Languages...Spanish or Latin? One now one later?

[truebluexf]

I know WTM recommends starting Latin, and I definitely see the value in it. I never learned and wish I did, at least a little. DS is entering 3rd grade, which IIRC means Latin time (I gave my book to a neighbor and forgot to get it back before we moved lol.) I'm torn. I was going to try using LFC with both kids but then I saw how much time is spent on it daily by everyone, and I just don't want to commit 30 min a day at this point. Maybe I have to, I don't know. But I want them to learn some foreign language, especially Spanish. I just don't know where to start or with what. Help please?

[Paintedlady]

I struggled with the same thing and decided on Latin. What finally helped me make my decision was recognizing that somewhere around 90% of the words in Spanish (someone correct me if my numbers are off) are Latin derivatives. Then take into account that by studying Latin first your kids could more easily learn the other Romance languages, such as French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, etc....

 

I decided to teach the language that the other languages come from and they'd have a better chance at learning more languages, more easily, in the future. hth!

[Laura Corin]

I disagree with WTM on this. I think that the early years are a great time to get fluent in a modern foreign language. There's lots of time in middle school to start Latin.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[Whereneverever]

I agree with Laura. There's only so proficient you can get in Latin- pronunciation is a much smaller issue then with a modern language. Learning a spoken language first allows you to focus on fluency and accent- and earlier is better with that, IMO.

[truebluexf]

Thanks. :) So now if I go with Spanish first, who the heck do I use? I have a graveyard here of a few small things I've tried LOL.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Sorry-- I agree with Carrie. I also struggled with this decision. I am glad I started with Latin! Its helping with science (tremendously!) and I can see how much easier spanish will be!!!! If you start with latin your dc will pick up other languages MUCH easier!

[Ravin]

We did Song School Latin in 1st, and this year we're starting Spanish, mostly because the Latin course I most want to use would better if we wait a year, and because I got Spanish together for under $10 and didn't have the $$$ for another Latin curriculum. We'll pick Latin back up nest year, and probably stick with Spanish at the same time. If we'd done Latin this year, we'd have started Spanish next year along with continuing Latin.

[truebluexf]

LOL Thanks for making me just as confused. ;) I guess I'm taking Latin rec's too....

[truebluexf]

I'm researching Latin curricula and am now even more confused. It seems most people's reviews here on the Hive think many of them are too advanced still for a 3rd grader. Is this the case? If it is, then that answers my question and we will do Spanish for now and Latin later, when English grammar is more solidified and the work will make more sense. I'm wondering if FLL3 should come before Latin.

[Whereneverever]

I'm researching Latin curricula and am now even more confused. It seems most people's reviews here on the Hive think many of them are too advanced still for a 3rd grader. Is this the case? If it is, then that answers my question and we will do Spanish for now and Latin later, when English grammar is more solidified and the work will make more sense. I'm wondering if FLL3 should come before Latin.

 

That was another big part of why we didn't start with Latin- the programs that I really liked were for kids way older then mine. ;)

[Matryoshka]

I struggled with the same thing and decided on Latin. What finally helped me make my decision was recognizing that somewhere around 90% of the words in Spanish (someone correct me if my numbers are off) are Latin derivatives. Then take into account that by studying Latin first your kids could more easily learn the other Romance languages, such as French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, etc....

 

I decided to teach the language that the other languages come from and they'd have a better chance at learning more languages, more easily, in the future. hth!

 

That goes both ways, though. Any romance language, alive or dead, will make it easier to learn another. I've only ever learned Spanish, and I can understand lots of Italian and Portuguese, and can read French. Learning Spanish also helped me with Latin-root Engilsh vocab. My dd recently decided to teach herself Latin, and is having a much easier time of it having already learned a lot of Spanish.

 

The big difference is conversational fluency and accent - those are important in living langauges, but not in Latin, and they are 90% easier to pick up when young. That's one of the most important reasons I start with living languages.

[truebluexf]

OK, so here's what I'm thinking. I'd like to to Song School Latin, it's looks harmless and easy enough. This would give a gentle intro to Latin. I would also like to start Spanish, but I don't know what to use. I was thinking La Clase Divertida, but I don't want to overdo it either. Perhaps Discovery Streaming? I just don't know. Something video-based could be a lot easier for me.

[dirty ethel rackham]

If I had access to people who would speak Spanish regularly to my kids, I would have taught Spanish in the elementary grades. Unfortunately, I could not find anyone who would commit to longer than a few months and it always petered out. We are doing Latin and encouraging a modern language later.

[Ali in OR]

We do both Spanish and Latin and it is very interesting to study both at the same time to see the similarities in the languages. While we do not spend 1/2 hour a day on Latin (more like 15-20 minutes), the total time commitment for both is significant, so I wouldn't recommend it for the the time-pressed. I'm not sure there is a great benefit to my kids hearing Spanish at an early age because they are hearing MY Spanish (non native speaker, 4 years high school Spanish). Would love to have classes available with native speakers but we don't have that here. Still, I think they get some benefit from what we do.

[truebluexf]

See now, I think this is a HUGE problem, with all of us. We are so set on our kids learning things the "perfect" way, that we end up skipping subjects rather than do them less than ideally. I didn't learn all my Spanish from natives, but I've learned a lot about proper accent just from listening to them later on. Would I really have been better off not learning it at all? I don't think so. I think I need to get away from 'ideal.' Shoot, I never learned Latin. I also skip classical music and artists because I haven't come up with the "perfect" way to teach it. That's crazy!!!!!! Some exposure is better than none. Soooo....I think what I am looking for is some way to start teaching my kids Spanish basics now rather than skipping it altogether until they are in high school. ;)

[truebluexf]

Thought I'd update. I'm getting Song School Latin (it's $15 on amazon, who can beat that? lol) and La Clase Divertida, since it's taught on dvd which makes my life easier. :) I was considering Salsa but it was more prep than I wanted. I'm being realistic this year about what I will and will not accomplish to make a lesson happen LOL!!! I may alternate languages on different days and take longer to do each chapter, but there's no rush. :) We'll see how it all goes when we get started in a few weeks. Thanks for all your input here!

[Omma]

Oh, I'm too late to give my input! But I will, anyway... :lol:

 

We are using Puertas Abiertas and I love it! I have a degree in linguistics and I love the approach this DVD Spanish curricula uses for learning a language. It requires only 15-minutes a day, with every day except one just popping in a DVD. The one exception is a an audio CD day with workbook pages. This is a great way to test comprehension, and students can progress at their own pace. I have 2 dc and one of them picks up languages much faster than the other one, but I can use this curricula easily with both dc.

 

I also own Latin for Children DVD's but have decided to wait on Latin. I, too, like the idea of letting dc learn a 'live' language first when they are young, so they can practice it with their neighbors as they learn it!

 

I think Latin is more academically challenging (and academically useful), while Spanish is more socially useful and less academically challenging.

 

Another factor is which language the facilitator knows better. I never had high school Latin, unfortunately, which is another reason why we chose to start with Spanish over Latin. And, in our case, my dc have also studied some Korean... which is a non-IndoEuropean language totally unlike either Latin or Spanish. In the end, I do think it is wonderful for a dc to have experience in a 2nd language of any variety.... it gets them out of their first language 'grid' and opens the door to the vast possibilities of potential languages 'out there' in the world, just waiting for us to explore! :auto:,

 

Brenda