Do you think modern or classical language are more important for your children?

[garddwr]

I personally vote for modern, because that's what I have experience with and I find it very useful. I love being able to talk to people in their own language, and to read untranslated books and foreign news sites. I do not like the feeling of being limited to the anglophone view of the world.

 

I've read the classical language apologists, and with unlimited time I would love for my children to have both classical and modern languages to draw on, but with limited resources--especially time--I think we will continue to focus on modern language acquisition.

 

--Sarah

[Kathryn]

I picked classical. Almost everyone I know, myself included, cannot remember much of the modern language they studied, certainly not enough to read or converse. But, everyone I know who studied Latin has said that it strengthened their vocabulary and grammar skills and made the later study of languages easier.

[eternalknot]

I think it's child- and/or situation-specific, so I voted "I can't decide."

 

I see benefit to both classical and modern, but which would be more important -or helpful- in the long run is kind of a crapshoot that depends on relevancy of either one to the individual child's life.

[OrganicAnn]

To some extent, it depends on the child - their ambitions and their ability.

[mommaduck]

Equal. It depends upon the child, why they are learning it, etc. They both are important, but for very different reasons.

[BillieBoy]

I picked classical because they are the base of most modern European languages. If you have Greek or Latin down you can easily work your way through of any of the Romance and Germanic languages.

[FO4UR]

For *my* children, I have no clue which language will end up being most important. They two serve different goals, but both goals are valid.

 

For us, it comes down to what resources are available...mainly, what I can best teach. I took enough Latin in high school to get started and self-educate. Dh took Greek. Neither of us are fluent in a modern language (though we've both had a smattering here and there). So, that is that. Plus, the hope that they will read Great Literature in the original languages is a dangling carrot. Maybe one of mine will.

 

We do have the opportunity, now, for some immersion into a modern language and we are encouraging that, but I don't fool myself into thinking that *I'm* going to be able to *teach* it.

 

Latin and Greek will take up school time. Modern Language will be a fun activity.

[zaichiki]

I have one child stuyding Latin and one studying Russian.

For the one child, Latin is so very obviously *his* language. For the other, any modern language is interesting, but she struggled with Latin, so we dropped it for now.

 

I would LOVE to have them both study Spanish as well, but we found it to be too much, despite one of them being very motivated to learn it. (She also has dyslexia which may be a contributing factor: she was confusing the Russian and the Spanish vocabulary and phonics rules.)

[zaichiki]

:iagree:

To some extent, it depends on the child - their ambitions and their ability.

[gardenmom5]

both dd's did 6/7 years of french. 1dd is a classics major in college (latin is her favorite language) and talked 2dd into doing one semster of latin in college. 1dd went to italy, had NEVER had any italian/spanish, but could at least get the gist of newspapers articles. while she didn't speak italian, it wasn't a barrier. It was also useful for her study of SQL and other computer languages. (yeah, really. it's the study of language construction and how it changes.)

2dd did a very intensive spanish program before going to Chile when she was 21, and despite being the *only one* in the program with NO spanish background, consistently had the highest scores. she acheived spanish fluency faster than her peers who had spanish in high school.

Edited December 23, 2011 by gardenmom5

[Anne in CA]

It is interesting that you posted this today. A woman I talk to in spin class has a very good job with the school district. She was saying that many people with degrees are angry that she doesn't have a degree and has her job, but she is bilingual and so they need her in spite of the fact that she has no degree.

 

I found that to be interesting that learning English served her better than a four year degree.

[Mabelen]

For my children a modern language is more important because it allows their communicating with one entire side of their relatives, my family in Spain.

[silliness7]

I am going to say neither is more important.

 

I've been at this homeschooling thing for several years now. I've read a lot of books. I've read the Hive's thoughts and experiences for some months as well.

 

I'm learning a lot about myself and about my children.

 

The best language to learn is the one in which your child is motivated to learn and put the effort into. In the end, you cannot make your child learn a foreign language. He is going to have to embrace the process for himself.

 

I have given up the Latin dream, and I'm o.k. with that. My highschooler is enjoying Spanish a lot. (yes it was easier to learn with his Latin background. ) I reluctantly let him switch over because his college of choice requires 2 years of a modern language (NO LATIN, it said). I was initially quite disappointed. It turned out to be a good switch.

 

I'm thinking of adding in Koine Greek maybe next fall. Maybe not. When the fun and newness wears off and it gets hard and starts taking increasingly more time to retain (as Latin has done) we can motivate ourselves with the ability to read the NT in it's original. There really was nothing in Latin we were burning to read. The kids complained incessantly about it. Two were really struggling with it. It was starting to require inordinate amounts of time. I gave up the fight. I lost sight of the goal and couldn't remember why we were doing it except that it really appealed to my nerdy, over-achieving brain.

 

Having said all of that, they might really enjoy Spanish. I don't know. At this red hot moment we are doing NO foreign language except the highschooler and I"m completely o.k. with that too. :D

 

I personally vote for modern, because that's what I have experience with and I find it very useful. I love being able to talk to people in their own language, and to read untranslated books and foreign news sites. I do not like the feeling of being limited to the anglophone view of the world.

 

I've read the classical language apologists, and with unlimited time I would love for my children to have both classical and modern languages to draw on, but with limited resources--especially time--I think we will continue to focus on modern language acquisition.

 

--Sarah

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

Our situation is different than many. We are learning Latin and Spanish. Latin is not *just* a classical language for us, as we say/sing Latin prayers as a part of our Catholic faith.

[Crimson Wife]

I think learning Latin roots is important, but not every child needs to do a formal study of the language.

 

Living in California, I do think becoming fluent in Spanish is going to be a necessity for my children. More and more jobs are requiring it given that Hispanics make up such a large percentage of the state's population and they are projected to become the majority by 2040.

[acurtis75]

I voted equal. I think they are important but for different reasons.

 

Classical language study builds discipline, helps with English grammar and vocabulary and allows for study of great books (including the Bible) in earlier translations. It also builds a great foundation for making modern language study easier.

 

Modern language study is practical and valuable for different reasons. It provides more career options and/or options for missions work.

[Georgiana Daniels]

I think it depends on the age and stage, but I do think classical gives such a strong foundation for modern that it's the right way to start for many people who want to study modern languages later.

[AvasMom]

Both are necessary IMO. This is like asking if math or English is more important. Is the right brain or the left brain more important? They achieve two different purposes that are complementary.

[Audrey]

I voted that both are important, but if I could only pick ONE, I would pick classical. Latin is VERY important, IMO. A thorough knowledge of Latin makes learning French and Spanish look like tiddlywinks.

 

We are a bilingual family and use French daily (although it is not the primary household language). However, the more ds masters Latin, the better his French becomes. Many people here can speak French, but few can command written (or grammatical) fluency of any significant degree. Ds's grammar and writing in French are as good as his English, which is nearing ever closer to the impeccable level that I would like him to achieve.

 

I had Latin in high school and university. It made it much easier for me to pick up French. My dh is learning Latin alongside ds (but not as intensively) and frequently comments about how he understands both English vocabulary and grammar and French vocabulary and grammar much more clearly than he ever did before.

Edited December 23, 2011 by Audrey

[The Girls' Mom]

I think it depends. For my oldest dd Latin is much more important. She has plans to be a writer (and has the talent for it as well) and learning Latin is important to her because of the extensive vocabulary she is picking up through it. It is like learning a base language for her.

 

For my other two...I'm not sure. One wants to work with orphaned children in other countries. What language should she focus on? No clue. Right now it is French. The other wants to be a baker. She's working on Spanish, as it may prove to be the most useful for her.

[Haiku]

I voted that they are equally important, but if someone forced me to choose, I would choose modern.

 

Tara

[crazyforlatin]

Both are important for different reasons. Dd just started French, and wow, she's not finding BtB that challenging compared with Latin or Greek. Not saying that speaking French will be easy....

[cathmom]

Equal. It depends upon the child, why they are learning it, etc. They both are important, but for very different reasons.

 

:iagree:

[TravelingChris]

All three of my children did modern languages. My son did French and it came in very handy when we moved to Belgium. My daughters are doing Spanish, which is always good to know here in the States.

[Ester Maria]

I voted equally important - ideally - but if it were an either/or situation, I would choose modern. Obviously, our children draw more practical advantage from their knowledge of modern languages. However, for some cultural and traditional reasons, and in line with the type of education we have chosen for them, classics still have their place on their academic plate.

[Allearia]

Well, I would post modern, but all we've managed to do so far is a bit of Latin and a lot of Ancient Greek. I really want to do Spanish... hopefully in January. The classical languages is where the interest is so we focus on that, but I probably wouldn't necessarily recommend that.