Confused about Latin Pronunciation?

I thought I was pretty good at singing church Latin, but I was admonished by a choir member who taught classical Latin in the past for teaching incorrectly. This disturbed me, and I was actually afraid to do anything in Latin! I mean, I was pretty sure I was right, but still…I admit I don’t know everything…

Then another choir member put my mind at rest by this post:

“The EWTN network has a website, and they address the issue.  Maybe [the Latin teacher] would accept that as a source.”

“A characteristic difference would be the pronunciation of regina coeli. In Classical Latin the “g” is hard and the “c” sounds like “k”. In Ecclesiastical Latin, which is defined as: Latin spoken as Italian would be pronounced in Rome, the “g” is soft and the c has a “ch” sound.”

You can view the rest of it here:

http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/ecclesiastical_latin.htm

So, my classical Latin friend was correct, but only in her milieu; what singers have learned is correct in ours. Give the website a look, if you’re concerned; the vowel pronunciations are great if you’re learning or teaching how to sing a diphthong.