Abe Alba

Many years ago, when I was a senior-high student, I learned some Latin. It all started with the study of the etymology of Spanish words. I was taught that many names that sounded professional or complicated come from Latin words; beekeeping (apicultura), for example, comes from apis (bee). And that medical terms ending in -itis mean that something is inflamed. I found that fascinating!

I was eager to learn more, but I had such horrible teachers; they were more concerned about their own business rather than helping us learn. I couldn’t understand a thing about the grammatical cases or how and why words change their ending depending on them.

When I got into university I had the chance to enroll in a language class for free. I could choose any language I wanted; can you guess my pick? Yes, I chose Latin and the experience was totally different. I had an exceptional teacher who made the so-feared grammatical cases and the endings seem so damned easy!

The interesting thing is that I enrolled in this class not only because I was already a big fan of Latin, there was a small detail that gave me the push I still needed, especially since everyone around me would ask: “Latin? What is the use of that? Can you actually make money with a dead language?”.

It was the sign advertising the Latin class that moved me deeply. It was a simple black and white xerox. The text was short, direct, yet sophisticated and inviting. I felt compelled to join them—in a good way—and I had the certainty these guys knew what they were doing. It wasn’t only me; a classmate of mine felt exactly the same.

Regrettably, I didn’t last long at the university and I only finished the first level of Latin. However, I never forgot the most powerful communication tools I learned in that awesome class. I used them in my successful job interviews and when I was a tour guide for big bilingual groups, explaining everything in one language and then the other without losing anyone’s interest. I used them to design my own English course, which helped me survive the pandemic, financially speaking. And I continue to use them in my schoolwork now that I’m back, working on a bachelor degree.

“Can you actually make money with a dead language?”. Definitely, you can! All knowledge is valuable, whether to make money, understand life better, or just to have something in common with a person you want to have something in common with… if you know what I mean.

I dare to say that my limited proficiency in Latin helped me, as an inexperienced and ignorant young boy, to tell the difference between someone who pretended to be and someone who actually was.

How about you? What was the one thing that changed your life for the better, but people would ask: “And what’s the use of that?”

Abe Alba