Pre-reading questions:
- What is your mother tongue?
- How many languages do you speak?
- Do you think learning a foreign language is difficult? Why or why not?
Parents trying to help children with school work often struggle to dredge up what they once learned in maths or English, let alone Latin. At Colfe’s School, in south-east London, a few adults are signing up for Latin refresher classes, or taking on the language for the first time, so that they can help their offspring get ahead of the pack. The classics department has been so high it now runs two Monday night Latin classes.
At Colfe’s, where headteacher Richard Russell is a classics scholar, all 12- and 13-year-old pupils study Latin and about 20 percent sit the O-level. At A-level, the language is offered under classical civilization. However, the hours spent conjugating Latin verbs might not be among the happiest school memories for many parents but they have leapt at the chance to revisit the language.
Vocabulary:
struggle [verb] – make forceful or violent efforts to get free of restraint or constriction
refresher classes [noun] – classes intended to remind you of previous training or update skills and knowledge
ahead of the pack [idiom] – more successful than those you are competing against
civilization [noun] – the process by which a society or place reaches an advanced stage of social development and organization
leapt [verb] – jump across or over
Comprehension Questions:
- Why do parents take Latin classes?
- What is the name of the school that offers Latin classes for adults?
- When are Latin classes held?
- What kind of pupils study Latin?
- In what level Latin is offered under classical civilization?
Express Your Opinion:
- “Learning another language is like becoming another person.” -Haruki Murakami
- “With languages, you are at home anywhere.” -Edmund de Waal
- “The only normal way to begin speaking in a new language is to begin speaking badly.” -Greg Thomson