Why study latin?

Question

The only reason I can think of is to be a doctor, or the pope, so why study latin?

Answer 1

It has endless uses.
It is a valuable tool for studying any of the Romance languages (careers: translator, interpreter, academic, banking, insurance, foreign exchange dealing, etc. etc. etc.)
It helps immeasurably when it comes to understanding the grammatical structure of your own language and an ever present help when you come across new vocabulary. (careers: journalism, politics, publishing, editing, etc. etc.)
It is so useful for lawyers that it used to be a requirement for the study of law. In fact, it is hard to see how any European lawyer without any knowledge of Latin would get by! (careers: the law).
It is very useful to scientists when it comes to learning scientific nomenclature. (careers: botanist, zoologist, etc. etc.)
It is a wonderful tool to archaeologists and other historians. (careers: archaeology, museum curator, historian, etc. etc.)
It is very enjoyable in itself. And I've actually found myself in situations where it was the only lingua franca and had to be used for purposes of communication.

Answer 2

There are several reasons I can think of which have nothing to do with medicine or religion. One is that the study of Latin is a good preparation for learning other Romance languages. Another is that Latin has influenced, either directly or through French, the English language.

There is much fascinating literature and history written in Latin. Much legal language is derived from Latin.

Studying any language provides the learner with a new perspective and new modes of thought.

Answer 3

If you have any inerest in languages at all, including English, studying Latin is one of the best things you can do.

Latin was the basis of many current European languages (Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, and a potful of others - the Romance languages), so a good base in Latin makes those languages easier to learn.

Learning other languages beyond the Romance ones is also made easier with a base in Latin. Latin introduces you to conjugation and declension, which are virtually absent in English but routine in many, many other languages.

English itself is heavily Latin-based as far as words themselves go. English is a Germanic language and keeps that as a skeleton, but the words that flesh it out are Latin. Look at today's video games and audio systems. Video is perfect Latin - it means 'I see'. Audio is also pure Latin - 'I hear'. Knowing the Latin roots can help you understand the meanings of their English derivatives and the slight differences that exist between two or three words that mean almost the same thing.

Finally, impress your friends. When you're upset with someone, you can tell him Perite! Or if you think something is ridiculous, you can shout out Spucatum Tauri!

Answer 4

1. latin is the basis for much of the languages in the western hemisphere. not the only basis, but a large part of the language foundation.
2. latin can teach the structure/usage without worry of change. it is a dead language. it will not have 'new' words added to it's vocabulary. there may be new combinations but not new roots.
3. learning latin can greatly improve your ability to read/understand english words, as well as allowing you to read some of the great classical works in their original language.
4. latin can give insight into the cultures of the past (and present through interpolation)


here is more info:
http://www.promotelatin.org/latin.htm
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/whystudyclassics/a/whystudylatin.htm
http://community.middlebury.edu/~harris/whylatin.html

Answer 5

Many languages derived from Latin:

French
Spanish
Portuguese
Romanian
Italian

To have a better understanding of any of these languages you could study Latin.

Also, Zoologists as well as Biologists, and maybe Chemists need Latin.

Answer 6

When you study Latin that is the basic beggining of our language. Etymology is very important if you want to do well in school and how words are constructed. I know it sounds boring but it isn't.

Answer 7

Latin is a good help for learning another languages, as it gives a good insight into indoeuropean grammar.
Furthermore, it is required for fields such as history, religion (theology), law, philosohy, basically, for a number of liberal arts.
Depending on where one does study it, some university language disciplines (french, german) might have latin as a prerequirement.

Answer 8

really i think that is the only reason to or being a chemistry major