Harrius Potter

When I tell people I am taking Latin, I usually get one of two responses depending who I'm talking to. The response from the older generation (i.e. parents/grandparents) is something like, "Oh...why?" or "Isn't that a dead language?" or "Why on God's earth would you take that?!" The response from the younger generation (i.e. people my age-ish) is surprisingly different. People are actually impressed. Of course my brother Chad is not included in this, as he is unimpressed with anything I do, ever:

Anyways, a common comment I receive is, "Soon you can read Harry Potter in Latin!" And herein I think is where Latin becomes cool again. Harry Potter. It goes without saying that the Harry Potter books were some of the most popular books of the last 50 years. There aren't many popular modern books that incorporate Latin as part of the story as much as the Harry Potter books. There are very interesting posts on the Hogwarts Professor and Greek Geek blogs that explore the Latin used. Obviously a lot of the Latin is not great, with words made up and mixing in other languages. A debate has arisen online: Is it a terrible thing that the books use "Dog Latin", or is just the fact they use Latin, bad or not, a good thing? I have to agree with the latter, because to even spark an interest in the language is a good thing. If someone becomes interested in Latin, they will want to research more into it, perhaps even learn it, and in that case they will (hopefully) learn proper form and words. And learning to speak Latin like Hermione Granger is not a terrible thing.

Myself, I'm taking Latin partially because it's strongly recommended for my major (Medieval and Renaissance Studies). The other reason is from reading historical fiction. In the books I read (which generally take place in late Medieval-early Renaissance Europe), Latin is a language frequently mentioned as being a language spoken at court and in the church. As I read these novels, I'm often on Google researching characters and events as I go. I love language in general, and learning Latin is an extension of this Google research on a larger scale. Hopefully with more prestige?

Nope, he's still not impressed.