So many people are so dismissive of Latin. "When would I ever use it?" they say. However, I have found that the cost, in terms of effort spent learning it, has been repaid in savings of effort many times over, and this in only a few years. Even though I'm actually not all that literate in the language, I feel like the far-future kid in the sci-fi story who figured out that you didn't need a calculator to do arithmetic and upon discovering this felt like he had mystical powers over numbers.
While it may be true that you will probably never write a letter in it or have a conversation in it, the fact remains that in the West, every intellectual system for the last 2000+ years has been founded, devised, or had its largest share of work done by people who spoke Latin.
Not long ago I was forcefully reminded of this several times in one day, which is why it's in my mind right now. I will list some examples that come readily to mind.
The Sciences: The terms you use for almost everything are Latin words, except for the ones that are Greek and the ones that are mixed Latin and Greek. I remember one time in a geology class the professor passed out a sheet of important terms. A friend of mine who was sitting next to me was distraught at the hours of studying ahead of her just to memorize all those terms. Was she annoyed upon finding out that I already knew what they all meant! "To me, those are just what those things are called," I explained. Instead of being arbitrary symbols that seem almost like a hurdle to learning, as they seem to non-Latinists, scientific terminology is more often than not a positive help to me, a valuable shorthand that saves time and effort.
English vocabulary: People judge you by the words you use, and the vast majority the smart-people words come from Latin. The other day I saw in a classroom a big list of SAT vocabulary the teacher had posted on the wall. Every word except for one was a Latin-origin word. I felt sorry for the poor kids who would have to sit down with lists and memorize them as arbitrary sounds and sequences of letters. Memorizing roots is somewhat more efficient, but it didn't afford me the same depth as learning the language itself. Purely aside from pragmatic considerations, having learned Latin, I now perceive English words and indeed the language itself to have a depth and richness I did not experience before. When I see a Latin-origin word, it's like seeing it in 3-D where I only saw it in two before, or color when I had only seen them in black and white. Whereas older books before often seemed to me to use language in a confusing way that took a lot of work to understand, now they seem to use it in a precise and enlightening way. I enjoy the language now more than ever, and I enjoyed it a lot before.
English Grammar: All your grammar terminology are belong to us Latinists. Want to guess why? This is another case where the names of things can be a confusing list of arbitrary memorization, or just what those things are called. Also, if you familiar with Latin grammar, English is a snap. And when it is advantageous to use "me" and "whom" properly, you will understand how. Some German friends of mine told me that they had the same sort of epiphany with German after taking Greek.
Foreign Languages: Latin is the basis for the Romance languages. Everything I said about English goes for them, only more so (except that they don't have the Anglo-Saxon/Latin dichotomy thing going on the way we do). Also, learning other languages that use cases is probably not so bad once you learn one.
History: I often hear serious students complain to me that their research is impeded by their non-knowledge of Latin. Latin used to be the language of scholarship, and not everything has been translated. I myself once had to do some research for an English paper and the only edition McKeldin Library had of the book I needed was in Latin.
Roman Catholic Liturgy: Want a better understanding of the prayers of the Mass? To participate outwardly when in international settings? Better learn some Latin.
Catholic Doctrine: Want extra insights? The terminology thing I've been talking about definitely goes here - the Fathers and Doctors of the Church spent a great deal of effort in coming up with terminology and doctrinal formulas. Often multiple senses of the words were intended. Learning Latin will help you understand Latinitas, which will help you understand how the Church works.
That's just the utility angle of it. So if I seem to be always talking about Latin and how great it is, you see that I'm not just doing so idly.
My only regret about learning Latin is that I didn't learn it earlier. I wish it had been whipped into me during grammar school.
Posted by: Kevin Jones | January 13, 2007 at 03:28 PM