Why do people still learn Latin?
This site has many reason’s but I have to add to which are not “economical” (like s.a.t scores etc.) 1. Some people find it an interesting language, so they study for fun. Another reason applies for a small public – the Vatican state official language is Latin, so the workers must understand it.
Some people studying linguistics would study Latin because it is the basis for many languages of the Western World. Classicists study Latin to get first-hand knowledge of Roman law, literature and history. Historians study Latin to get first hand knowledge of ecclesiastical and secular Medieval texts. Finally, Catholics will study Latin if they wish to enter and advance within the Church hierarchy.
People still learn Latin, simply because so many great books and plays were written in Latin. Reading them in translation is a poor substitute. So much of the pleasure of Latin is aural. The Romans wrote in order to be read aloud – and once the language is translated, this metrical dimension of the language is lost. In particular, Latin poetry defies translation, as the aural experience is an intrinsic part of the structure of each and every poem. There is a new website devoted to promoting the study of Latin through the total immersion method – learning it as you would any modern language. This is the Latinum podcast, http://latinum.mypodcast.com On the podcast, you can also listen to Latin poetry, and therre are also special active learning files that let you “read along” with the poet, enabling you to learn Latin poetry by heart.
