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Saturday, October 12, 2002
Mirabile dictu, amor Latin est nunc et semper
'Dead' language enjoying resurgence in nation's schools
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- A funny thing happened on the way to higher standards: Schools remembered Latin.
As educators work to improve student performance in basic subjects such as reading, math, history and science, a few are finding that Latin -- long thought stuffy and irrelevant -- can help.
Classes in Latin, which once attracted only college-bound students, are drawing youngsters from all backgrounds. Sales of Latin textbooks and materials are up, and even elementary schools are starting programs.
The number of students taking Advanced Placement exams in Latin is nearly double what it was a decade ago.
"I think Latin always traditionally comes to the fore when people think about raising standards because it's a bedrock subject," said Marion Polsky, a Latin teacher in Scarsdale, N.Y., and author of a popular series of basic Latin textbooks.
Science uses Latin for everything from medical terminology to genus and species classification. Although Latin is no longer spoken, it once spread with the Roman empire across Europe, Asia and northern Africa and is the root of modern Romance languages including Spanish, Italian and French.
Teachers love the cross-pollination of Latin terms with English, as well as science and history, said Frank Morris, an associate professor of classics at the College of Charleston.
"One of the things that makes Latin appealing to teachers is that it does multiple things for them," he said. "It has a very broad application."
Kyle Seton, a senior at Chancellor High School in Fredericksburg, Va., agreed. "We learn a lot of English terminology in here. We go more in-depth than English (class) would."
The love affair with Latin is especially hot in Virginia, Texas and Massachusetts, three states pushing heavily for higher standards.
At Chancellor, Mark Keith teaches five Latin classes daily. Since Virginia began implementing its stringent Standards of Learning tests in the mid-1990s, he said he has begun teaching not only college-bound students, but also teens who don't plan to attend college.
Younger students get a mouthful of Latin when they read the popular Harry Potter books. "Expelliarmus," a recurring spell that disarms an opponent, is Latin for "disarm."
That fact isn't lost on Marie Davis, a Latin teacher at Daniels Run Elementary School in suburban Fairfax, Va. She refers to the books periodically.
Striding into a third-grade classroom wearing a stola, or long dress, Davis handed out folders.
"Ubi est Connor?" (Where is Connor?)
A tiny hand went up. "Hic sum." (Here I am.)
Getting students to focus on speaking the language helps keep them interested, educators say.
Even with the new focus, enrollments are nowhere near the level of 100 or even 50 years ago, when studying Latin was often required.
In 1895, about 44 percent of American students took Latin, driven in no small part by the fact that it was the language of the Catholic Church.
By 1962, after the Vatican began letting churches use their native languages, less than 7 percent of students were studying Latin.
The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages reports that in 1990, there were 163,923 public high school students -- or 1.5 percent -- studying Latin.
Ten years later, 177,477 public high school students -- or 1.3 percent -- took the language.
The College Board, which administers Advanced Placement exams, said the number of high school students taking Latin tests for college credit has risen 95 percent since 1993.
Sales of Latin materials, including Polsky's books, have risen steadily since the mid-1990s, said Cathy Wilson of Pearson Prentice Hall.
LATIN PHRASES
Latin words and phrases that are used in everyday English:
| alibi | proof of absence from a crime scene (literally "elsewhere") |
| alter ego | other self |
| ad hoc | for an immediate purpose, as in an ad hoc committee |
| ad infinitum | to infinity |
| ad lib (ad libitum) | as one pleases |
| alma mater | school one attended (literally "nourishing mother") |
| bona fide | in good faith |
| carpe diem | seize the day |
| e pluribus unum | one out of many |
| et cetera | and so forth, and the rest |
| magnum opus | an artist's greatest piece of work |
| mea culpa | my fault |
| moratorium | a delay |
| non sequitur | statement that doesn't follow from what came before |
| per cent (per centum) | per hundred |
| per diem | daily |
| per se | in and of itself |
| persona non grata | unwelcome person |
| quid pro quo | something for something |
| quorum | minimal number of people needed (literally "of whom") |
| semper fidelis | always faithful |
| status quo | the current state of being |
| subpoena | legal order to appear in court (literally "under penalty") |
| verbatim | word-for-word |
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