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Latin in the New Zealand Curriculum
Ko tōu reo, ko tōku reo,
te tuakiri tangata.
Tīhei uriuri, tīhei nakonako.
Your voice and my voice are expressions of identity.
May our descendants live on and our hopes be fulfilled.
The primary goal of learning the Latin language is to read and comprehend Roman authors in the original Latin.
Latin has had a significant influence over many modern languages.
Vernacular forms of Latin evolved into a number of distinct Romance languages, including Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Romansh, and Spanish. These were for many centuries only oral languages, and Latin continued to be used for written purposes.
Many words adapted from Latin are found in other modern languages, for example, English, which derives sixty percent of its vocabulary from Latin.
Latin needs to be studied as a language with communicative intent, because it once functioned as a living language – just as we treat languages spoken around us today. That is why Latin needs to have the same approaches as for living languages (but not tested for 'spoken' capability).
In fact, second language teaching and learning, in its shift to intercultural communicative theory, is closer to what Latin teachers have been doing all along, that is, situating language use within sociocultural contexts, increasing the focus on 'texts', and exploring values across cultures and, in the case of Latin, over time.
Select this link to discover the guide for Latin:
Assessment for qualifications
Aligned level 1 achievement standards were registered for use in 2011 and level 2 for use in 2012; level 3 will be registered for use in 2013.
Last updated May 6, 2013