WHY STUDY LATIN?
Latin teaches us a great deal about English and significantly enhances the student’s powers of expression. 
About 80% of English vocabulary is derived from Latin and Greek. Students of Latin score high on English vocabulary tests. Latin greatly refines the student’s understanding of grammar, which carries over into English.
Latin develops and deepens the student’s understanding of and appreciation for literature. A doorway is opened to outstanding classical literature including Virgil and Homer. The student’s understanding of English literature grows because great English literature is filled with classical allusions and a student who understands these develops keener insights.
Latin provides an understanding of classical culture's impact on our modern/postmodern culture. It is evident in small things like wedding rings, dollar signs, and names for constellations and planets. We see it also in politics and government, art and architecture. These, and much more, can be traced to classical origins.
Latin trains the student in the essentials of scientific method: observation, comparison, and generalization. Students of Latin are equipped in a methodology of rigorous analysis. This ability is subsequently expanded beyond Latin. Latin trains minds to encounter unfamiliar material with success, whether in science or another discipline.
Latin is a paradigm language, providing a wonderful foundation for the study of modern languages and other ancient languages. Direct descendants of Latin are Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian. Students learn how inflected languages work, such as German, Russian and Greek.
From the NY Times Op-Ed Page
SAT Scores for College Bound Students
Studies conducted by the Educational Testing Service show that Latin students consistently outperform all other students on the verbal portion of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT).
| |
|
1999 |
|
200 |
|
2001 |
|
2002 |
|
2003 |
|
2004 |
|
2005 |
|
2006 |
| Latin |
|
662 |
|
665 |
|
665 |
|
666 |
|
672 |
|
674 |
|
681 |
|
672 |
|
| All Students |
|
505 |
|
505 |
|
506 |
|
504 |
|
507 |
|
508 |
|
508 |
|
503 |
| French |
|
632 |
|
636 |
|
633 |
|
637 |
|
638 |
|
642 |
|
643 |
|
637 |
| German |
|
623 |
|
621 |
|
625 |
|
622 |
|
626 |
|
627 |
|
637 |
|
632 |
| Spanish |
|
590 |
|
589 |
|
583 |
|
581 |
|
575 |
|
575 |
|
573 |
|
577 |
| Hebrew |
|
636 |
|
623 |
|
628 |
|
629 |
|
628 |
|
630 |
|
620 |
|
623 |
1999-2005 Taken from Table 6 in College-Bound Seniors — A Profile of SAT Program Test Takers. 2006 data taken from 2006 College-Bound Seniors-Total Group Profile Report.
College Grade Point Averages
A study of freshman college student performance conducted by the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1985 yielded the following results:
| Language |
Overall GPA |
| Latin Students |
2.89 |
| No Foreign Language |
2.58 |
| Spanish Students |
2.76 |
| German Students |
2.77 |
| French Students |
2.78 |
Reading Achievement
In the District of Columbia, elementary school students who studied Latin developed reading skills that were five months ahead of those who studied no foreign language and four months ahead of those who studied French or Spanish. Two years earlier, the same students had been excluded from foreign language classes because of substandard reading performance.
Vocabulary Skills
In Philadelphia, students in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades received 15 to 20 minutes of daily instruction in Latin for one year. The performance of the Latin students was one full year higher on the Vocabulary Subtest of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) than the performance of matched control students who had not studied Latin.
Math Problem Solving
Sixth-grade students in Indianapolis who studied Latin for 30 minutes each day for five months advanced nine months in their math problem solving abilities. In addition, the students exhibited the following advances in other areas:
- Eight months in world knowledge
- One year in reading
- Thirteen months in language
- Four months in spelling
- Five months in science
- Seven months in social studies
Latin is the key to the vocabulary and structure of the Romance languages and to the structure of all the Teutonic languages, as well as to the technical vocabulary of all the sciences and to the literature of the entire Mediterranean civilization,
together with all its historical documents.
- Dorothy Sayers