Most high-achieving students would love to improve their English vocabulary. They know that a better understanding of the meaning and spelling of English words will lead to higher grades in a wide range of subjects and (perhaps more important to most learners and their parents) MUCH higher scores on standardized tests like the SAT and ACT. In fact, a broad and detailed understanding of English vocabulary is (probably more than anything else) what separates the highest-achieving students from the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It isn’t surprising that a good vocabulary is closely associated with improved academic achievement, but what most students and parents may not realize is that one of the best and easiest ways to learn and retain English vocabulary is through the study of Latin. Since the roots of English lie largely in Latin, gaining a solid understanding of the elements and logic of its vocabulary leads to a far better understanding of English vocabulary. This makes it much easier for the student to learn a wide range of English words and even guess (quite accurately) the meaning of words he or she has never seen before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But why is Latin such a great tool for learning English vocabulary? How exactly does this work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First of all, about 56 percent of English words are derived from Latin, either directly or through French, so the vocabulary link between the two languages is quite strong. (Finkenstaedt 1973; Xiao 2020) In addition, the Latin-derived words in English (unlike Latin-derived words in most other languages) have been purposely Latinized, their spellings largely conforming to the original Latin spelling, making it quite obvious which specific Latin word each English word was derived from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But how exactly does this help students understand the MEANINGS of English words? Well, the real key lies in the way Latin words are constructed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most Latin words were assembled from a limited number of smaller pieces–combinations of more basic Latin words, or combinations of stems or bases and a small number of prefixes. Knowing the meanings of these pieces allows the student to guess the meaning of the larger Latin word quite accurately, which is then carried over to the related English word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A couple examples should make this clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The English word “invisible” comes from the Latin word: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“invisibilis, -e\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which is a combination of the fourth principal part of the verb:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“video, videre, vidi, VISUS” (which means \u201csee\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plus the prefix \u201cin-\u201d (which means \u201cnot\u201d),<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cin-\u201d (\u201cnot\u201d) + \u201cvisus\u201d (\u201csee\u201d) = \u201cinvisus\u201d => \u201cinvisible\u201d (\u201cnot seeable\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A basic knowledge of Latin allows students to discover the precise meaning of this English word by taking the meanings of the Latin pieces (the basic verb plus the prefix) and then putting those pieces together into a final combined meaning. This is just one of countless examples of English words whose meaning can be found and understood by digging down into the Latin roots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another example is the English word \u201cmagnanimous\u201d, which comes from the Latin:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cmagnanimus, -a, -um\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a combination of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cmagnus, -a, -um\u201d (\u201cgreat\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201canimus, -i\u201d (\u201csoul\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so together:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cmagnus\u201d (“great”) + \u201canimus\u201d (“soul”) = \u201cmagnanimus\u201d => \u201cmagnanimous\u201d (\u201cgreat-souled\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a good example of Latin’s tendency toward compound words (new words formed by joining together two or more smaller words). Unfortunately, without a minimal understanding of Latin and the meanings of the two common Latin words fused together in the example above the meaning of the related English word will elude most students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The examples above are two of many thousands of English words that can be understood by breaking down the related Latin word into its component parts. Study of Latin reveals the actual roots and logic of English vocabulary and so makes it far easier for the student to learn new English vocabulary words and their meanings. This improves the speed and quality of the student\u2019s English reading and writing and also boosts the student\u2019s SAT\/ACT scores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because most students and parents are unaware that Latin is such an effective shortcut to English-vocabulary mastery, they generally settle for the highly inferior method of straight memorization of English words and their definitions. The reality is that most people are very bad at straight memorization, and since their attempts at memorizing English vocabulary in this way are in general so unsuccessful, the majority of students go into the SAT or ACT with one arm tied behind their backs. Students end up wasting countless hours trying to memorize long lists of vocabulary words that they’re unlikely to remember on test day or, realizing the uselessness of it all, just give up and settle for lower standardized-test scores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These same students, though, with just a couple years of Latin, will improve their English vocabulary knowledge far more than they could through straight memorization. The average human brain is far better at remembering the meanings of a limited number of words and\/or roots that have been seen over and over (as happens with the study of Latin) and then recognizing the pieces when they appear in larger words and in this way understanding the meaning. To most students the word “magnanimous” is just an incomprehensible series of letters and\/or sounds that the student is unlikely to have seen enough to know the meaning of, but to any first-year Latin student the meaning is obvious because he\/she knows the meanings of the component parts. In the same way the meanings of compound English words like “backhand” and “Badlands” are obvious to English speakers who may never have heard or read those words before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, the improved understanding of English vocabulary that comes with the study of Latin isn’t just helpful on standardized tests. It also contributes to long-term success in a variety of subjects and even helps the student at the college level and later on in life. There is a crisis of illiteracy in America. According to a 2017 PIAAC study 54% of American adults read below a sixth-grade level, and only 32% of university freshmen read at a 12th-grade level. (PIACC 2017) In an article in The Atlantic, Columbia professor Nicholas Dames states that many of his students now struggle to comprehend and finish books. Professors at UC Berkeley and Georgetown voice similar concerns in the same article. (Horowitch 2024) Obviously, a major part of the problem is the poor English-vocabulary knowledge of these students, and one of the best and most realistic ways to improve that vocabulary knowledge is to study Latin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Most high-achieving students would love to improve their English vocabulary. They know that a better understanding of the meaning and spelling of English words will lead to higher grades in a wide range of subjects and (perhaps more important to most learners and their parents) MUCH higher scores on standardized tests like the SAT and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[14,13,10,7],"class_list":["post-112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","tag-act","tag-english","tag-sat","tag-vocabulary"],"yoast_head":"\n