A Latin lesson starts. “So boys, who will translate into Latin for the school inspector…?” professor Lejsal is looking around the class. Student Benetka raises his hand. “Please, a wolf is carrying a letter to the caretaker.”
The famous scene from a legendary comedy Škola, základ života [School, groundwork for life] is becoming live again at secondary schools today. Latin, which was obligatory especially for students at grammar schools under the Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938), is today again entering the curricula of secondary schools. Students can study Latin not only as a facultative subject, but more of them also choose the language of old Romans as one of the subjects of their leaving school exam.
To illustrate this: only three years ago, 12,570 students studied Latin at Czech secondary schools, this year there are one thousand more of them. And teachers do not expect the interest in the ancient language will slacken in the next years. Latin is taught mostly at grammar schools as a facultative course, but some schools include the language among obligatory subjects.
“Students are interested in Latin. Every year, we manage to fill the optional courses with about thirty students,” said Jiří Herman, the principal of Gymnázium Kpt. Jaroše in Brno, where students can attend a two- or three-year course of Latin. In the course they can learn vocabulary and translate simple texts from Latin to Czech.
Teachers think the basic knowledge of Latin is an indisputable advantage for secondary school students who wish to continue studying at the university. “Students can use their knowledge of Latin in history, law, political science, but also in medicine and pharmacy. That’s also the reason why they choose to study Latin,” said Stanislava Hafnerová, the deputy principal at Gymnázium Žatec.
Latin also makes the study of foreign languages easier.
“Students better understand the system of language and understand the terminology. And they definitely also get a cultural outlook and deepen their knowledge of history,” said Aleš Beran, teacher of Latin at the Prague PORG grammar school.