Latin, the language used thousands of years ago by the Romans. This language saw the rise and fall of one of the greatest empires ever. Today, this language is threatened at my school, and probably many others, due to ignorance and lack of funding. Our Latin program is slowly being cut until it will cease to exist. Plain and simple, most people just don't see a need for the Latin language anymore. These people are sorely mistaken. Latin might be one the most important languages ever developed, as it was the basis for current languages such as French and English, and does have uses in the modern world in biology and medicine.

All right, Latin can be difficult at first. Words have many different forms and meanings, and to read it, you need to depend on sentence order. Many students dislike Latin because of this. Too much memorization, too much work. However, many words in English are derived from Latin and its grammar is closely related to English. Thus the student not only learns Latin, they also gain a better understanding of their own language. Even one year of Latin can help, since they can apply what they have learned to another language such as French or Spanish, or even English.

Latin words themselves are still used of science and medicine. For example, the biological system for classifying organisms uses Latin. Medical terms and conditions are named for their Latin counterparts. If a student is interested in going into a career in medicine or science, it would be advantageous to take Latin.

The Renaissance of Europe is recognized as an era of intellectual rebirth. As documents have shown, the Renaissance ushered in a renewed interest in the Latin language. Scholars bragged to friends how they could talk and write in Latin. Knowing this language was a sign of wealth and intelligence. Now, in the twentieth century, schools want to deprive students of this language just to save some money. Even if they don't care about Latin, people in my city should be insulted to know that we are deemed by other districts as the place where education has been decimated. ?