The supposedly “dead” language of Latin has resurrected itself in recent years, especially among homeschooling families and Classical schools. Some parents debate whether they should include Latin at all or concentrate on a modern language (discussed in this post here). But for many homeschooling moms with no previous Latin experience (like me), the idea of teaching her children Latin, while learning it herself, might seem a daunting and thankless task. What lasting benefits would she even see?
The Primary Benefits of Latin Study
Few dispute the primary benefits of having a Latin background. At least forty percent of English vocabulary stem from a Latin root. Knowing Latin, a student will probably perform higher on the verbal section of the SAT or ACT. Latin vocabulary for sure helps prepare a student for a career in science or law.
Latin is the mother of all major and minor Romance languages. Therefore, a student will undoubtedly have an easier time learning a modern Romance language such as Spanish, French, or Italian, among many others.
There’s also no question proficiency in Latin helps one learn English grammar alongside the Latin study.
Latin Study Provides Many Secondary Benefits Too
However, many parents don’t consider a major secondary benefit that homeschool Latin study can provide: the study of Latin grammar and translation can effectively help adolescent students develop focus and attention to detail. And that indirect benefit can be transferred one day to other subjects and aspects of life.
Reciting verbal conjugation and noun declension endings may not always be the most fun you can have in your homeschool day. That’s probably an obvious enough statement. However, competence with this type of Latin groundwork increases a student’s confidence to then tackle Latin translations adeptly.
Translation is really where the fun begins, and at times, it HAS been the most fun, or perhaps better said, the most rewarding part of our homeschool day.
Hmmm … I’m sensing some well-justified skepticism.
English Sentence Structure
Let me walk you through a simplified process of doing Latin translations to illustrate the reward at the end of your hard work.
Latin translation, from Latin to English especially, almost can have the feel of putting together a jigsaw puzzle. In part that’s because Latin syntax is not based on word order like English is.
For instance, a typical English sentence will follow this order:
Subject – Verb – Object (SVO)
Example: The boy (subject) hit (verb) the ball (direct object).
A noun can function in seven possible ways in any given sentence:
- Subject
- Indirect Object
- Direct Object (or object complement renaming a direct object)
- Object of a Preposition
- Predicate Nominative
- Appositive
- Noun of Direct Address
Sara (subject), the best student (appositive) in the class (object of the preposition), gave the election (indirect object) a try (direct object), but instead the student class (subject) named Fred (direct object) class president (object complement). The principal (subject) said, “Fred (noun of direct address), you (pronoun subject) are now student body president (predicate nominative).”
Native English speakers can follow the sentence and understand its meaning because of each word’s position in the sentence relative to other words. They don’t have to recognize the exact function of each noun in order to do that. Notice that the word “class” is used twice, once as an object of a preposition and once as a subject of the second independent clause. It’s spelled the same way both times. However, context and word order alert us to its function.
Latin Sentence Structure
To compare the syntax of English to Latin, let’s look at a simpler English sentence:
The mother bakes the girls cookies.
Latin, unlike English, is not based on word order. Instead, you tell the function of each noun by its ending. In Latin, a sentence with this same meaning could appear in any of the following word orders (Latin has no translation for a, an, or the, and often a Latin verb will appear last in a sentence):
Mother – girls – cookies – bakes
Girls – cookies – mother – bakes
Cookies – mother – girls – bakes
Yes, you can certainly use context and reasoning to put the words in the right order. The trick to translating Latin, though, is to know how the endings of each noun correspond with its grammatical function.
And this can actually be a productive and relaxed way to work on the skill and art of paying attention to small details with your preteen/teen.
Putting Together the Latin Puzzle
Tackling the sentence step by step, we take it slowly. Looking at charts and dictionaries, we together figure out which declension each noun is in, and thus, which will be its ending choices.
My son matches each ending with the corresponding function (the sentence’s subject, direct or indirect object, etc.). Often there will be more than one choice for a noun as some endings appear more than once within each declension set. In those cases, he needs to use logic and the process of elimination to choose the appropriate one.
Finally, he finishes by determining what the correct word order would be in English.
We don’t race to just “get it done.” In this case, the fun is in the journey, not the destination. And in this journey, I’ve watched my son grow in his concentration skills, focusing ability, and grammar knowledge. He knows how to identify a direct object in English by having learned it in Latin. When he correctly pieces together each puzzle, i.e., accurately translates a sentence or a small passage, he feels a sense of accomplishment.
The Rewards of Latin Study
By doing the hard work in Latin each day, he will reap the benefits of these developing skills in other academic subjects and across the board in future life situations. He needs to slow his brain down and learn to notice details. It doesn’t come easily for him all the time. I didn’t start out teaching Latin for this reason, but have been pleasantly surprised to discover this additional benefit along the way.
Homeschooling families have a limited amount of time in their day like everyone else. Teaching parents need to get the most “bang for their buck,” so to speak, with each academic subject they invest in. The Latin trend keeps rising steadily among other academic choices with no signs of slowing. The more Latin study is demystified, the higher this trend is likely to climb in future years, especially as more families discover the layers of benefits its study can bring.
Have you been thinking about jumping on board the Latin trend? If so, and you’ve been hesitating, what has held you back? Please comment below.