Latin in Scottish Schools? HP mentioned

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Harry Potter: Minister wants to resurrect Latin in schools



« Previous « PreviousNext » Next »View GalleryPublished Date: 19 
October 2008 
By Fiona Gray
WHEN at home speak as the Romans did. Scottish school pupils could 
soon be learning Latin as a way of boosting their English skills.

Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop last night announced her support for 
the "dead" language to be resuscitated in classrooms in a move which 
would see children as young as nine studying the language and culture 
of ancient Rome.

Hyslop, who herself studied classics at school, believes teaching 
Latin will give youngsters a better understanding of their own 
language as well as making it easier to learn French and Spanish.

And with JK Rowling's Harry Potter books making Latin more popular 
than ever with children, as the boy wizard casts his spells in the 
ancient language, there is an appetite for learning among pupils.

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Edinburgh author Rowling is also a fan of the classical language, and 
taught herself the basics as she did not learn it at school.

Her books use Latin for the incantations Harry learns at Hogwarts, 
such as Accio, which brings an object to a wizard and comes from the 
Latin for "to summon", and Petrificus Totalus, which binds a person 
to the spot and literally means "completely turned to stone". The 
books have helped reignite children's interest in Latin.