Posted on 10/11/2002 11:09:55 AM PDT by Jakarta ex-pat
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 such as 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. Early one recent morning he greeted students with a chipper, "Salvete, discipuli!" (Greetings, students!)
They responded, a bit sleepily, "Salve, magister." (Greetings, teacher.)
"Quomodo sentitis hodie?" (How do you feel today?)
Responses varied.
The lesson began with a translation of the Spotsylvania County motto. He tapped on the chalk board beneath the words "Patior ut potiar." (I suffer in order that I may possess.)
Several students quickly offered slicker translations.
One raised his hand and said: "I work for a living."
Another: "No pain no gain."
A third sang to himself, "I work hard for the money...."
Getting students to focus on speaking the language helps keep them interested, educators say.
"Instead of just drearily memorizing charts and not understanding how to apply the information, it's taught more as a natural language," said Polsky.
Forget verb conjugations. Latin students these days are talking, singing and translating love poems. A glass case outside Keith's room is stuffed with trophies from speaking competitions.
"I always tell students, `We're here to communicate with the Romans,'" Keith said.
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.
Since Virginia began implementing its stringent Standards of Learning tests in the mid-1990s, Keith 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 full-time Latin teacher at Daniels Run Elementary School in suburban Fairfax, Va. She refers to the books periodically.
Striding recently into a third-grade classroom wearing a stola, or long dress, and a capella a haircap made of braided wire Davis handed out folders.
"Ubi est Connor?" (Where is Connor?)
A tiny hand went up. "Hic sum." (Here I am.)
"Ubi est Diego?"
After handing out the folders, Davis guided the class again, quickly through a counting lesson, "de uno ad triginta" (from one to 30), then on to a lesson on word roots.
It helps students learn vocabulary, "as opposed to just memorizing it," she said afterward.
"Economics," for instance, comes from the same root as "ecosphere" "eco," or "oikos," originally a Greek term meaning "house."
She said proudly, "They know what an 'oikos' is in third grade."
- and -
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just like riding a bike!
It's also fun to add some arithmetic problems into the mix when teaching Latin and Roman numerals. I did this with my homeschooled kids starting in 3rd grade. Have the child try to multiply using Roman numerals. A problem like 52 x 27 takes on a whole new aura when done in Roman numerals. Even something simple like 6 x 3 requires actual THINKING on the part of the youngsters.
Quidquid nominator fabricator
Illigitimus non carborundum!
Mottos of various preFree Republic formative organizations to which I belonged
Good teacher, though. From the two years I took, I learned a lot about history, etymology, and a bunch of useful common phrases.
IOW, not "summa cum laude". Not "magna cum laude". Just "thank-you, Lawdy." ;-)
Good grief. Do you have to suffer conjugations and declensions to recognize medical terminology?
Nam Vet
*(I came, I saw I was conquered ... If memory serves)
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