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Why study Latin, and not some other modern language?

Because there is no language in the world that affects English as much as Latin.
We’re over 60 percent Latin-based in our vocabulary, and we learn as we study it that that vocabulary comprises
our most sophisticated English words: those of our sciences, medicine, law, even our technology.

We also learn that Latin is the mother language of our most common spoken languages,
Spanish and French, as well as Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian.
So my students get a good working introduction to five commonly spoken languages in the same amount of time
that others spend in just learning one language.

And by comparing and contrasting Latin and English for three years through translating,
a student learns the basics of how most languages of the world work, as both Latin and English
represent the two most common language structures.

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A student will begin encountering English spelling words that are made up of Latin components in about second or third grade.
And this is the perfect time to start teaching them how those Latin components of prefixes, root words, and even those suffixes, not only give us clues to the meanings of our English words, but also how they affect our spelling. Most people don’t realize that the majority of doubled consonants and silent letters in English words have a Latin reason behind them. And students love knowing the reasons why our words are built the way they are.

A young student really needs to have a good two years of English spelling and reading skills behind them before they’re comfortable enough with English letters and letter teams to not confuse them with the pronunciation of Latin letters and their diphthongs that may look the same, but are pronounced totally differently. This is my emphasis in my program for young students called the Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading.