1. How important are these school subjects? How can they help you in life? Complete the following table:
Importance Usefulness in Life
Coding
Art
History
Physics
English
2. Are you happy with the subjects taught at schools in your country? Which subjects were the most/least useful for you later in life? Are there as many changes made to your school curriculum as there are in the UK?
Read article here: Latin In Schools Reading
3. Were you surprised by the reaction to adding another language to the curriculum? How did the critics of this proposal characterise Latin? How did the supporters characterise it?
4. What do you know of the British class system? Are there any subjects taught in schools in your country which are attached to class or social status?
5. Is Latin (or Greek) taught in Russian schools? Is anyone against this? What are their arguments? Are they useful languages to learn in order to understand your own language? If you studied them, how did you feel about it?
6. Many modern languages are derived from Latin and Greek - if you are studying a modern language, would that justify studying a classical language as well? Or do you think that the school curriculum is already sufficiently 'busy'?
7. Who should decide what is taught? Should it be the state, an individual minister, teachers or parents? Is the school curriculum in your country applied to all regions of, or do some regions offer variations?
8. Does your mother tongue help/hinder you in learning English? If you already speak another foreign language, does that help your English studies?
9. Do the following justify the addition of Latin as a subject to the school curriculum?
- increased vocabulary
- improvement of grammar
- sharpened critical thinking skills
- knowledge of history
- insight into ancient and modern perspectives
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Match the Latin phrases to their English equivalents:
Ad astra per aspera Love conquers all things
Alea iacta est Fortune favours the bold
Acta non verba Art is long, life is short
Audentes fortuna iuvat Deeds not words
Ars longa, vita brevis The die is cast
Amor vincit omnia Through adversity to the stars
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Situation
You are the UK Education Secretary, you're holding a live Facebook session with members of the public to promote the introduction of Latin to the school curriculum. Your teacher is the moderator.
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Discuss quotes
“There's no such thing as dead languages, only dormant minds.”
― Carlos Ruiz Zafón
“The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn.”
― Marcus Tullius Cicero
“Don't just look, look into a good book”
― Constance Friday Elias
“A Roman centurion walks into a bar and orders a martinus.
The bartender says, "Don't you mean a martini?"
The centurion answers, "If I wanted a double I would have ordered it.”
― Harlan Wolff
“I speak English to my accountants, French to my ambassadors, Italian to my mistress, Latin to my God, and German to my horse”
― Charles V
Latin is a dead tongue
As dead as it can be
First it killed the Romans
And now it’s killing me
--- Children’s Rhyme
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Student Handout PDF: Latin In Schools
Photo: Arthousestudio