The language requirement–let’s talk about it.
Salve amici! Ego sum Amelia et lingua Latinam studeo. This literally means “Hello friends! I am Amelia and I study the Latin language.”
I’ve been taking Latin for the past three semesters to fulfill a language requirement, and let me tell you it is not for the weak. One question I always get asked is why I’m taking it. Good question– I was delusional when I signed up for my freshman classes? At the University of Missouri, we have a language requirement in the School of Journalism. I’m terrible at language acquisition. It is not one of my strong suits. I was bad at high school Spanish and did not want to take it in college. So, I chose Latin hoping it would be easier (delusional thinking). Nonetheless, I’m grateful I did.
There are many, many reasons to learn Latin (despite the fact that it has been dead since around 600 A.D.). Here’s my hot take: Latin is the best language to learn if you want to pursue any type of higher education, and I wish I had started in high school.
Obviously it’s great for law school and medical school because of the terminology and cognates, but it goes deeper than that. Learning Latin gives you the skills and recognition you need to succeed in many areas including test-taking (LSAT, MCAT, GRE I’m looking at you), language acquisition, and it also just makes you better at English.
There are grammatical aspects of English that are difficult to learn because they come more naturally in speaking. In Latin, we have to relearn these structures that I never knew even existed in English. It is a wonderful, difficult thing. As a journalism major, I need to know how to write and write well. Latin has taught me the different sentence structures that are crucial to understand to be a good writer.
Here’s the drawback, though. Study abroad. I suppose I could go to the Vatican, or Rome where traces of the language still exist. But realistically, studying abroad is harder without having taken courses in a language beforehand. However, there is a solution to this problem! Everything is a little bit easier to learn when you’ve taken Latin because it is the root of around 12 languages, including Spanish, French, and Italian. Currently, I am taking Italian on Duolingo and my knowledge of Latin makes it just a bit easier.
You need to grasp analytical reasoning to be a good test-taker. Guess what helps develop that skill? Latin. The language is everywhere. Even in a short sentence, I can still point out two or three cognates. Standardized testing is a scary monster for many people, but Latin can help ease that pain and teach you a thing or two.
Maybe I won’t use Latin in my everyday life after taking the course, but I will use the skills I learned through the class very often. For now, I am veni vidi vici-ing my way through my final semester and enjoying every moment.
Valete!