Mommy7 Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 I am trying to figure this out...my 7th grade daughter will be starting Latin this year. Will it be okay to do a couple years of Latin and then do Spanish in High School? It seems that it would be confusing to do them at the same time...like mentioned in WTM. But, maybe that is because I know nothing about foreign languages. (My dd thought it would be confusing, too) Could someone fill me in on the best approach, please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmy Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 I don't think it will be confusing at all and the latin will help her with the spanish. My oldest started latin in January and loves it. Late this spring my aunt offered to hire a spanish tutor for our boys and I could hardly pass it up - so he's been doing both and having no trouble at all. At your daughter's age it will be even easier I would expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudreyTN Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 I've read a few threads about this lately and have come to the conclusion that it's not an issue. We've been doing Latin and will start French soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 If that were the case, all of us who went to Dutch schools would be confused :lol: I think introducing them at separate times is key. To give you an idea of my education in Dutch school system in Aruba, we started Dutch (with no prior knowledge of this) in first grade. All the classes, including Math, are conducted in this official language. Dutch was to us what English is to you. In fifth grade we began Spanish. In sixth English. In seventh grade we began French. All the languages were continued, progressing to higher levels, to the point we were reading Medieval Spanish poems (El Cid comes to mind) in Spanish in 11th grade. We could read university level papers and books in Dutch (of course), English and Spanish. In French we progressed until at least I could read up to teen/young adult literature and some poems by Jean Paul Sartre. I did read Les Miserables in French, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Victor Hugo was a literary genius IMO. So no, your child won't be confused if you do two languages at once. However, I would introduce one before the other. That said, I've started teaching ds Spanish very informally. In first grade we're continuing a bit more formally with The Easy Spanish for two years, the Spanish for Children for another two years, then and in fifth we're starting Latin. We may or not do French too, but it all depends on ds' interests, goals and dreams. My goal is for him to learn at least one other language really well. English, Papiamento (what I speak to him at home), and Spanish. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eema Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 How about if the additional language is not a romance language? Like say Japanese? My dd (6) is learning Japanese now, and I wanted to start Latin next year. Would that be too hard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy7 Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 (edited) Sagira, so would you recommend doing a year of Latin and the next year start Spanish? Would that work okay? Edited June 17, 2009 by Mommy7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Not a problem: just don't start them at the same time - leave a gap of a year or two between starting each one. Each of my boys is studying three languages - two modern and one ancient - and Hobbes is starting a fourth in the autumn. They have fun with mixing up the languages sometimes, but they don't do it accidentally. Best wishes Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 How about if the additional language is not a romance language? Like say Japanese? My dd (6) is learning Japanese now, and I wanted to start Latin next year. Would that be too hard? If you have the time to devote to both languages, then it should be fine. Best wishes Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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