Xpost - studying Latin & Spanish simultaneously?

[Tranquility7]

I posted this to the K-8 board first, then realized I probably should have put it here instead -

 

So how possible would it be to study Latin and Spanish at the same time? How confusing would it be? I’ve avoided it in the past (Latin is going great for us, dropping it is not an option), but we have some really good opportunities to speak Spanish with various hispanic friends, so I hate to put it off.

 

DS is 9 and we take foreign language seriously around here with lots of immersive reading, daily vocab review, explicit grammar discussions, etc. We definitely do not qualify as "gentle", but DS enjoys it, and the challenge is good for him. He is generally very strong in language arts and foreign languages.

[Classical Katharine]

Years ago I studied Latin and French at the same time, but I was a bit older than your son. But it worked out well, so I'll share a bit about how it went in case that helps. I think the issues would be pretty similar for Spanish.

 

I had a year of Latin first, at age 11-12, then started French and studied them together. Initially French confused me because it was easier! In my mind "foreign language" meant "inflected language" and at first I was puzzled that French nouns didn't change as Latin nouns do--even though English nouns don't change. But that was just at the beginning. Before long they were just two separate tracks and there was no confusion.

 

I think it helped that French is pronounced so very differently from Latin. My "mind's ear" just filed all the vocabulary in separate places because it didn't sound the same.

 

Certain areas where the grammar is the same were actually helpful: French adjective agreement? No problem, we have that in Latin, it's just easier in French. Big tables of verbs? Right, like Latin.

 

Doing the grammar topics in a different sequence in the two courses helped and I think it probably also helped that the "vocabulary world" of the two courses was different. I learned "agricola" in Latin but still don't know the word for "farmer" in French. I learned "bakery" in French and still don't know what the equivalent would be in Latin.

 

At times I would catch a French derivative of Latin word but that just made it easier to learn the French word.

 

I think you could try this for a very language-oriented child. If you conclude you need to end the experiment, no harm done.

[chiguirre]

Dd is going into Spanish 3 and Latin 2 at Landry Academy this fall. It hasn't been a problem at all. If anything, Latin and Spanish share so much vocabulary, they're an easy combination to study together.

[RootAnn]

DD#1 started Latin several years ago and added Spanish after a few years. She's doing Third Form Latin from Memoria Press & and is going into Spanish 2 in the fall. As someone on your other thread pointed out, one of the biggest problems we run into is lack of time! She wants to add one to three more languages and there just isn't enough time in her day (IMO).

 

I think it is helpful to have a good grasp on one (2-3 years of study) before starting the other. You are less likely to get confused that way. She will sometimes give the wrong grammar form (ending) in one language or remember the vocab for one when we are trying to focus on the other, but mostly has them straight in her head.

 

She did gentle starts to both languages (MP's Prima Latina, Latina Christiana & Getting Started with Spanish). GSWS was a great foundation for high school Spanish, IMO. She did about half of CAP's Spanish for Children A, but found it difficult with not enough review for her. (Some of the material in it was covered in her first year of high school Spanish! She wants to use it for review this summer.)