I concur with Ted Guyver’s regret that many subjects have removed exactness from the syllabus, and that “failure to practise the skills of rigorous accuracy elsewhere has a bad impact on maths” (TES, July 18).
I am a classicist by education (having been introduced to Latin and Greek at a state comprehensive) and an accountant by profession. There is no more rigorous discipline than the traditional learning of Latin and Greek. Those who are good at Latin tend also to succeed at maths. The logic and accuracy required in both are mutually beneficial. What is maths but a language?
Teaching even elementary Latin to our children will benefit not only their maths but their English and other languages, history and geography. Lingua latina vivat!
Jim Blackwood Aspiring teacher 1 Forbes House, Stonehill Road Chiswick, London W14
