Latin, Spanish, or both?

[MrsBanjoClown]

I am debating whether to start my boys (7 and 5) with Latin (Song School Latin) next year or teach them Spanish. Dh seems to think we can do both but I'm afraid of them getting confused. What do you think?

[lotsofpumpkins]

:lurk5:

 

My dc want to start Spanish next year, and I've also been considering Latin. But going from no foreign languages to 2 seems like a bit much!

[JenniferLynn]

My DD is almost 6. We have been casually doing French with L'Art de Dire for the last 6 months or so (once upon a time I was fluent). I am teaching myself Latin with Henle and she showed interest so I ordered Prima Latina and we'll see how it goes. She's picked up a little Spanish along the way too, and has been able to keep Spanish and French straight.

[Ariston]

I'm doing both and my kids don't seem to have any problem whatsoever. I like it because if they forget the word for something in one foreign language, i can prompt them with the other one without having to fall back on English. I.e. if my son forgets how to say 'wall' in Spanish (muro) I can say 'in Latin its murus' and then that jogs his memory. Usually they complement eachother.

 

I think the other day he said 'quid est tuum praenomen' when he meant 'como te llamas' but this almost never happens. I was worried about it but it has really been a non-issue.

 

(Well, actually it is a bit of an issue because I am finding two languages to be such a large time committment--but i mean that language confusion has been a non-issue. :001_smile:)

 

ETA: Also wanted to add that SSL is so easy and fun that i think you could add it to just about any schedule without it creating a problem.

 

Elena

[KAM]

We started out doing both, but it felt like too much. Now we do Latin twice a week, and Spanish once a week (when we fit it in) just for exposure.

[Sahamamama]

Next school year (July 2012) for 2nd grade we plan to study both Latin and French. For Latin, we'll use Prima Latina. For French, we'll use Ecoutez, Parlez!

 

I don't know what to expect, but my strategy is to plan for both and then drop whatever is truly too much. If we don't have it lined up, we'll never do it. But if it's lined up and turns out to be too much, we can always drop it or simply slow it down a bit. The idea (for us) is to work up to consistent study in at least two languages, besides English.

 

FWIW, plenty of little kids around the world study multiple languages from early ages, and continue on for years. It's like math, you just do it.

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[Miss Tick]

Why not start one and then wait a few months before starting the other? That might help you scope out the work for one and get settled into a routine, and then you can introduce the other and see what happens.

 

Perhaps one could be the focus and the other could be a slow vocabulary building exercise, and then you could switch in six months or every month or after a few years or whatever.

 

Maybe you could listen to one when you are in the car - make the car "Spanish only."

[hsmomshutterbug]

I'm doing both and my kids don't seem to have any problem whatsoever. I like it because if they forget the word for something in one foreign language, i can prompt them with the other one without having to fall back on English. I.e. if my son forgets how to say 'wall' in Spanish (muro) I can say 'in Latin its murus' and then that jogs his memory. Usually they complement eachother.

 

I think the other day he said 'quid est tuum praenomen' when he meant 'como te llamas' but this almost never happens. I was worried about it but it has really been a non-issue.

 

(Well, actually it is a bit of an issue because I am finding two languages to be such a large time committment--but i mean that language confusion has been a non-issue. :001_smile:)

 

ETA: Also wanted to add that SSL is so easy and fun that i think you could add it to just about any schedule without it creating a problem.

 

Elena

 

 

 

I have song school latin on deck for beginning this fall, and I was interested in your thread b/c I'd like to teach spanish at the same time. I am mindful of the fact that it could be too much, but also know how quickly kids absorb at this age, so at least give it a chance.

Could you elaborate a bit on your experiences with teaching both at the same time? Do you do a full song school latin program as scheduled and then just teach the same words from that lesson in spanish or do you also do Songschool spanish or some other spanish program, as in latin MWF and Spanish T, TR kind of thing? Thanks in advance for any insight!

[ByGrace3]

We are going to try both next year. We casually did Spanish this year using the Sara Jordan bilingual songs as a base and lots of games. We plan to continue that and add in Song School Latin. I will drop one if it gets to be too much, but my current plan is Latin lesson Monday and Spanish lesson on Tuesday and then review with songs and games for a few minutes a day for Wednesday through Friday. We shall see how it goes! ;)

[zoo_keeper]

We're doing both SSS and SSL. But be aware that if you go this route the books are almost identical (except that the vocab is in different languages, of course). E.g., they'll learn the same food words on the same days in both books. So far they're doing fine with this approach, it's not too time consuming at all. We have SSL2 for when they wrap this up and I'll probably have the girls concurrently do another easy into Spanish program until we get back on track with GSWL/GSWS.

[Aurelia]

If you can find a native speaker, I'd definitely do Spanish over Latin at those ages. They'll develop better pronunciation and vocabulary. If not, you can do either or both. I, personally, wouldn't use the same program (like SSL and SSS) to teach both, as that might be confusing, but DD studies both Spanish and Latin (she started Spanish several years before Latin) and hasn't had a problem with language confusion.

[Sahamamama]

Next school year (July 2012) for 2nd grade we plan to study both Latin and French. For Latin, we'll use Prima Latina. For French, we'll use Ecoutez, Parlez! I don't know what to expect, but my strategy is to plan for both and then drop whatever is truly too much. If we don't have it lined up, we'll never do it. But if it's lined up and turns out to be too much, we can always drop it or simply slow it down a bit. The idea (for us) is to work up to consistent study in at least two languages, besides English.

 

FWIW, plenty of little kids around the world study multiple languages from early ages, and continue on for years. It's like math, you just do it.

 

 

I'm quoting myself, to give an update on how it went:

 

This past year (2012-2013) my 2nd grader studied both Latin and French. Not only did she thoroughly enjoy both languages, but she delighted in finding connections between them. She wants to continue with both for 3rd grade and beyond. So, no burnout here.

 

I do think that using two very gentle courses was part of the reason for her success. Prima Latina was perfect for a 2nd grader, and Ecoutez, Parlez! was an enjoyable, oral course (with an adorable book to accompany the CD). In French, we used Volumes 1 & 2 of EP, and all the work was oral. I also purchased reproducible French worksheets for some written work, and she copied some French Bible verses. She listened to French Spiritual Songs and some French worship songs. For Latin, she sang some songs from Lingua Angelica. She liked all of it. French and Latin are subjects she will study on her own because she likes them. Today, before swimming, she was singing a Latin Christmas song in her bathing suit. ROFL.

 

For 3rd grade, the plan is to continue Latin with Latina Christiana I, and French with Ecoutez, Parlez! Volumes 3 & 4. HTH.

 

For 4th grade, the plan is to continue Latin with either LC 2 or First Form, and French with First Start French (or something else?).

 

In 5th grade, the plan is to continue Latin and French... and add in another language. Greek? German? Time will tell?

[CrunchyGirl]

We are going to focus our energy on Spanish through second grade and then add Latin. I'm not sure if it's the best approach or not but I'm concerned about dividing our time right now for the sake of my sanity mainly. Also we are going for Spanish fluency so I want to establish a solid basis while they are young and the speaking portion is easier.

[Mom0012]

My dd is a rising 6th grader and is taking both Latin and Spanish. I started her in elementary Spanish a few years ago and the Latin last year. If I had to do it again, the only thing I would change is starting her in Spanish earlier. As it is, she is beginning high school Spanish 2 in the fall, so she's doing well, but I think just even learning songs and watching Dora at a young age would have been a big benefit to her.

 

On the other hand, I am so glad we did not start Latin until 5th grade. The course she and I are taking together is very challenging, so they break the first level into three years. Once you get to Latin 2, you do a level a year. So, even starting in 5 th grade and taking 3 years for the first level, she will still easily be able to complete AP Latin by 10th or 11th grade. She is on the older end of the age range for this class and has a solid grammar background. That really benefitted her! Even though many of the other children had a couple of years of Prima Latina or something else prior to this class, my dd grasped the concepts much more easily and really excelled. Many of the younger children struggled mightily and quite a few dropped the class. Out of those that remained, from what I observed, quite a number of them only had a surface knowledge of the material and often were not able to answer questions in class and fully participate.

 

Now, I do have a friend whose very bright boy began at this same school at a young age and is doing Latin 3 this year as a 7th grader. He will probably take the SAT 2 subject test this year and then be free to move on to other things. For him, that approach has been good, but I don't see it as the standard result.