Michael Gentile took an Elementary Certificate’s amount of Latin (211 and 212) and promptly studied abroad in Rome, Italy, during the 2017-2018 academic year. In his own words, “The experience is unparalleled, seeing all classical ruins and artifacts really puts our world into perspective.”
Latin complements his BA in History. With his language skills, he was able to read inscriptions and ancient texts while in Rome, and believes that “being able to read some of the inscriptions and original texts goes a long way towards obtaining an accurate understanding of what these ancient peoples were actually trying to say in their writing.” In addition to shining insight into past perspectives, his Latin studies aided him in the acquisition of Modern Languages. Michael writes, “Thanks to my understanding of Latin, I was able to learn Italian when studying abroad much quicker than my counterparts who had never studied Latin. Studying Latin really helped me understand the underlying structure of romance languages; not only has it helped me learn Italian, but I can even get the basic meaning of sentences written in Spanish or French by just looking at them thanks to my study of Latin. Finally, the study of Latin has expanded my English vocabulary. Many of our words contain Latin bases, so knowing these makes understanding new words that much easier.”