> In fact, though Cicero could never compete with computer games when it comes to ''making learning fun,'' conquering the conjugations of his lost tongue probably makes a lot more sense when it comes to learning to learn than sifting through GOTO statements in Basic, unrelated to our living language.

Cicero wrote in Latin, and is generally considered one of the most influential writers to do so. He also was strongly trained in the Greek/Hellenistic traditions and copied many ideas from there into Latin. I think that the author is exhorting the reader to learn Latin rather than Basic, and more generally to learn the classics rather than modern mathematics. For what it's worth, I think we need to study both; we need more Pirsigs, Hofstadters, and Carrolls, who have studied both classical philosophy and also modern computer science.