Evening star., 1925-10-08
STUDY OF LATIN MAKES BRAINS,
DECLARES EDUCATION SPECIALIST
Points Out That Classical Students Usually Do Best
in Other Courses-Bureau of Education AssO.
ciate Disagrees and Presents Some Statistics.

. The question of whether or not the
thousands and thousands of students
now entering the colleges and high
schools of the country should study
I.atin has come under official scrutiny.
Yes" emphatically. declared James
+ Abel, one ot the specialists in the
United States Bureau of Education.
unnecessary" asserts Frank NJ.
Phillips. chief of the statistical dlVl-
sion of the same bureau.
Both back their views in their own
way and their conclusions will be of
wide interest TO students. parents and
others in determining how much
Latin. if any. should he studied
Many Study Latin.
MANY people believe the classical
languages are fast disappearing ana
should disappear from our schools.
says MI Abel, but reports show that
nearly 1000 900 students are now
studying Latin in American institu-
tions. More high school students are
enrolling in Latin classes than In all
the other foreign languages combined.
Thine given by Latin pupils to the
preparation of their lessons is greater
than that accorded to any other sub
ject in the secondary schools. 1t is
also true that Latin students are
SUI passing nOl-lIdlln StuuelllS III tiit
mastery of other subjects, and
superiority appears to be due to some
thing gained from studying Latin
rather than to greater natural ability.
More secondary schools offer Latin
than offer any other foreign language
and the percentage giving four years
Of Latin is greater than that of those
offering three wears of French. which
ranks next to highest in enrolment.
Inquiry made Ivy the American ClasSi-
cal League showed 9i0,000 young peo.
pie studying Latin in the secondary
schools and 10000 more in the col
leSes. OF 500 colleges in the United
States. COO will accept and PA re.
auire Latin for admission to courses
giving an bachelor of art degree.
Greek Study Less.
About 2o.5OO teachers of Latin are
required to carry on the work in the
secondary schools. There has been
9s per cent decrease in the number
of students taking Latin since 1914,
hut this is because of the enormous
increase in high school enrolment.
Greek occupies a much less impor-
ia nit place. about 5000 college and
II 900 high school students taking
that language. Only 30 colleges now
require knowledge of Greek for en-
trance.
When it is considered that nearly
900 900 Young people are studying
Latin. Ii is most important to note
what advantage they are getting out
of their work. They derive greater
ability to read and understand Latin
and those elements in English related
to 1t: greater ability to read. speak
and write English and learn other
foreign languages: development of
mental concentration and literary ap-
probation: and knowledge of Ian
guage structure. Many leading edu.
Gators believe that these mental
traits developed in the study of Latin
may be transferred to other lines of
endeavor." said Mr.. Abel.
Record of Students.
Mr.. Abel added that the Classical
League discovered that the Latin
students are also keener in other
studies. The record of 10000 students
taking college entrance examinations
showed that Latin students did about
13 per cent better than non-Latin
students in other school branches.
The greater amount of Latin studied,
the more marked the difference.
Further tests revealed that of the IS
per cent only or per cent did bet
ter because of initial ability. while 10
Or II per cent eXcelled because of
something they had obtained from the
study of Latin. Many teachers base