The drill books offer the student acquaintance with a much wider spectrum of noun endings and verb forms, as well as deeper study of Latin roots and English cognates. In addition, examples of Latin quotes from a variety of sources enrich the student’s vocabulary and comprehension. Upon completion of all the planned levels of the Little Latin Readers, readers, workbooks, CD’s and drill books, students will have been introduced and have extensive practice with the first seven units of Henle Latin I.
After that point, the student is well prepared to take off like a rocket with the standard high school Latin program, having a firm grammatical foundation, having been steeped and saturated (imbutus), in the little things (parvis) in the elementary grades, much like the conventional study of English grammar which is traditionally extended through the primary and secondary levels.
The thrill of sorting, sequencing and decoding Latin sentences has always been one of my favorite aspects of the study of Latin. Moreover, it is the language of the usus antiquior and even a basic acquaintance with Latin grammar and vocabulary, and, at the very least, familiarity with the pronunciation rules is of great benefit to those who attend the traditional Latin Mass.
A knowledge of Latin is also of great benefit in enjoying the treasures of Catholic culture---Latin hymns, poems and chant, the translation of which however beautiful (cf. Adrian Fortescue’s Latin Hymns) cannot replace the piquancy of the original.
It might be, as for myself, that learning to read the words of Sacred Scripture fresh from the pen of St. Jerome, in the Biblia Sacra Vulgata, is the ultimate delight in knowing Latin, considering that the Vulgate was the most influential text in Christendom for over a millenium and was the source of inspiration, the fons et origo, for Gregorian chant.
Because of its precise definitions and capacity for nuance, Latin is also useful in the study of theology, patristics, canon law and and philosophy, the main corpus of which is preserved in that tongue. The longstanding use of Latin language by Catholic theologians and academics is the basis for the sometimes pejorative charge of “Romanitas”---that Catholic scholars were fixated on picayune details and used Latin to retain accuracy and exactitude in their formulation of theological and moral concepts, as opposed to a more relaxed, equivocal presentation.
Moreover, Latin is useful as an international language and a basis for learning Romance languages more easily: Italian, French, Spanish, Portugese and Romanian, and even English, since about 60% of English words come from Latin. Latin study will make English grammar easier to assimilate and is an excellent preparation for medical or legal careers since much of the vocabulary and technical terminology is derived from Latin.
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