> Striking contrast with the most well known classicist in the UK being unable, by their own admission, to comfortably read Latin text basically at all.
That's hard to believe. A friend was a Latin teacher; high school students read actual Roman Latin in their second year.
I've heard that few can speak Latin 'correctly', because the skill is almost useless - you can't talk to Romans or almost anyone else; it's all written. (I don't know about the Catholic or other churches, but I do recall that 'church Latin' differs from classical Latin.)
That's hard to believe. A friend was a Latin teacher; high school students read actual Roman Latin in their second year.
I've heard that few can speak Latin 'correctly', because the skill is almost useless - you can't talk to Romans or almost anyone else; it's all written. (I don't know about the Catholic or other churches, but I do recall that 'church Latin' differs from classical Latin.)