Why Learning Latin Makes You Incredibly Smarter | ‘Latin Classes’ as Education | Diamond Online

Latin is the best education in the world.Han Dong-il, who became the first Rota Romana (Vatican court) lawyer in East Asia, is drawing attention for his “Latin class”.A world bestseller by Mr.“Latin Classes as Education: The Origin of Liberal Arts Learned from Ancient Rome”(Written by Han Dong-il, translated by Ryoji Motomura, translated by Nobuko Okazaki)teeth,It reveals the roots of history, philosophy, religion, culture, art, and economics through the ancient language of Latin.It has become a long-selling book in South Korea with over 100 copies printed, and has been praised by critics saying that it has broadened their view of the world and that it has deepened their thinking. In this paper, a part of the content from this book is specially disclosed.

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Useless in real life?The mighty power of Latin

When I was assigned to give a class in Latin at Sogang University, I was worried at first whether the students would accept the class, which had nothing to do with real life.

However, when I opened the lid, it was a great success, and I wondered why the students wanted to take Latin classes.

I didn’t know the answer until much later, but it seems that they treated my lectures as if they were a “comprehensive humanities class” rather than just a Latin class.

This is probably because the classes cover not only Latin grammar, but also the history, culture, and laws of countries where Latin is the mother tongue.

In fact, one of the fastest ways to learn a foreign language is to develop a curiosity and love for the history and culture of that country. It’s exactly “what you like is what you’re good at”.

For me personally, every time I discovered various aspects of the academic and cultural aspects of European society through my study of Latin, my intellectual curiosity was satisfied and it was a great pleasure.

Of course, if you want to study Latin literature or anything related to Latin, you’ll need a thorough introduction to grammar.

The ultimate goal of my classes was not to master the language, but to instill an interest in it in my students, and to help them build a new framework for thinking through the language.

In other words, the goal of my classes is to create a bookshelf in the student’s head.

(This manuscript was written by Han Dong-il“Latin Classes as Education: The Origin of Liberal Arts Learned from Ancient Rome”edited and excerpted from

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