Speaking Latin

Why should I learn to speak Latin?

You might wonder if learning to speak Latin really makes sense even though the Latin speaking population has all but disappeared. European languages such as French, German or English have replaced Latin as official languages in their respective countries. These modern languages were rough and primitive at first, but have matured over time so that scholars and scientists became able to discuss topics such as science, philosophy and art in these new languages instead of Latin.

However, bear in mind that Latin has been the common language, or lingua franca, of the Western world for many centuries, allowing people from different places and cultures to communicate with each other effectively. Although the chances of meeting someone speaking Latin in public are rather low nowadays, we do find the language’s heritage everywhere around us, e.g. in Latin inscriptions. More importantly, a large part of our literature was originally written in Latin and only later translated to modern languages such as English.

Having to translate a text sentence by sentence makes it impossible to truly enjoy authors such as Cicero, Virgil or Petrarca. Many of us were tortured with Latin conjugation and declination tables in school or university. Speaking Latin allows us to rediscover the joy of reading the great classical Latin works that we already know, connecting with them on a deeper level.

Another reason for learning to speak Latin is that you will get to know people from all over the world. In Latin classrooms – real and virtual – you will meet Latin students from Europe, the United States, South America, Africa and Asia. Speaking Latin is becoming popular in China! Many find it more interesting to socialize in Latin rather than English, as Latin speakers share a common interest in the culture and history behind the language.

There is a recent trend towards “living Latin” in popular culture. For example, the first two books of the Harry Potter series have been translated to Latin and there are movies and TV series such as Barbarians on Netflix in which Latin is heard. Unfortunately, these works are often fraught with grammatical and stylistic errors, as there are few people who have a sound knowledge of spoken Latin. In our online classes, we teach authentic Latin devoid of “barbarisms” and wrong pronunciations, thus bringing more authenticity to the recent trend of speaking Latin as a living language.

What is the correct pronunciation for speaking Latin?

Some people are obsessed with pronouncing Latin words exactly as the Romans did. However, we do not know exactly how the Romans pronounced Latin. There are only theories, albeit scientifically sound ones. We do not see the benefit of chasing an ideal that does not improve our actual use of Latin. We find cultivating a good style of expression much more important.

That said, there are two main ways of pronouncing Latin, the so-called classical pronunciation and the eccesiastical pronunciation. Here is a summary of the main differences:

Many of us mix the two pronunciation systems, and that’s fine. There is no single truth of how Latin should be pronounced. After all, the pronunciation of the language has changed throughout the ages. Choose the pronunciation that you are comfortable with and focus on improving your style and vocabulary rather than obsessing about pronunciation.

There is one important point that is not up to personal preference: the accent. You should take great care to place the accent where it belongs. For example, cónditum means “founded”, while condítum means “seasoned”! As you see, the position of the accent is crucial for distinguishing between similar words. If your goal is to speak Latin well, focus on the accent rather than the two systems of pronunciation.