[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Polyglot27

It's really not such a bad idea. Now that th EU has 25 members and requiring all documents to be translated. How about all EU directives being issued in Latin and leaving it to the member states to translate them into their own language.

Knowledge of Latin is extremely useful. Most "complicated" words in English have Latin (or Greek) roots, and, if you recognise the root, you know what the word means even if you've never seen it before.

After all they resuscitated Hebrew and made it into a living language again. If they can do it why can't Latin be resuscitated? I readily admit that I'll be the first to be inconvenienced. Ha ha.

Latin is a "living Language". It's the official language of the Vatican, and there is, for example, a radio station in Finland which broadcasts the news in Latin:

http://www.yleradio1.fi/nuntii/

Eg:

Barack Obama praesidens inauguratus


22.01.2009, klo 18.31
Barack Obama, munus praesidentis initurus, cum proximis Philadelphiae tramen ascendit, quo Washingtoniam invectus est.

Tramen in multis stationibus restitit, ut Obama civibus loqueretur, saepe etiam lentius vehebatur, ut cives familiam praesidentis viderent.

Sollemnia inaugurationis iam die Dominico (18.1.) Washingtoniae incohata sunt.

In magnum concentum sub divo ante memoriale praesidentis Abraham Lincoln institutum celeberrimi cantores et cantrices prodierunt, in his Jon Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Garth Brooks, Shakira, Beyoncé.

Compluribus centenis milibus hominum, qui ibi congregati erant, Obama, adhuc praesidens designatus, orationem habuit.

Monuit nationem esse in bello, oeconomiam in discrimine, neque facile esse illis periculis occurrere; diutius quam unum mensem aut unum annum, verisimiliter multos annos perseverandum esse, antequam illae minae averterentur.

Inauguratio die Martis facta est. Washingtoniam, ubi circiter sescenta hominum milia habitant, complures miliones hospitum convenerant.

Praestito iure iurando Obama in colle Capitolio orationem dixit, qua animos civium confirmavit: tempus esse mutationis, celeribus consiliis opus esse, ut fundamentum incrementi oeconomici crearetur; Americanos latius quam ante cum ceteris nationibus cooperaturos atque etiam cum terris musulmanorum novam viam progrediendi petituros esse.

Caerimoniis in colle Capitolio finitis praesidens iuratus cum coniuge et filiabus ad Aedes Albas, agmine autoraedarum comitante vectus est.

Ex propatulo novae domus Obama cum suis pompam sollemnem praetereuntem spectabat.

Diem festum clauserunt saltationes sollemnes, in compluribus locis institutae, in quibus omnibus praesidens cum coniuge se ostendit.

(Tuomo Pekkanen)

For those who don't know the language, the above really is extremely "elegant" classical Latin; the people who write the articles know the language very well, and have very clever ways of expressing modern concepts.