Latin Is a Key That Can Unlock English

“Tempus fugit, carpe diem”--time flies, seize the day. The Latin phrases are written in big, bold letters on Joan Patakas’ chalkboard.

The sixth-grade teacher at Fairmont Elementary School in Yorba Linda comes to life when she talks about the significance of learning what many refer to as a dead language.

“Some people say kids should learn what’s functional,” she said. “But guess what? If we learn only what’s functional, we’d all be plumbers.”

Even better, Patakas and other teachers find, this dead language has some very modern applications when it comes to teaching English spelling and reading skills and even science lessons.

Thanks to the veteran teacher’s passion for the language, Fairmont students have studied Latin since 1985 when Patakas helped secure a $5,000 grant to start the program at her school for students in grades four through six.

Patakas says that by incorporating Latin into her curriculum, she teaches students the origins of words they use every day, giving them a boost in understanding and spelling those words. Latin is not only the parent of five modern languages--Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian--but many Latin-based words and roots found their way into the English language.

For example, the word “porta” in Latin means “to carry” and many English words contain the root: transport, deport, export, import and passport, to mention a few.

Learning those root words helps students enhance their vocabulary, Patakas said.

“They wouldn’t need crash courses before their SATs if they learned this,” she said. “Plowing through lists of words is boring. This is logical and fun.”

Latin Roots Provide Clues to Many Words

Latin improves their spelling because if they know how to spell the root words, they can spell the entire word, Patakas said. For example, the word “terra” means earth. So, when students spell Mediterranean or subterranean, they would know the word has two R’s because they could spell the root word.

They also get a feel for pronunciation, Patakas said.

The word “aster” means “star” and “isk” means “similar to” or “like.” So those who have learned Latin will know not to say “aster-ix” because they know it doesn’t make sense.

Interest in Latin has grown nationwide, said Carl Strange, member of the American Classical League and a Latin teacher in Connecticut.

“We’ve seen the interest come and go,” Strange said. “But recent studies have indicated how Latin rubs off on other subjects such as math, science and linguistics.”

Latin seems to be popular elsewhere in Orange County as well. According to the state Department of Education, 21% of students who study Latin in California are from Orange County, though the county has about 10% of the state’s population.

But generally, when the language is found in classrooms, it’s in high school. Woodbridge High in Irvine holds classes for all grades and at the honors and advanced placement levels.

Woodbridge’s Latin teacher, Martha Altieri, says learning the language has helped her students immensely, and she applauds efforts to introduce it in elementary schools.

“That would be ideal, because the earlier we learn languages, the better off we are,” she said. “Doesn’t matter what language--French, German or Swahili.”

Other teachers at Fairmont who have taken training from Patakas view Latin education as a real advantage for children, Principal Kathy Kreil said.

“Our teachers have reported that students come back and tell them how much it has helped them in high school or in college,” she said. “The teachers are really positive about it.”

Placentia-Yorba Linda School District officials hope other schools will pick up the program, said Anne O’Rourke, director of educational services. Last year, the district organized a seminar in which Patakas distributed study materials to teachers who wished to implement the program in their schools.

“We’re not forcing it down their throats,” O’Rourke said, “but we’re definitely encouraging it.”

She said educators have found that students familiar with Latin words do better in science because they don’t have to spend as much time memorizing scientific terms and their meanings.

“They have the capacity to take it apart and find out for themselves,” O’Rourke said. “It helps them focus on the concepts instead of memorizing.”

Turns Out It’s Not a Dead Language

Fairmont Elementary School parent Linda Moffitt said her sixth-grader spouts words that surprise her.

“They learn what prefixes like centi- and milli- mean,” she said. “It makes understanding math and the metric system better.”

For Patakas, Latin education has been a mission. And why not? It’s a language that is alive and kicking, she says.

“It’s alive in mathematics,” she said. “It’s alive in science, medicine, history and geography. It’s alive in the words that we speak.”