Latin, the language of the Romans and of the Vatican, is making a comeback – among seven-year-olds at a top independent school in North Wales.
The subject is now back on the curriculum at Howell’s School, in Denbigh, where it is being lapped up by eager preparatory school pupils.
Latin went out of the educational window – Latin fenestra, Welsh ffenestr, French fenetre – back in the trendy Seventies but is now making a major revival according to Howells Academic Principal Emma Jones.
It’s even got its own celebrity fans – London Mayor Boris Johnson is an advocate and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg listed Latin as one of the languages he spoke on his Harvard application.
Hollywood A-lister Angelina Jolie has a Latin tattoo and footballer David Beckham has two while three of the four most popular girls names have Latin origins, Olivia (from Latin ‘Oliva’ meaning Olive), Emily (from the Latin ‘Aemilianus’, a Latin family name) and Grace (from Latin ‘Gratia’, meaning goodwill or kindness).
Among those learning Latin is Aoife Wong, aged seven, from Denbigh, and she said: “It’s a lot of fun and we’re learning lots of different words and sentences.
“It’s very interesting and we’re learning about Romulus and Remus.”
Emma Jones said: “After many years of being on the decline people have realised it’s actually very good to learn Latin as it opens up so many avenues for pupils.
“We have introduced it for seven-year-olds because younger age groups are able to learn languages much more quickly and better.
“And they absolutely love it. We are a very international school and we held a school assembly where we had pupils from all over the world say a greeting and ‘Good Morning’ in their native language and we had one of the Latin class say it in Latin.
“It’s definitely useful for those learning languages because so many words in European languages come from Latin, even in Welsh, and it’s good for those going into the law or medicine.
“That’s why we have brought it in and we are slowly reintroducing it with the senior school due to restart Latin lessons in September.
“We’re teaching Latin alongside studies of Classical Civilisation and the ancient Romans, who gave us the foundation of our calendar, government and law.”
Latin teacher Dr Daniela Molinari said: ““I am Italian and Italian is the modern Latin and it’s new and it’s fun for them and they can relate it to other languages they study like French and Spanish.
“It’s not just the language but how they connect with it and they’re very clever and can make the connection and they enjoy translating names into Latin.
“It’s useful in learning every other language and it teaches them to think logically and to understand the masculine and feminine and plural forms.
“My daughter is fluent in Welsh and there are even many words in Welsh that come from Latin.”
Harry Potter author J K Rowling has borrowed extensively from Latin in concocting the boy wizard’s spell such as expelliamus, impedimenta and expecto patronum while London Mayor Boris Johnson has said: “Latin equips you to learn other languages, but it also equips you for modern life, honing one’s intellectual acuity.
“Latin has been consigned to an arbitrarily enforced ghetto for far too long and I am delighted that proper recognition is again being given to this inspiring and valuable language.
“My office will be pleased to work closely with the government to raise the profile of Latin and enable more youngsters to be introduced to its delights and benefits.”
Mark Zuckerberg, worth an estimated $6.9 billion, has quoted Roman poet Vergil in meetings while David Beckham’s two Latin tattoos are ‘Ut Amem Et Foveam’, meaning ‘So that I love and cherish’ and ‘Perfectio In Spiritu’, ‘Perfection in spirit’, while Angelina Jolie has ‘Quod Me Nutrit ‘Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit’, ‘What nourishes me also destroys me’ tattooed below her navel.
