I am preparing to take yet another year of Latin. I seem to be festina lente-ing my way through the language. Yes, although you may be wondering, I do have a mens sana in corpore sano as Juvenal would say. There is nothing wrong with me; infact, I believe that the study of Latin is profitable on many levels.
Latin has a plethora of purposes. Even if I were to forget the forms or (unthinkably) the name of the subjunctive case, as our beloved Dr Bloedow has said (with much more eloquence): Latin teaches one grammar, if nothing else. I shall forever know that, by saying "if I were..." (as above), I have ventured into the uncertain relm of the subjunctive (thankfully only in English this time!).
What else does a dead language teach, you ask? Latin is replete with English roots (or have I it backwards?). One cannot venture far into the language without stumbling upon a word that looks vaguely familiar, yet different. That is a root, my fine friend. I shall further claim that English words are full of Latin roots (if this were a garden, we'd have some difficulty digging this ground). Understanding Latin gives us hints into the origins and meanings of many English words (particularly long, complicated technical terms).
On these grounds alone (not even venturing into the area of the buckets of wisdom to be found or the sheer enjoyment of the structure of the language itself), I believe I have made my case for the sanity of one (such as yours humbly and truly) who loves such a pursuit.
I hope that you will wish me well on my journey per ardua ad astra (thanks to the RAF for that one)
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