Top 10 reasons to study Latin

Since I am always called upon to justify my major and career to the legions of illiterate and uninformed, I wanted to start off my blogging adventures with this list:

1) Latin provides a structure for thinking that can be transferred to other disciplines;
2) Latin teaches in-depth analysis;
3) Latin allows students to understand the heritage of Western culture and society;
4) Latin improves English vocabulary;
5) Latin improves English grammar and linguistc competency;
6) Latin makes learning a third language easier;
7) Latin crosses the boundaries to teach art, philosophy, literature, and history as well as language;
8) Latin offers the challenge of a new abstract symbolic system;
9) Latin encourages higher-order thinking through comparing Roman and Greek thought to modern life (Stoicism and Epicureanism).
10) Latin is cool!!