Miss Marie Yeo, Music and Latin teacher

For the past three terms, the Year 7s have been learning Latin both in the Classical way and in the ‘living’ methods pedagogue. Despite its labeling as a ‘dead’ language, Latin forms the foundation of not only our English vernacular but our Western civilization and culture, and hence, is a vital part of a Liberal Arts curriculum.

Learning the grammar of the Latin language have helped the boys advance in their vocabulary knowledge and will assist in advancing their literacy skills. One of the beauties of Latin is that, unlike modern English vocabulary – which has now been reduced to one to a few definitions per term - one Latin word can contain a plethora of meaning and history. This is often understood in the etymology and inflections of different words.

One example is learning the difference between Video (I see), which indicates a fact, and Videre (to see), which almost has an infinity to its meaning, as there is no indication of who is seeing, nor how long the seeing is happening, both having the root vid (see) as a precursor of the English word video (something that is seen/watched). There is a succinctness in Latin which does not obviously exist in the vernacular. Learning Latin will always assist in English, both as a written and spoken word.

Struggling to learn and memorise content which does not always point to an immediate satisfaction in real life nurtures discipline, intellectual stamina and memorization skills. It is delightful to see some of the students shine in areas they are not often recognized for. For example, chanting the conjugation endings is not dissimilar to memorizing a poem or rap song.

This term, the boys have been covering First and Second Conjugation Verbs in the active voice, both in the indicative and imperative moods. They have been covering past, present and future endings of different verbs. It is exciting to learn that the root of one word can remain the same, though the endings will change its meaning. The boys and I have also discussed the origins of all Romance languages in Latin, touching on root words in Italian, Spanish, etc.

The boys have also been going through the great sayings of Western Civilisation, statements which have surpassed time and contexts, speaking to all people and communities. Statements such as “Carpe Diem (seize/pluck the day)”, and Julius Caesar’s famous, “Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered)”, were recorded and discussed.