Why Latin?

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Why Latin?
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Why would anyone want to take Latin?

• This is what the adult had said to one of my high
  school students. The student came to class that
  morning and repeated the incident. The adult in
  question had said that Latin was a dead language
  and that it was useless for someone to waste
  time on it. And then the student said I knew
  what he was saying about Latin was not true, but
  I didnt know what to say to him. What should I
  have said?
• What follows is my response to him, or as I would
  like to call it

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Sapientia Secundum Tres Porcellos
Wisdom According to the Three Little Pigs! You
know how this story goes, although its direct
connection to why anyone would want to learn
Latin may take a few minutes to demonstrate.
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Primus porcellus suam domum e stramento
aedificavit.

• The first little pig built his house out of
  straw.
• Magnus malus lupus portam pulsavit Porcelle,
  porcelle, me inire sine!
• A big bad wolf knocked on the door Little pig,
  little pig, let me come in!

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Porcellus respondit Non per comam men-men menti!
The little pig answered Not by the hair of my
chiny-chin-chin!
Lupus Ergo huffabo et puffabo et tuam domum
inflabo!
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Even if you have studied no Latin, you know that
it did not go well for this little pig. It is a
little known fact that the first little pig could
only read on a third grade level. He was not
able to understand the warning label on bundles
of straw from which he built his house . And,
unfortunately, in a world of big bad wolves, a
confused pig is sometimes called dinner!
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What the label saidThis parcel of straw does
not satisfy standards for edifices necessary to
prohibit the entrance of lupine creatures.

• The Words he understood
• This . . . of . . . does not . . . for
• to . . . the . . . of . . .

He had never heard that what you dont know CAN
hurt you!
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Secundus porcellus suam domum e ramis aedificavit.
The second little pig built his house out of
sticks. Magnus malus lupus portam pulsavit
Porcelle, porcelle, me inire sine! A big bad
wolf knocked on the door Little pig, little pig,
let me come in!
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Porcellus respondit Non per comam men-men menti!

• The little pig answered Not by the hair of my
  chiny-chin-chin!

Lupus Ergo huffabo et puffabo et tuam domum
inflabo!
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Well, you know that it did not go well for this
little pig, either. It is also a little known
fact that the second little pig could only read
on a sixth grade level. He was not able to
understand the warning label on bundles of sticks
from which he built his house . And,
unfortunately, in a world of big bad wolves, a
confused pig is more and more often
called--dinner!
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What the label said This parcel of ramification
instruments does not satisfy standards for
edifices necessary to prohibit the entrance of
lupine creatures.

• The Words he understood
• This . . . of instruments. . . does not satisfy.
  . . for . . . necessary
• to prohibit . . . the entrance of . . .

He had never heard that a little knowledge can be
dangerous!
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Tertius porcellus astutus erat et suam domum e
lateribus aedificavit.
The third little pig was astute, and he built his
house out of bricks. Magnus malus lupus portam
pulsavit Porcelle, porcelle, me inire sine! A
big bad wolf knocked on the door Little pig,
little pig, let me come in!
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Porcellus respondit Non per comam men-men menti!

• The little pig answered Not by the hair of my
  chiny-chin-chin!

Lupus Ergo huffabo et puffabo et tuam domum
inflabo!
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Now, remember this little pig was astutusthat
is, he was astute. An often little known fact is
that this third little pig not only read at an
advanced college level, but he had studied Latin
in middle school and high school, and he
understood every word on the warning label that
came with the bricks with which he build his
house. In a world where little pigs are astute
pigs, from time to time they have wolf soup for
dinner!
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What the label said and what the little pig
understood from the Latin roots of the words
This lapidarian (made of stone) material (solid
substance) completely (fills up) satisfies (is
enough) standards (that which stands firm) for
edifices (buildings) necessary (necessary) to
prohibit (to hold back) the entrance (crossing
into) of lupine (pertaining to wolves) creatures
(beings brought forth).
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Why would anyone want to study Latin?
Well, according to the wisdom of the three little
pigs, because its better to eat dinner than to
be dinner!
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Some quick stats

• Many people today say Study Latin because that
  will make your SAT scores go up. And, according
  to recent information, that appears to be true.
  Keep reading.

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Latin Students and the SAT

• In the state of Georgia, Latin students as a
  group do score among the highest on the SAT. That
  is generally true of all students who study world
  languages.
• There is another correlation. The longer
  students study Latin, the higher their SAT scores
  are. Students who studied Latin for 4 or more
  years in the state of GA in 2004 held some of the
  highest scores in the state.

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Additional Considerations
Excellent SAT scores are important, but quite
honestly, they are only important once, and that
is the day a young person is accepted into
college because of them. But then what?
Studying Latin is far more important because
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STUDY LATIN NOW!

• As much as 75 of a persons English vocabulary
  is made up of Latin-based words. A lower reading
  level requires the knowledge of fewer Latin
  words. A higher reading level requires the
  knowledge of more Latin words. Put differently,
  the more Latin a person knows the more capable
  he/she is of reading at advanced levels for
  understanding.

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Every occupation that a student may study or
train for uses Latin based words to identify its
technology, its specialized processes, and
todescribe its organization

• .

• Consider the language used around one of our
  newer fields of work and research the computer
• ComputerLatin computareto compute, to count
• ModumLatin modumway, manner, method
• MemoryLatin memoriamemory, remembrance,
  memorialfrom the ancient customs and traditions
• CircuitsLatin circuituscircuitl going
  around, revolution detour circumference
  beating around the bush period (of time)
• TechnologyGreek technosmechanical device
  logosword, system, philosophy

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Latin is a highly inflected language, and anyone
who studies Latin learns to think
differntly.What field could a student possibly
enter where thinking about problems in different
ways would not be highly prized?
Consider the word for ball (pila) in the
sentences below. Pila est magna. Puer et puella
cum pila magna ludunt. Puer et puella pilam
magnam habent. Color ruber plerumque est pilo
magno, sed . . . . . . Pars pilae est alba. With
each simple change of the words endings, the
meaning changes from ball to with the ball
to ball (as object) to to the ball to of the
ball. Seem complicated? Thats because it
requires a different kind of thinking for us, a
higher level of thinking to discern a difference
in meaning by the mere changing of a letter on a
word. Not to fear . . .
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Theres a false notion that Latin is hard,
yetevery prostitute and 5 year-old walking
around in Rome could speak Latin and understand
it. Theres no reason why you cant!But it
will mean having to expand the way you think.
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A Classical Education
One of the newer trends in experimental education
is the opening of private Classical Schools. By
adding Latin to ones curriculum, we can
essentially creating all the good of a classical
education within the already advanced structures
of any school system. The founders of the
classical school movement know that Latin study
offers a pathway into the core of western
culture. As the three little pigs learned, what
you dont know about your own house hurts!
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From Beginning to End

• From time to time an adult will say to me I wish
  I could go back and study Latin.
• The latest brain research tells us two
  interestingly related things about language
  acquisition
• When children study a second language at earlier
  than high school ages, they retain their ability
  to acquire languages and use those languages for
  their entire lives.
• When senior citizens take up new brain tasks,
  like learning a new language, they are much less
  likely to develop Alzheimers Disease.

As high school students, you are in between both
ends of life. And you are at the perfect place
to consider the ways that you might add Latin,
and Classical civilization studies to whatever
your intended major or professional pursuits may
be in the future.