In honor of Julius Caesar who met his demise on this day and for all students of Latin...?

Question

Latin is a dead language
It's plain enough to see
It killed off all the Romans
And now it's killing me?

Does this take you back just a little?

Answer 1

Latin can be a killer, can't it? My brother, sister, and I took two years of high school Latin back in the late 1950's and early 1960's. At that time, it was the only foreign language offered at my tiny high school, and we knew we needed a foreign language for college admission. Even though I remember little of what I learned, the knowledge of prefixes, suffixes, and root words has helped me over the years. It is amazing how much Latin helped me with my English vocabulary (and to pass the vocabulary portion of the SATs).
There is one other serious advantage to Latin. Since it is a dead language and no longer spoken, you don't have to be graded on your accent and probably don't have a lot of oral class work. My son took Spanish, and even though he always did well on the written, he really struggled with the oral presentations.

Answer 2

Yes, all the way back to high school Latin (a long time ago), where I learned enough to appreciate this mock conjugation of the verb "to spit":

spitto
spittere
achtui
splattus

(Compare to the actual conjugation of "fero.")

Answer 3

LATIN IS STILL ALIVE WHAT ABOUT ALL THE SCHOOL MOTOS