C
Cat
Guest
So many people around the world speak English fluently, there is no need for scientists or anyone from the U.S. to be bilingual, other than the desire to acquire this knowledge for personal satisfaction and fulfilment.
But grad school costs a fortune, so anything that can be done to reduce the cost and cut the time spent in school is highly welcome by those who are paying the bills, even if this omission causes pain for the nostalgic and the lovers of tradition. (My younger daughter just finished a doctoral degree, and my older daughter is working on an MFA.)
There is honestly no practical reason for a scientist to spend a lot of time (and money) in school learning a second language. Even though we all learned at one time that Latin is the language of science, it really, honestly isn’t anymore day-to-day in real life. Truth told, English seems to be the real-life, modern day “language of science.” If a scientist needs a Latin name for a new species or pathology or process, he/she can probably plug in some software that will help him/her find the best Latin name. And the ancient Latin documents of past scientists have all been translated into many vernaculars for years, so there really is no need for scientists to know Latin to be able to understand the work of the past scientists.
I just attended a huge microbiology conference in San Diego. The conference was entirely in English, even though 8000 people from many different countries attended. Many of them spoke excellent English, better than many Americans!
I think that those who try to convince skeptics and critics that Latin is worthwhle because it is “the language of science” would be better to drop this rather lame argument and admit that this isn’t really the case in modern times, and instead, take the approach that the best reason for learning Latin is the pure and commendable desire to learn an ancient language for the sake of personal fulfilment, which is, after all, the best reason to bother to learn anything. Learning for its own sake and challenging the intellect is a pleasure, and there is no need to try to create a “practical” reason to study and learn something. Not everything has to have an application or a use. Sometimes it’s nice just to learn something for the sake of knowing it.
Of course, for aspiring religious scholars, there are very practical reasons to learn Latin. Latin and other ancient languages such as Greek and Hebrew, are necessary to be able to study the ancient church writings and hopefully contribute to the body of knowledge about these important documents. And of course, for any young man who might someday be called to the priesthood, learning Latin would be a worthwhile accomplishment so that he might comfortably associate with the wisest minds in the Church during various Church meetings and convocations.