Senior promotes love of Latin in adult education class

Those who think Latin is dead have never met Bill Beck.

Enchanting in his enthusiasm for the language, Beck, 61, regales his Bangor Adult Education students with many examples of English words that are derivatives of Latin.

“I was always fascinated by the language,” said Beck, a New York City native who grew up with Latin in school. “There’s a mystique about it. It’s exciting, and Latin is all around us.”

And so it is. Medical terms, legal terms, even the dollar bill has three Latin expressions. Look above a door in a public building and you will see a Latin word telling you to “exit.”

“Every morning at breakfast we pay homage to Ceres, the goddess of grain and fruit when we eat cereal – a word which comes from her name,” Beck said with a wide smile. His love of Latin and how the language has insinuated itself into our society is evident.

So how did this former New York parole officer end up in a classroom at Bangor High School?

Maine does have an allure, especially for raising children, and Beck was not immune to it. He and his wife transferred to the Queen City 19 years ago when he accepted a position as a parole officer here.

After retiring in 1998, Beck began substitute teaching and working part time at Borders Books and Music in Bangor. The avid reader and music lover was eager to be “surrounded by books and music.”

“I’d never worked in retail and I find the give and take with the customers exciting,” he said.

Though Beck had not exercised his Latin skills in some time, Dick Madore, director of the Bangor Adult Education program and good friend of Beck’s, could not be swayed.

“He asked me to teach an adult ed class in Latin, basically a fun class,” said Beck. But soon the high school became shorthanded in the language department and Beck’s class was revamped to become a diploma class. However, many of Beck’s pupils are still in class just for “the fun of Latin.”

Once you learn Latin, “it never goes away,” said Beck. “It’s like riding a bike you haven’t been on in 20 years – you get on and just take off.”

His students are glad he signed up for the ride.

“He’s a natural born teacher,” said Roberta Downey, 58, who has an enthusiasm for Latin that matches Beck’s.

The reasons for learning Latin are as varied as the students themselves.

“Well, my son is taking Latin at Hampden Academy. We don’t communicate in English, so now we can ‘not communicate’ in Latin,” said Mark Henderson, 50, emphasizing the “not” with a laugh.

“Sometimes people don’t want to study a foreign language because they’re embarrassed to speak it. They’re worried about correct pronunciation,” said Beck. “But Latin is not spoken anymore and the ancient Romans are all dead, so we aren’t really sure if we are saying it correctly.” There’s no pressure to be perfect.

And learning Latin is not as difficult as one might think. Because English is rooted deeply in Latin, there is a “light bulb over the head” effect for students when the origin of a commonly used word is discovered. And studying Latin, the basis for English grammar, gives students a better sense of Roman history, geography and culture, said Beck.

“Latin has had such an impact on my life, I wanted to share that and have it make an impact on others’ lives,” said Beck.

Latin is for everyone. So carpe diem. Or if you are a procrastinator, carpe crastinum diem – seize tomorrow.

Carol Higgins is director of communications at Eastern Agency on Aging. For information on EAA, call 941-2865 or log on www.eaaa.org.