I hope it won’t be all Greek to my son (j'espère qu'il n'en perdra pas son latin...)

Last June, my son came back from school with class options to be picked and a form to be filled in for the 2012-13 school year. We sat and talked in the living room: the kind of discussion that a dad and his son can have when weighing the pros and cons for choosing one class instead of another, while the father keeps trying not to be too influent. My son seemed interested in Latin. I insisted on the fact that it had to be his own decision and I gave him some time to decide. On that very same evening, the one-man-show of French humourist Kev Adams was broadcasted live on TV. Kev Adams is particularly well-known and influent among teenagers in French speaking countries. I must admit that I find some of his shows quite fun, dynamic and amusing.

One part of Kev Adams' show dealt with the purpose of learning Latin at school... Learning Latin language won’t help you in life, said Kev Adams with a good sense of humour: "Le latin, ça ne te servira jamais à rien. Jamais dans ta vie tu vas entrer dans un bar/bistrot/PMU et dire: Ok les gars, poum pouloum pouloulouloum... Alea jacta est, est ce que c'est clair ?!"

C'mon, Kev! You are very a talented entertainer but don't say that Latin is not worth being learned.

My son had a look at me and laughed out loud! "Dad, what would be your answer to him?"
I suddenly told my son that if he was really interested in learning any language, Latin would be crucial for him to learn. I insisted on the fact that most of the words in French or English derive from other languages such as Latin or Greek. I also explained that the declination approach of the Latin would help my son if he wants to learn German at some point. I eventually had to be influent to counter Kev Adams' negative vibes on learning Latin.

At least, I thank Kev Adams for having given me the opportunity to explain why Latin has actually always been helpful to me simply for understanding the etymology of some words.
This theory was recently reinforced by the article entitled Natalie Haynes: It's not Latin's fault that toffs and Tories studied it that I read in The Independent on 2012-06-25 (also made available on the web, see http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/natalie-haynes-its-not-latins-fault-that-toffs-and-tories-studied-it-7881114.html).

The article mentions the following: “Learning another language makes you think differently about your own: it makes you analyse the role each word plays in a sentence. It also introduces you to the idea that some cultures are so different from your own that there are words which are literally untranslatable. Latin will help you learn piles of other languages that have similar vocabulary or grammar or both. And it will give you excellent spelling and grammar in your first language[…]”

Ooooh! By the way, my son Rémy eventually picked Latin as a main option for the 2012-13 school year and still is a big fan of Kev Adams (see Kev Adams’ official web site here: http://kevadams-officiel.fr/). I simply hope that Rémy will also remain my number one fan and that I have not been too influent in his choice.



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