‘Immortal’ Words

Below a quartet of almost life-size posters of Roman gods hanging high on the walls of Irvine teacher Martha Altieri’s Latin class, a discreet sign sums up why most high school students study the ancient language: “Rise above the vulgar crowd, take Latin.”

A hubris-ridden sentiment? Perhaps.

An esoteric bunch of kids? Certainly.

An extinct language? Definitely not.

In fact, Latin is alive, kicking and growing in California K-12 schools.

“Latin is immortal,” proclaimed Woodbridge High School senior Kerem Yilmaz, a student in Altieri’s advanced placement Latin IV class.

Kerem, like many California teens, said Latin is gaining popularity because it can help students improve their SAT scores, better understand the English language and stand out in the crowd.

Statistical data support those claims.

Statewide, the number of public school teenagers taking Latin has risen by 30% since 1992. California also ranked eighth in the nation last year--up from 13th place in 1993--among the 4,600 private and public school students who took the recognized National Latin Exam, a voluntary test that awards high-scorers medals and scholarships.

Nationwide, interest in Latin is rising most rapidly at elementary and middle schools, according to officials from the American Classical League, an association of Latin and Greek scholars. Their studies show that the number of elementary school students learning Latin doubled to 4,265 from 1990 to 1994 (the latest data available); at middle schools, that figure rose 18% to 214,182.

Veritas Christian Academy in Mills River, N.C., offers Latin as early as kindergarten. At the middle grades, many students study Latin at Crossroads School, a private K-12 campus in Santa Monica, and Palos Verdes Intermediate, a public school.

Also contributing to this trend are the Internet and other technology, which provide long-distance programs and resources to students who don’t have Latin teachers at their schools, educators said.

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“Latin is a part of the modern languages and society now,” said Jane H. Hall, a Latin instructor in Virginia and chairwoman of the National Latin Exam.

That might be taking it a bit far.

While the upward trend shows promise, Latin still is studied by less than 1% of California students enrolled in foreign languages, the 1997 state data show.

But Latinists said they’ve been able to maintain that percentage, with slight fluctuations over the years, despite the emergence of Asian languages and prominence of Spanish in schools.

“It’s not like kids are flocking to study Latin,” teacher Altieri said. “But the numbers definitely are growing and not declining.”

At one time, Latin was a premier language to study, particularly among the college-bound. But interest in Latin began to fade in the late 1960s because the dead language was seen as irrelevant and less useful than a modern language. And just a few years earlier, the Catholic Church dropped Latin from Mass.

Since 1990, Latin has seen a steady resurgence in public schools. And the language generally has been thriving in Catholic and specialized programs such as the Boston Public Latin School, the first such program, founded in 1635.

Complex, descriptive and exact, Latin is called “the language of endings.” That’s because every noun, adjective, verb and pronoun has a different ending for various usages, Altieri said.

It’s the challenge of cracking the language of the ancient Romans that keeps students hooked, they said.

On a recent Monday, Altieri’s 10 AP Latin students, considered a sizable class for this advanced course, picked apart eloquent lines from the “Aeneid,” Virgil’s epic poem about the hero Aeneas who left the burning ruins of Troy to found a new city in the West.

Laboring over every detail, senior Sam Kim tried to translate before his classmates a dramatic scene in which a pounding storm shatters Aeneas’ fleet.

“ ‘The wind--’ No, I mean, ‘The east wind drives the [pause] . . . the wind from the deep sea [pause] . . . and to the shallow reef’?” Sam said, his voice trailing off in confusion.

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What Sam was starting to decode was this passage: “The east wind drives three ships from the deep sea on the flats and in the quicksand, miserable to be seen, and dashes the ships on the shoals and surrounds them with the heap of sand.”

To understand Latin is to love language, have a command of parts of speech and be imaginative, Altieri said.

“It’s like a puzzle,” she explained. “You have to understand how words function in sentences in order to figure out the text.”

Beyond the classroom, young Latin scholars steep themselves in the language, literature and history. Many even relive the ancient times at conferences and fun-filled events organized by the Junior Classical League, a student Latin club with chapters at nearly 1,200 private and public schools nationwide.

More than 600 students turned up at Irvine’s University High School this month for S.C.R.A.M., or Southern California Regional Amici (Friends) Madness.

Innocence and intelligence abounded throughout this daylong gathering, where students played a Latin version of “Jeopardy,” competed in sports, held a Mr. and Ms. Rome contest and soiled their clothes during a three-legged race and water balloon fight.

“They are based on developing responsibility and fostering brotherhood,” University High Latin teacher Josh Davis said of the Latin club events. “They’re the perfect complement to the academic environment.”

Added Woodbridge teacher Altieri: “The Junior Classical League without a doubt keeps kids interested in Latin. It makes Latin fun and enjoyable for everyone.”

The league’s membership numbers swell annually. Its latest total boasts 56,200 students nationwide.

Mind-bending fun and games keep students devoted to Latin. Besides, no other foreign language is taught in English. Perhaps these are the reasons why Latin has the highest percentage of students, 33%, proceeding to advanced courses. Spanish also has 33%, and French has 25%.

“Latin is really hard to learn,” said Woodbridge High senior Patrick Stockstill, who’s in his fourth year of the language. “But at the same time, it’s really rewarding. It helps you get into college. And it’s where friendships are made.”