Even though Latin is no longer a spoken language, The Cambridge School begins to teach it to all students beginning in Kindergarten. But many people wonder why it’s so important to teach a “dead language.”
[quote align=”right” color=”#999999″]“I will say at once, quite firmly, that the best grounding for education is the Latin grammar. I say this not because Latin is traditional and medieval, but simply because even a rudimentary knowledge of Latin cuts down the labor and pains of learning almost any other subject by at least 50 percent.”[/quote] There are many benefits to learning Latin, some more important than others. Here are just a few of the benefits of learning Latin:

1) Latin is not only the foundation of the English language, but it also helps give students a better understanding of the roots of the English language, which greatly expands their vocabulary.

2) Another benefit of learning Latin is that it lays a foundation for learning other languages. By learning Latin at an early age, it will be much easier for students to learn languages such as French, Spanish and Italian. It is also easier for students to learn languages that aren’t based on Latin because the study of Latin has given them a good understanding of how languages are structured.

3) Moreover, when student learn a root language, such as Latin, they have an improved understanding of English grammar, which helps them to be better writers and communicators. For example, students of Latin discover that there are seven times when pronouns, adjectives and verbs must match. In addition, they learn the difference between a direct object and an indirect object, the varieties of verb tenses, and much more. When they take the SAT in high school, students’ knowledge of Latin will allow them to correctly identify the meanings of many more words than the average student who hasn’t studied Latin.

Ultimately, the point of learning Latin is to teach children to think logically and to organize their thoughts well. Dorothy Sayers said, “I will say at once, quite firmly, that the best grounding for education is the Latin grammar. I say this not because Latin is traditional and medieval, but simply because even a rudimentary knowledge of Latin cuts down the labor and pains of learning almost any other subject by at least 50 percent.”