Why Latin?

The most frequently questioned piece of classical education is its use of Latin. Why do students in the Information Age need something as arcane as Latin? There are three reasons Latin has long been considered the key introductory language to learn.

First, Latin is the mother tongue of Western civilization. All Romance languages (Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and subfamilies of) are descended from Latin. In fact, they are called Romance languages because their parent tongue, Latin, was the language of the Romans. When a student studies Latin first, any Romance language chosen for study later will be much easier to learn as they derive over 90% of their vocabulary from Latin.

Secondly, Latin teaches English better than English teaches English. Because Latin is taught to be read and not spoken, because it is taught entirely through its grammatical rules rather than the colloquial, students are able to gain a better understanding of the mechanics and structure of the English language. In fact, any other language, not just the Romance but German, Russian, and Arabic, become easier for a child with a foundation in Latin. Students are able to use their Latin knowledge to grasp the framework of all languages.

Thirdly, the mental discipline Latin instills in students makes it the ideal foreign language to study. Latin is systematic, rigorous, and analytical. For these reasons, Latin is superior to other languages in that, like English, modern languages are lax and individualistic and continue to evolve and reflect the modern temper of those who speak them. The study of Latin does foster precision in the use of words. Since one must read Latin closely and carefully, the student’s mind becomes accustomed to focusing on individual words and their usage. This closeness of inspection provides a model for careful reading and writing of English.

Furthermore, children learning Latin will quickly start to read the great classics of Latin literature. While Virgil, Ovid, and Tacitus are uncompromisingly difficult, they do offer students a lost world of literature. These great writers lie at the head of a western tradition in writing that enfolds Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Keats, and Eliot. To be a good reader of English alone, knowledge of the literature of the Romans offers an inestimable advantage.

Lastly, students with even one year of Latin show a marked advantage over their peers in aptitude testing. Years of documentation have shown that Latin students continuously score higher than most other language students in writing and reading. The 2010 National SAT/ACT test results, available here, show that Latin learners perform better than students learning other languages in both critical reading and writing. Latin learners were outranked only by Asian language learners in mathematics. See below for a historical analysis of like data.

Studies conducted by the Educational Testing Service show that Latin students consistently outperform all other students on the verbal portion of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT).

		1997		1998		1999		2000		2001		2002		2003		2004
Latin		647		651		662		665		665		666		672		674
All Students		505		505		505		505		506		504		507		508
French		623		627		632		636		633		637		638		642
German		624		617		623		621		625		622		626		627
Spanish		581		583		590		589		583		581		575		575
Hebrew		629		634		636		623		628		629		628		630

1997-2004 Taken from Tables 7-3 & 7-4 in College-Bound Seniors — A Profile of SAT Program Test Takers.

Why Classical Education?

There is no greater task for education than to teach students how to learn. Truly effective education cultivates articulate and thinking students who are able to develop facts into arguments and convey those arguments clearly and persuasively. The classical method develops independent learning skills on the foundation of language, logic, and fact. The classical difference is clear when students are taken beyond conventionally taught subjects and asked to apply their knowledge through logic and clear expression.

In 1947, Dorothy Sayers, a pioneer in the return to classical education, observed, “although we often succeed in teaching our pupils ‘subjects’, we fail lamentably on the whole in teaching them how to think.” Beyond subject matter, classical education develops those skills that are essential in higher education and throughout life: independent scholarship, critical thinking, logical analysis, and a love for learning.

While challenging students is certainly part of the classical method, education should also be enjoyable for the student. The classical method is based on the philosophy that students should be encouraged to do what they naturally enjoy during particular phases of their life and be taught in ways that complement their natural behavior. For example, young children in grammar school are very adept at memorizing. They enjoy repeated songs, rhymes, and chants. In classical education, the “Grammar” phase (K-4) corresponds with this tendency by focusing on the teaching of facts. During the junior high years, children often become prone to question and argue. Classical education leverages this tendency by teaching students how to argue well. We call this the “Logic” phase, and it focuses on the child’s developing abilities to understand the abstract, see cause and effect, use formal logic, analysis, and criticism. The final phase, “Rhetoric”, is applied during the high school years when a student’s interests shift from internal concerns to the external (how others perceive them). During this stage, students are taught to convey their thoughts so that they are well received and understood by others. Students are expected to concentrate on using their knowledge and reason to express their thoughts in clear, eloquent writing and speech. A typical classical secondary education culminates with the debate and defense of a senior thesis.

The classical method not only works within the natural tendencies of students, but it develops a true sense of accomplishment in students. We believe that a sense of self-worth comes from accomplishment, and the student who excels after working hard achieves a greater sense of accomplishment. By holding students to an objective standard, they gain a true understanding of their abilities. Keep in mind, we also believe that learning, hard work, and fun are not mutually exclusive. Learning should be a joyful endeavor, one that continuously presents a challenge.