Why do they teach latin in middle school, if no one speaks it anymore?

Question

Im learning it, and I don't see the point.....

im not talking about the history just they language. Like vocab, and pronuciation.

Answer 1

Why are they teaching history, since all those guys are already dead? And why are they teaching geometry, since there are no real squares and circles in the world?

Now, seriously, Latin is to English (partially) what ancient history is to modern-day English or American society. Besides, you'll be surprised to see how many new things you will understand once you know some Latin (eg, lots of special notions in English) - not to mention that Latin is the key to most of the modern Latin languages - you'll be able to understand a lot of French, Italian, Spanish etc. Besides, it's a really orderly language, you have really few exceptions to the rules, and besides, you don't have to listen to those stupid recordings of native speakers introducing themselves and talking about their families, friends, school and hobbies (...even though, who knows how they teach Latin in middle school... not to mention that the language isn't completely dead yet...).

All in all, being able to understand at least one more language beside your native one is a very important experience, and Latin is really one of the easiest to learn.

Answer 2

Any foreign language will teach you something about linguistics and human thought, even a dead one. Speakers of only English have no concept of the verb conjugations and noun declensions other languages use, or of the differences in syntax that show how ideas are put together in another language.

Latin was the language of literature, law, medicine, science and religion for centuries after it died among the people. Most technical terms from those disciplines have either Latin or Greek roots. Knowing even a little of the vocabulary helps us understand English better. It also gives us clues about the Romance languages that descended from Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian. Even if you don't become fluent, familiarity with Latin is a good springboard for many other languages, as well as the science of languages.

Answer 3

It's difficult to see the point when in the midst of studying Latin, but really, carry on and you'll find it worth your while. Even if you decide never to study another language, you will have learned the origin of many English words and the fact that there is a different grammatical arrangement in Latin will introduce you to new ways of thinking.

There are a great many historical and scholarly works written in Latin, so knowing how to read Latin opens a great many doors for research.

One more benefit is that should you decide that you'd like to learn French, or Italian, or Spanish, or any other "Romance' language, you'll be well equipped to grasp the grammar.

I remember that my Latin teacher used to visit Italy often, and although she never studied Italian, did very well with Latin.

Soldier on, it's worth the work.

Answer 4

Well, there are several reasons. Knowing Latin helps out with English grammar (I never really got grammar until I knew Latin), and good grammar is fundamental in writing, which you'll be doing a lot if you go to college.

Familiarity with Latin is also helpful if you should ever want to learn a romance language (i.e. French, Spanish, Italian, Portugeuse, etc.), as they are all daughter languages to Latin.

Latin, and other inflected languages, can also help with critical thinking skills. Putting together a sentence in Latin, especially one of the longer ones you encounter if you ever read the real Roman authors, is a lot more like putting together a puzzle than English is (in English, the order of words makes meaning clear; in Latin, one must look to the words and how they relate to each other through inflection in order to decipher the meaning of what's being said). That's why a lot of classics majors end up in law school - law schools like them because it's a safe bet they know how to think critically and solve problems better than your average polisci graduate.

Answer 5

Most, if not all, medical terms are from Latin. Latin words are used in many different facets of society today and the reason being is that Latin is a "dead" language, which means it will never change. Hence it is perfect to use in medicine or science, etc. It is very useful for further education at the University level, but if not taught early enough, then it is a major learning to impossible curve that the students face in University.

Answer 6

It's the root of most languages.

Learning a foreign language also teaches students how to develop stronger writing skills through a better understanding of how their language is formed, and mingles with other languages.

Latin is known as a "Romantic Language" and the French, Spanish, and Italian are closely related to Latin.

Answer 7

I didn't know they still taught it in middle school. Its the basis for so many languages. If you know Latin you can learn Spanish and French more easily. Plus, many of our words are derrived from Latin and have latin roots. If you know Latin, you can know the meaning of words that you may have never heard before just by knowing what the latin meaning is for the root. Its a great language to know for sat's and gre's. Most of the English part of the exam is based on words from mythology and Latin.

Answer 8

Latin is the basis for many other languages including English, French, Spanish and Italian. I took it in middle school and through high school and it honestly helped me a great deal- on the SATs as well as in my Italian classes in college. If you don't know a word, you'll find yourself figuring it out based on its Latin roots, so even though it seems silly to learn a "dead" language, it really is beneficial!

Answer 9

Because it's used a lot in the medical field. Also, if you are truly interested in learning more of the latin based languages, it's very helpful to see where so many of the words derive from. You're making me want to learn Latin now! =)

Answer 10

Latin makes up the foundation of our language. You'd be surprised how many English words you will understand, even if you don't know the exact definition, just because you learned the latin roots, prefixes and suffixes.

It's a good thing to know, and will allow you to demonstrate a higher level of education, intelligence, and fluency in the language.