At first glance learning Latin might seem a taunting and fruitless endeavor: After all, the Ancient Romans are long gone; classical Latin has evolved into various Romance languages, and the last “native” speaker – Michel de Montaigne – died in 1592. Yet I would (and will) argue that classical Latin is not only essential for an all-rounded education, but will improve one’s quality of life in more ways than you can imagine. Leaving bragging rights aside, there are at least two myriad reasons why one should learn classical Latin.
Learning Romance languages would be the most obvious reason. If you want to learn Romance languages, i.e. Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Romanian, then knowing classical Latin will give you a huge head start.
Of course, one could just start by learning Spanish or Portuguese, for example, but then he or she would miss many of the nuances, meanings, and etymological origins of the language. In addition, once one masters Latin, it will be very easy to learn not just one of the Romance languages, but all of them. And not only “learn” them, but know them intuitively.
Roughly 60% of English vocabulary comes from classical Latin (50%) or ancient Greek (10%). In science and technology the percentage of Latin words might rise as high as 90%. Hence, mastering Latin (or even grasping the basics) will also dramatically improve one’s English. The same applies to all languages which have words derived from Latin.
There is no direct proof that learning Latin would boost one’s intelligence, but it certainly trains the brain and helps in forming new synapses. Latin (or foreign languages in general) are not that dissimilar to mathematics, etc. It is a system which forces the brain to think and work in new and novel ways, using language constructions and logic. Whether it will help one score more on IQ tests or not is up for debate, but what is certain is, that it will form new brain synapses, thus making one sharper, and being able to formulate ideas and concepts in new ways without being limited to English (or constructions in one’s native language) will carry on to other areas of life.
Another huge benefit of learning Latin is becoming less malleable, and improving critical thinking. Why just Latin, and not other, living languages? Because one might study a living language because they want to communicate with people from other countries – and that is generally a rather shallow goal. But for Latin one would need to have a mindset that goes beyond that of ‘just speaking the language’. One needs to have more discipline to learn a ‘dead’ language with no immediate benefits, as opposed to a ‘live’ one.
Once one can grasp the origins and true meanings of the words in Romance languages and in English, can understand of various language patterns and constructs, then he or she has a better chance of seeing through the empty and/or manipulative rhetoric used by politicians, corporations, (mainstream) media, etc, etc, and is more likely to protect oneself from it.
Mastering Latin is also a way to reach polymathy. Being able to think in new ways will make it easier to find logical connections in other fields of study, and make oneself a better learner in general.
Of the more obvious reasons for learning Latin is also the ability to read classical texts and authors such as Cicero, Virgil, Ovid, Catullus, Caesar, and many others in their original language, and gain a more thorough understanding of the world they lived in. If one is truly interested in classical antiquity, then this is a must.
If you think of Ancient Rome at least two times every day, then grasping at least the basics of classical Latin is a necessity. The same is true if you are following the teachings of Christianity.
Knowing Latin is also needed in law and medicine. A lot of legal and medical terminology is in Latin, so knowing it beforehand, or understanding where the words originate from, as opposed to just mindlessly forcing oneself to memorize them is a great benefit.
In conclusion, mastering Latin is immensely powerful, with benefits that carry over in almost every other field in life. Luckily for you, learning it is not as daunting as it might seem at first glance.
This is why I am building a classical Latin course which will launch June 1st, 2025. The course will be built in a way that will make Latin make sense to everyone.
The course will include:
- Plenty of level appropriate reading.
- Intuitive grammar charts with explanations.
- A community of like-minded people.
- Access to Latin teachers in the community.
- Live group calls. (Weekly or bi-weekly)
- Private coaching with reasonable pricing (around $10-$30 per hour) for members.
- Methods to gamify the learning process and make it fun. Including prizes and rewards for top students.
- Constant updates and added materials with the goal to help students reach a level to fluently read classical texts and to be able to converse in Latin. (You never know when that can be useful). 😛
The course is built in a way to maximize intuitive learning and avoid unnecessary and boring grammar (it does include it all, though). The traditional methods of learning languages are heavily focused on learning and memorizing boring and unintuitive grammar rules, which is the main reason why most people either quit learning languages, or even if they “finish” studying it, will likely fail in the side-quest of ordering a cup of coffee in said language.
Joining the course before its official launch will cost only $3 per month (in March), and $5 per month (in April-May) Following the launch on June 1st, the price will go up to around $10-$20 per month. The course has a free 7 day trial.
Those joining for $3 or $5 will not be affected by future price increases.
While the goal is to launch the main course on June 1st, there will be study materials and resources available before that.
In addition, I have the goal of creating an Ancient Greek course within 2-3 years, which will then be included in the price for all who have joined the course prior to its release.