I found this article about a month ago and saved it to my desktop because I really wanted to post about it – Latin Returns From Dead… .  This article, from the New York Times, is about a resurgence in Latin language classes and in ancient culture clubs.  I thought this was really interesting.  In one of my other classes, Latin was described as a dead language (i.e. it is no longer changing and adapting with the times) that was falling out of favor.  But, this article shows not only how Latin is becoming popular again, but also how it can help students.  Since so many of the words we read are based on Latin roots, these students have a huge leg up in regards to vocabulary.  I think this will slowly become a more popular class to take since so many of the tests high school students have to take revolve, in large part, around vocabulary – the SAT, ACT, MME, etc. 

What I wonder, though, is whether these students need a full on Latin language course, or whether they would be better off learning a second language that they could actually use in the real world – Chinese, Spanish, French, etc. – and get their dose of Latin in thier other courses.  Learning latin roots and certain words can be useful for science, math, english, and on and on.  So, students could still benefit from learning Latin, but do it in a more concise manner.