"In my opinion, a classical education, of which Latin must necessarily be the core, is the very best preparation for a college course in the social sciences. It helps students to think, gives them a rich background, helps them to write good English and inculcates a sense of style... Furthermore, the knowledge of Latin has been one of my greatest pleasures in life. Horace is constantly at my bedside and the Aeneid always goes to sea with me." Samuel Eliot Morrison, Professor Emeritus of History Harvard University

But other kids always say Latin is a dead language... Latin-based words make up half of the total vocabulary of English, which is four times the size of any other language in the world. So... Latin's "half" of English constitutes the second largest "language" in the world today. It provides most of the important words in science, medicine, business, law and government, including words newly made up; also... Latin's two most widely used direct descendants, Spanish and French, have inherited most of their vocabulary and grammar from Latin; therefore... Latin is really the "second language" of the Western Hemisphere and half of Europe, and with English and Spanish emerging as the two most current international languages... Latin is now, in effect, more widely used than it was at the height of the Roman Empire! But the really good news is that... Latin and you are already old friends: and the last five paragraphs you have read, 70% of the longer words are from Latin!

Latin Department Contact: Nick Kip