Classical Studies Home                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Last updated: 9/26/02			Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957), British author (Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries) and translator (Dante's Divine Comedy), Christian humanist. Sayers studied Latin from age six (Greek somewhat later) and maintained a life-long love especially for medieval Latin. Her criticism of the old-fashioned grammar translation method, as well as her suggestions on how to reform the teaching of Latin, should be compulsory reading for everyone who still uses Wheelock's Latin Grammar and similar books.   "The best grounding for education is the Latin grammar. I say this, not because Latin is traditional and mediaeval, but simply because even a rudimentary knowledge of Latin cuts down the labor and pains of learning almost any other subject by at least fifty percent. It is the key to the vocabulary and structure of all the Teutonic languages, as well as to the technical vocabulary of all the sciences and to the literature of the entire Mediterranean civilization, together with all its historical documents." (From: Dorothy Sayers, The Lost Tools of Learning, lecture given at Oxford University in 1947) Back to Classics VIPs   For corrections or additions, please contact oknorrATwillamette.edu.

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