Latin to be reinstated as official curriculum language in the United Kingdom next year

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Maximae Britannicae partes sunt Operariorum Partes, quorum dux est primus minister (hodie Gordon Brown), et Optimatium Partes, quorum dux est David Cameron. Regina est civitatis caput, dum suus primus minister est gubernationis caput.

Here's some more news on the progress Latin is making in the UK as it seems poised to return to the curriculum next year as an official curriculum language, which means that it'll be added to the new Languages diploma. Those following the subject may remember Lord Faulkner of Worcester speaking on the subject in the House of Lords last month (who was also very kind in responding to the email I sent him by the way) and he, along with schools minister Baroness Morgan, appear in this article too.

Some interesting parts from the article:

She said it was "an important subject and valuable for supporting pupils' learning of modern languages". She added that the Language Diploma Development Partnership was "considering the place of Latin".

Well-placed sources said that the language was expected to be reinstated as an official curriculum language next year.

Baroness Morgan made the comments in response to calls from another Labour peer, Lord Faulkner of Worcester who said it helped students to learn other languages.

"Each year, 35 new Latin teachers are trained but over 60 are leaving the profession,'' he said. "Isn't it time that Latin was reclassified as an official curriculum language and was given the same encouragement as other languages?"
and:
Lady Morgan said that the number of younger children studying Latin had already risen sharply over the past decade following Government investment in computer software and other teaching tools.


It'll be interesting to see if Latin will be able to achieve the critical momentum needed for a language to stay alive, a functioning body of users that speak in the language daily. Any guesses on whether it will be able to achieve this, and if so, when?

(and where?)

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