Sir, – Perhaps Latin is dead (Peter McGuire, “Latin: A dead language that’s still alive in schools”, Education, April 4th), like the frog on the dissecting table. But for understanding language, Latin is a specimen for which some of the best techniques of dissection have been developed. No one would question our need to understand biology. What a life a frog has – what a life any language! We need people with an understanding of language, so thank you, Fr Christopher Dillon. – Yours, etc,
EDWARD STELL,
(Legislative drafter),
Headington,
We used to vilify unwed mothers. Now we criticise women who don’t want to be mothers
Dior’s Jonathan Anderson: ‘Moody, intense, a perfectionist, maybe not the warmest, but a visionary’
Ireland from the 1970s to the 1990s must have been groaning with future celebrities of the diaspora
Bloomsday was a sporadic, boozy and ill-mannered affair before becoming an annual event in 1994
Oxford, England.
Sir, – Fr Christopher Dillon says that much of the anger in the modern world is due to people communicating through English, an imprecise language.
Without apparent irony, he then observes that reading (precise) Latin texts means “studying slavery, rape, war and genocide”. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY,
Gaoth Dobhair,
Co Dhún na nGall.
