who’s concerned about this trend, there’s (in my opinion) only one clear solution–put your student in Latin. People who study Latin acquire the tools and knowledge they need to write English at a high level even if their previous education in English may have been less than ideal.

    Change #3) English reading speed and comprehension are greatly increased.

    As you’d probably guess, Latin improves students’ English reading skills just as much as it improves their writing skills. The understanding of English grammar and structure that comes with the study of Latin makes it far easier for the student to interpret English in an accurate and specxific way. This greater reading competence affects all aspects of the student’s education, making it far easier for him or her to excel in every other subject. There’s been a severe and rapid degradation in recent years in the general literacy of the English-speaking world (due partially to changes in educational models over time and partially to the explosion in the use of AI). If you’d like your student to be the exception, there’s no better and simpler solution than the study of Latin.

    Check out the main article in this series: Why Study Latin?

  • Why Study Latin?

    Why Study Latin?

    What foreign language should my student study?

    If you assert that Latin is not only highly useful but in fact the best foreign-language choice for the vast majority of English-speaking students, the response will (in most cases) be one of skepticism and even mockery. People may respond that Latin is a “dead language” and so useless to the twenty-first century students. If you then ask people what language the student should study instead, they will probably respond with a variation on one of the following:

    1) English is the dominant world language, and so foreign-language-learning (whether modern or ancient) is unnecessary, or

    2) Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, or Arabic are spoken by large numbers of people in the world today, so any of them would be a far better choice than a useless “dead language”.

    Should I even bother to study a foreign language?

    Both of these responses seem reasonable at first. The first response, which (unfortunately) is the dominant attitude of those who control primary and secondary school curriculum and even English-speakers in general, makes sense in a very superficial way. If I already know English, which the rest of the world speaks or is learning to speak anyway, why would I bother to study another language? The second response is typical of a much smaller group of people who are more academically ambitious but still ill-informed. If I do try to learn a foreign language, then shouldn’t it be a language many other people already speak?

    Of course, the reality is that foreign-language education is rarely taken very seriously in the English-speaking world and the number of students who actually learn to speak another language is so low that it’s easy to dismiss the many hundreds of hours students spend on foreign-languages study as a complete waste of time. I would argue, though, that the one language that most definitely ISN’T a waste of time is Latin, and if you’re lucky enough to have a competent teacher, then it’s the best language choice you can possibly make. But why? What does Latin offer the student that other languages can’t or are unlikely to offer?

    1) English Vocabulary

    A better command of English vocabulary is a primary goal of most high-achieving students. These students understand how vital advanced vocabulary knowledge is for their overall academic success in a wide range of subjects (English, writing, history, science, etc.) as well as their success on standardized tests (SAT, ACT, etc.). What they usually don’t understand, though, is that there’s no better and more effective way to achieve this goal than the study of Latin. The roots of English words lie largely in Latin (56% of English words are derived from Latin), and so a strong understanding of Latin vocabulary and the internal logic of Latin words is key to understanding English vocabulary and increasing one’s command of it. (Finkenstaedt 1973; Xiao 2020)

    For more information on this point, please click over to my article on Improved English Vocabulary in the “Why Learn Latin?” Series.

    2) Understanding of English Grammar

    This will seem counterintuitive to most people, but BECAUSE Latin grammar is so different from English grammar in so many ways, it helps students understand English grammar far BETTER than most modern languages do, whose grammar is much closer to that of English than Latin is. The contrast between the sentence structure of English and Latin forces students to get beyond their intuitive understanding of English to a detailed, conscious understanding. In fact, I would argue that the primary reason for the general decline in English-grammar understanding is the simultaneous decrease in the number of students who study Latin. Latin is an excellent teacher of English grammar because, through this very contrast, it reveals the logic and structure of the English language.

    For more details, click over to my article on Improved Understanding of English Grammar in the “Why Learn Latin?” Series.

    3) Logical Skills

    The significant difference in structure between an English and a Latin sentence not only forces the student to understand the grammar of both languages better but also to develop advanced logical skills. When a student translates from Latin to English or English to Latin, that student is transferring the sentence’s meaning from a language with one type of sentence structure to a language with an entirely different one. Because the two languages are so different in this way, the student cannot rely on his/her intuitive understanding of sentence structure. This barrier forces students to get beyond the intuitive and develop a more detailed and conscious understanding of how both structural systems work. The mastery of the process of translation from one language to the other then leads to better overall logical-thinking skills that can be applied to many other subjects and disciplines.

    Click over to my Improved Logical Skills article in the “Why Learn Latin?” Series for a more detailed explanation.

    4) SAT/ACT Scores (Both Verbal and Math)

    The advantages of Latin study are many and various, but the one argument for choosing Latin over other foreign languages that gets students’ and parents’ attention more than any other is the almost certain significant increase in standardized-test scores. Not only does Latin greatly improve the student’s command of English vocabulary and grammar, which on their own drive up SAT or ACT scores for very obvious reasons, but it also gives the student extensive training in the sort of logical-thinking skills that are essential for success on these tests. As I explained in point #3, learning and then applying the complex process of translation from Latin to English or English to Latin forces the student to develop lateral-thinking skills that most students in this day and age never develop. For better or worse a student’s success on the SAT or ACT depends just as much on that student’s general test-taking skills and efficiency as on actual knowledge of English grammar/vocabulary and math, skills that can be learned and applied successfully only if the student has already developed the logical-thinking abilities that Latin is so good at instilling.

    Click over to my Improved SAT Scores (Both Verbal and Math) article in the “Why Learn Latin?” Series to learn more.

    5) Easier to Learn Modern Languages

    It will come as something of a surprise to most students and their parents that one of the best ways to guarantee success in a modern language (like Spanish, French, or even Mandarin Chinese) is to study Latin first. A background in Latin streamlines the study of modern languages and makes it FAR more likely that the student will retain what he/she learns and so achieve actual fluency in the language. As I mentioned above, Latin forces the student to develop both a detailed understanding of grammar and advanced lateral-thinking skills, which are essential for success in modern languages. Unfortunately, standard modern-language instruction does its best to avoid teaching grammar, considering this to be too challenging for the contemporary student. Despite the clear benefits of a deeper, more detailed understanding of the grammar of a modern language, standard curriculum does whatever it can to teach the language while not teaching WHAT the language is, focusing on vague intuitive mastery at the expense of TRUE mastery.

    Check out my Makes It Much Easier to Learn a Modern Language article in the “Why Learn Latin?” Series, where I dive much more deeply into this topic.

    6) Western Literature

    The final reason to study Latin is one that (unfortunately) most students and parents care very little about, though it may be the best argument of all. For almost 2,000 years(all the way up to the nineteenth century) Latin was the common language of the West and so the language of more literature (whether history or fiction or poetry or science) than any other. A student who studies Latin in a serious way and achieves a high level in the language gains direct access to a raft of important literature. And while it’s clearly possible to read these works in translation, understanding the original language gives the reader insights into the text that he/she wouldn’t otherwise have access to. In addition, study of Latin exposes the student to authors and works that he/she would be unlikely to read otherwise. People who have never been exposed to authors like Caesar, Livy, Virgil, or Bede can’t possibly understand how valuable their perspective is and, in general, how vital it is to understand the perspective of ancient and medieval writers if one is to understand the modern world.

    Take a look at Access to 2000 Years of Western Literature in the “Why Learn Latin?” Series for a more detailed analysis of this topic.

    References

    1. Finkenstaedt, Thomas; Wolff, Dieter (1973). Ordered Profusion: Studies in Dictionaries and the English Lexicon. C. Winter. p. 119. ISBN 3-533-02253-6.
    2. Xiao, Xiao (2020). “The study of loanwords in English”. Journal of Contemporary Educational Research. 4 (12): 36–43.