Supports Academic Achievement
The effort to master another language stretches the mind and expands our capacity to learn more generally. Thus students who learn a second language score better not only in their first language, but in other subjects as well. Greek is especially beneficial in this regard, owed to the rigor of its grammar and the suppleness of its syntax. The 27th U.S. President, William Howard Taft, who, like most U.S. presidents before World War II, was trained in Greek and Latin, has summarized the benefits of that training incisively: “In addition to the mental discipline which study of them affords, they are most helpful in the matter of correct English style, in laying sound foundations for grammatical construction, and in furnishing a basis for the study of all modern languages.”
The Language of Philosophy and “STEAM”
It’s no secret that Greek is the language of philosophy, but it is also the language of STEAM—an acronym for the areas of science, technology, engineering, art and architecture, and mathematics. Learning Greek provides students with a deeper understanding of this terminology by accessing it through its original form.
The Language of Our Founding Fathers
Due to their deep appreciation of Ancient Greek culture, our founding fathers studied and used Greek as the foundation of their democratic movement. Many inscriptions, philosophical ideals, and ideas in early America came directly from the Greek language and culture.
The Language of Languages
Greek is the oldest European language in continuous existence. It stretches back more than 3,000 years. There are countless words that arrive to English directly from Greek. It is estimated that one in four English words derives from Greek. A few examples: democracy (from demos/people + kratos/power), dinosaur (deinos/terrible + sauros/lizard), helicopter (helix/spiral + pteron/wing), philanthropy (philia/love + anthropos/person), telephone (tele/afar + phone/voice). Students who learn Greek are better able to learn and identify root words, increasing their English language vocabulary while learning Greek.