Remember when we said that “Classical” applied to anything we believe to be

excellent for all? Well, Latin is a Classical Language that is still applicable today in many

ways you probably never thought about.

How about the field of science or law? All those medical terms that you can’t pronounce

are Latin or Greek (another Classical language) words. For example, pro re nata is a

commonly used term in the medical field meaning “when necessary”; there are

pro re nata medications that are administered only as needed. One will commonly hear

Latin words in a courtroom as well. Quid pro quo (a service has been traded) and

affidavit (he has sworn) are legal terms.

Additionally, many, many English words contain Latin and Greek roots. A knowledge of

these roots can aid a student in deciphering literally hundreds of word meanings. Latin is

also the basis for the romance languages (Ex: French, Italian, Spanish) and the

Teutonic languages (Ex: German, Dutch, English, Scandinavian.) Think of the

vocabulary such a student might develop! And, learning Latin first makes the study of

other related languages much easier and might even convince a young person to take

up a couple more.