Curriculum Benchmarks: Latin
[The focus of this post is Latin, but nearly every argument in favor of Latin applies with equal force to Greek.]
Advocating the study of Latin is met with a large degree of skepticism. Latin is a “dead language.” Kids need to learn to speak languages that help in business, like Spanish, French, or even Chinese.
From this cultural myopia Latin sets us free.
First, let us acknowledge that kids taking two years of Spanish or French in high school are not in fact learning Spanish or French. They learn a little bit, certainly, but the modern approach to teaching foreign languages is a token effort at best. High school is far too late to truly begin learning a language. So any supposed business benefit ignores the reality, it’s a benefit on paper only.
But second, Latin is the king for which Spanish, French, and Italian are princes. These languages were derived from Latin. Learning Latin gives a student access to all three, and often in a way far superior to the modern approach to language instruction. Learning Latin is the best point of entry for learning modern romance languages.
Further still, learning Latin is the best way to learn English, history, geography, science, etc. We call K-6th grammar school, and we call it grammar school because the focus is on mastering grammar. That refers to the literal grammar of English, but it also refers to the basic language of every subject. Each subject requires a significant degree of terminology. Learning that grammar significantly aids in mastery of the subject.
Latin grammar doesn’t only help students master Latin, it helps them integrate and master every other subject. The terminology of those subjects is significantly influenced by Latin, just as English itself owes a debt to Latin. The best way to learn English is Latin. The leg up in every discipline is Latin. Words like “mammal,” “ocean,” and “virus” derive from Latin. Degrees are still awarded as “cum laude,” “magna cum laude,” and “summa cum laude.”
Writing Latin off as a dead language ignores the reality of the very language we speak. Well-meaning but misguided attempts to boil education down to the tyranny of the immediate are doomed to fail. Present needs will always change before education can catch up to them. That is why it’s worth educating students in something that lasts, something that transcends the need of the moment. The glory of Latin is that it does not keep up with the times.
Latin is the driving force of our grammar school. It is the grammar of grammar school. And, along with Holy Scripture, it is the subject that every other subject shares in common.
