A dead language? MUN prof offering free Latin lessons in St. John's

There's a free class at the A.C. Hunter Public Library in St. John's for people who want to learn a new language, but there's a catch — the language hasn't been been commonly used in more than 1,000 years.

Latin at the Library is a biweekly event, led by Memorial University classics professor Milo Nikolic.

Nikolic said at first it may seem strange to spend time learning what some call a dead language, but he said there are definitely advantages to learning the mother tongue of the ancient Romans.

"If you want to order pizza somewhere downtown, it's certainly a dead language," he told CBC's Weekend AM. "But on the other hand, you have to consider that about 30 to 60 per cent of all English vocabulary is ultimately derived from Latin."

From ancient Rome to Hogwarts

Nikolic said there is a resurgence of interest in the language lately, with books such as Winnie the Pooh, Cat in the Hat and Harry Potter all being translated into Latin.

Click the player below to listen to a few lines of the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, read in Latin by Milo Nikolic:

As well, ​Nikolic said there are educational benefits to learning Latin.

That's because nearly half of all words in English are rooted in Latin, and even more so with Romance languages such as French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian.

"Latin is the ancestor of all romance languages, so if you get two years of Latin experience under your belt, learning all these romance languages that are the descendants of Latin will be a breeze," he said.

"So in learning Latin, not only do you learn Latin but you also learn how to learn and study a language."