By nixing Latin instruction from our schools, have we knocked the feet out from under generations of students, leaving them to struggle through the fog of schooling and literacy on their own…?
A little over a year ago, it was reported that Australian schoolchildren were suddenly making dramatic gains in a number of subjects. The largest advances came in reading, with students increasing their “reading age” by over two years on average.
The secret behind these dramatic gains was a little program called Sound Training, which uses instruction in Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes to boost a student’s vocabulary by giving them the tools they need to “work out what words mean.”
Recent research suggests that these results weren’t a fluke. According to a report by the think tank LKMco, this same training was recently conducted for six-week sessions in several U.K. prisons. The results were as follows:
The average gain in reading age was eighteen months…. Examples of particularly significant progress include five learners who increased their reading ages by thirty-nine, sixty, and sixty-five months respectively. Many learners increased their reading age to the maximum eighteen point nine years…. Learners also reported that they had improved numerous other reading related skills including spelling, vocabulary knowledge and the ability to decode words.
So why did something as odd as Latin help adult prisoners make such rapid progress in such a few short weeks? Cheryl Lowe, the author of several Latin courses and the founder of Memoria Press sheds some light on that question:
Students who study Latin develop an interest in words. They learn something they had never thought of before. Words don’t just drop out of the sky—they come from some place; words have a history, sometimes a very long and interesting history. Many words are world travelers, traveling from Greece to Rome to France to England. Words are fascinating.
So, Latin is the next step after phonics because it continues the study of the Latin half of English vocabulary in a systematic, orderly way. Skip the vocabulary courses. Learn Latin.
In other words, Latin provides students—both young and old—with the key to unlock numerous subjects and mysteries they encounter in academics. Once a student knows and understands the foundation, building upon it is a breeze.
Such a realization should lead us to ask ourselves: By nixing Latin instruction from our schools, have we knocked the feet out from under generations of students, leaving them to struggle through the fog of schooling and literacy on their own?
Republished with gracious permission from Intellectual Takeout (March 2017).
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Dear Annie,
You have prompted a delightful memory of my childhood, fifty-nine short years ago.
My father who had no opportunity to study languages picked up my Latin textbook and focused on a phrase on the first page;
“Dominus vocat, servus currit.”
He used this mercilessly to order me around for the next six years.
But the great advantage of languages is the introduction to culture and nothing approaches the Romans.
I have constant reference to Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations and give copies to any friends or students.
“No one can hurt you unless you let them” is the antidote to today’s bullying at all levels of society.
Classical education in the past also included classical Greek. I’m a Christian school teacher, and I spent three years teaching math, science, and logic in a classical Christian school (even a bit of gym and seventh grade English). Latin is great for many reasons, and it is also a gateway to Greek, due to grammatical similarities. Greek itself tends to be neglected in classical Christian schools these days. It is harder, and it uses a different alphabet than we’re used to. Perhaps it’s time that Latin and Greek shared equal time in school.
good article
Learning Latin is hard. After three years of Latin in high school, I had no interest in more study BUT I love language and delight in the similarities and quirkiness and development of languages. So Latin did enrich my life!! Absolutely!