A correspondent asks whether there is any demand for Latin among secondary students (Letters, 8 August). Indeed there is. Over the past 10 years, the charity I co-founded, Classics for All, has supported the reintroduction of Latin, Greek and classical civilisation to 1,000 state primary and secondary schools.
At primary school, pupils have loved learning Latin, coming to it with no preconceptions about elitism or difficulty. They move on to secondary school expecting Latin to continue. The first cohort of students is now studying classics at university. Demand built, and it is being met. Far from being a dead language, Latin today is a living subject that broadens cultural understanding and educational horizons, and, perhaps most importantly, is truly enjoyed by thousands of pupils across the UK.
Sarah Jackson
Founding chair, Classics for All
• I disagree with the letter saying Latin is a dead language and shouldn’t be taught in state schools. With increasing numbers of pupils who have trouble with English as a first language – and this applies to pupils everywhere – Latin teaches, above all, grammar: the construction of sentences, subordinate clauses, and punctuation as a result of the latter. It is, in general, a grounding force in an increasingly inarticulate world.
Why not have Latin (and maybe for those who want to go further, its attendant classical literary texts and poetry) to teach a better articulacy subtly, without those terrible grammar rules and analysis of clauses that pupils in the 1960s, for example, were subjected to?
Patricia McCarthy
Mayfield, East Sussex
• At my school in the 1960s, I was able to take domestic science and Latin to GCE level. Latin was a prerequisite for university entry at that time, but I have never regretted taking it. It develops logic and is a fascinating tool for unpicking the meaning of words in English, and a key to learning other European languages.
Domestic science also stood me in excellent stead, providing a basic understanding of food science and a lifetime’s enthusiasm for cooking. Both subjects should be included in all school timetables as being valuable, relevant life skills. Surely that is what education is for? By the way, two years of German wasn’t entirely wasted either; I still retain a smattering when lucky enough to be able to travel.
Vivien Scorer
Southwell, Nottinghamshire
• I am a retired teacher of Latin (and Greek and ancient history) in more than one comprehensive school. Your correspondent does not realise what a bedrock Latin is for understanding and appreciating modern Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, French, etc) and how necessary it is for some professions – archeology for one, not to mention its use with Greek in science. I have several old pupils who have done very well in life using their knowledge of a language which covered much of the world.
Mary Vicary
Church Stretton, Shropshire
• I had the good fortune to be taught Latin in the 1950s by a dedicated teacher at my local comprehensive in Douglas, Isle of Man. This changed my life. I went on to study classics at Newnham College, Cambridge, then read law and had a career. The popularity of Mary Beard’s TV programmes is only one instance of how these languages never die.
Sylvia Freedman
London
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