The Modern Position on the Latin Alphabet and Pronunciation

Thanks to the Renaissance, the Latin we teach today most nearly resembles Classical Latin. Latin students are generally taught classical pronunciation. The alphabet resembles the classical alphabet -- for the most part.

• i/j - Latin students aren't generally taught the letter j. Instead they are taught that i is both consonantal and vocalic. Mottoes, however, may replace the consonantal i with a j. An example of this is Alabama's state motto: audemus jura nostra defendere -- "We dare to defend our rights." This is particularly true if the motto or phrase represents a Christian organization.
• u/v - Whereas students are taught that i is both consonantal and vocalic, students are taught to use consonantal v and vocalic u.
• w - Really the only time you'll see a w in Latin is in taxonomy (a scientific name named after Wagner, for instance, could be wagnerii)