3 years of Latin were required at my high school.
My wife, on the other hand, never studied it. You know what? She reads it and follows along with the prayers without any problem.
People forget the principle of immersion when it comes to the Latin Mass. Anyone exposed to it week after week is going to naturally pick it up.
And if I ask your wife what it means, will she be able to tell me? If so, what language will she be using to tell me?
Would you say that she is better or worse at making that translation than someone who has studied Latin for 40 years and has read hundreds of Latin texts to help understand the true meaning?
Listening to the Mass in Latin over and over again for years is not immersion in Latin, it is rote memorization. No different than learning a song in German, and thinking that you really understand what the song means.
How did your wife learn what the Latin meant without using English equivalents, and once she had used those English equivalents, how was the Latin still sterile?