Jen_Mom_of_5 Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 My son is in 8th grade. He will be my first in high school next year, so you'll probably see me asking questions now and then in the upcoming year. So... Latin or Spanish. We've not done much for languages at all. We have dabbled in both Latin and Spanish, but we never stuck with it. He pulled out Getting Started With Latin and is doing that on his own just because he wants to. We've also been working on Getting Started With Spanish together over the past couple months. I would like him to continue studying a more formal course in high school, but I don't know which or if it matters which. He really likes Latin (he did do some Latin for Children at one point a number of years back and really liked it) and he loves learning Latin and Greek roots. He is interested in Spanish as well. If you had to pick one, which would it be? And do colleges look at Latin as a foreign language or an elective? Or does it depend on the college? Thanks. :confused1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 I would pick Latin, but that's my bias. Latin, done well, will set him apart in the eyes of colleges from the zillions of kids studying Spanish. Almost all colleges accept Latin as a foreign language, though a few do not. (I think the service academies are the most well known of those that don't). If you really want to do Latin well, there's some very rigorous on-line options, which can provide external validation by prepping for the National Latin Exam (NLE) and/or the AP Latin exam. Of course, it is possible to do both, if you have the time and interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen_Mom_of_5 Posted November 7, 2013 Author Share Posted November 7, 2013 Can you give me an example of programs I should look at for high school Latin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in MA Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Can you give me an example of programs I should look at for high school Latin? Lukeion's on-line Latin courses are very rigorous and great preparation for the NLE. www.lukeion.org. Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Yes, Latin is a great "bang for the buck" language. Students of Latin statistically do better on the SAT's and do stand out, although Latin is offered in all of the public high schools and most of the private schools where I live. Mine do four years of high school Latin for 8th-11th and then go to college Spanish their senior year of high school at the local community college. Just for planning purposes though, you need to think how you will manage this. I am strong in foreign languages, having grown up tri-lingual and with a minor in a foreign language in college. I had never studied Latin before, so I studied it to teach my children. Frankly I bottomed out with Latin II though. I taught high school Latin II for two years locally, and my conclusion after last year was that I need more of a foundation to go any further. At a certain point with languages you need someone who really knows it IMHO. So we eventually outsourced to VPSA and Lukeion. I just couldn't take them to the next level myself. Some high school students do fine with self study at that point, but mine have done better with a class and teachers they can interact with. I looked into local tutors, but it was actually more cost-effective to do online classes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroe1 Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 I would choose Spanish and here is why: 1. It is more practical. It is the second most commonly spoken language in the world. (Mandarin is #1 and English #3) 2. Roughly 1/3 of those living in the US speak Spanish. 3. Employers need Spanish speakers. Being bilingual in Spanish and English is a plus in the American job market. 4. If your kiddo enters the medical field in the US, he will need to learn Spanish. Here in Florida, roughly 10% of the ER patients speak only Spanish. Knowing Spanish can save a life, not so much for Latin. 5. Lawyers, agricultural employers, retail owners, and construction industries likewise have huge percentages of Spanish speaking employees and/or customers. 6. The argument that learning Latin helps with medicine and law doesn't hold up as much as actually studying medicine and law. If one wants to learn medicine and law, then he will get much more bang for the buck by studying medicine and law. And as an interesting side note, since Spanish is a Romance language, the same roots found in medicine and law are found in Spanish, too. At our house, we emphasize Mandarin and Spanish as foreign languages. DH speaks 5 languages fluently. He does not speak Spanish per se, but picks it up ridiculously fast because he speaks Italian. It seems those Latin roots just creep up everywhere. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandyKC Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 There are a lot of benefits to taking Latin because it will help with word meaning in higher level studies. It is FABULOUS that your son wants to study it and is taking initiative to do that. However, given no learning disability issues, I'd recommend going with Spanish because some colleges specify a "Modern Language" and they want it to be a spoken language. Unless your son knows what college he's going to without a shadow of a doubt, and you can verify their language policies, selecting Spanish would keep more options open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen_Mom_of_5 Posted November 8, 2013 Author Share Posted November 8, 2013 Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. After conversing with him more on this subject, he says he really wants to do both. So... English Latin Spanish Algebra Biology or Physical Science (does this matter which?) History Phy Ed. Does that look like an ok freshman year? Am I forgetting anything? He's actually doing Teaching Textbooks Algebra right now for 8th grade, but I want him to do Jacob's for freshman year since he is a very average math kid and I want to make sure he's really strong at Algebra before we move on to geometry. He's over half way done with Apologia General science and gets A's on his tests. Do I do physical science for freshman year or biology? Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandyKC Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 Looks good to me! If he loves science, I'd suggest starting with Biology so he can do the usual progression to Chemistry and Physics followed by some awesome science he would like. Our extra sciences included Botany, Marine Biology, and Human Anatomy. If you start with Physical Science, you are locked into Bio, Chem, and Physics for your remaining three years. That's okay if a child doesn't really care about science, but if your DS has an interest in the sciences, he might appreciate getting to study something of interest to him personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 I'd do whichever language he wanted. Or whichever language you could find the best materials for. But all things being equal otherwise, I wouldn't do Latin. A lot of colleges have a language requirement that can be fulfilled either by taking their classes or their placement tests. Most colleges don't have Latin -- or won't count it as fulfilling the modern language requirement (some do, but not all that many). If they don't have Latin, they won't have a placement test or a more advanced class for him to take. So he'll have to start on first semester language. If he's already started on Spanish, he may be able to get out of a semester or two of the language requirement once he gets to college. Spanish is offered at virtually every college, so it's the most versatile from that standpoint. French and German would be the other top two choices. (Even if he doesn't place in to the 2nd or 3rd semester, he's still going to find the 1st semester easier if he's done some of that language already.) Mandarin will likely make him look more interesting to colleges than Latin. Although which language a kid studied is probably not going to have too much influence on admissions decisions. And, of course, there are the practical arguments that Minniewannabe posted. However, if he's way more interested in Latin, that should probably trump practicality. If you're going to do Spanish or French, check out Destinos or French in Action. And Pimsleur (which has, like, every modern language known. Almost. So they don't have Latin.) The higher SAT scores with Latin students probably has a lot more to do with those kids just generally being smarter before they take the Latin (that may be why they choose the Latin). There are more kids slogging through Spanish because they have to take some kind of language, and their friends told them it would be easier than French. Also, the sort of schools that even offer Latin tend to cater to kids who are probably going to score higher on the SAT. Don't do Latin for the SAT score. In the long run, that SAT score is going to be the least worthwhile part of his high school experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santi Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 “The study of Latin is also the study of history, art, music, theatre, philosophy, law, literature, laboratory science, ‘and more!’†Teresa Hudkins, Willamette University “The study of Roman culture which typically accompanies Latin study informs the study of any Western literature, art, or culture as well. [. . .] If Latin were dead, every Western culture and language would be also bereft of life.†Matthew Potts, Admissions Counselor, University of Notre Dame “Latin trains abstract thinking, provides a key to all modern Romance languages, is a model for interdisciplinary study (language, history, culture) and can be a lot of fun.†Michael C. Behnke, Vice President for Enrollment, University of Chicago “Vocabulary and grammar of the English language can be mightily improved through the study of Latin.†Kathy Lindsey, Associate Director of Admissions, Middlebury College “A background in Latin provides students with a stronger English vocabulary. Open any SAT prep book and you will see a crash course in Latin in the vocab section.†Andrea Thomas, Assistant Dean of Admission, Hamilton College Sounds pretty practical to me. + “Students taking Latin are typically scholarly. They pursue academic study in the purest sense, they are not simply fulfilling a requirement.†Matthew Potts, Admissions Counselor, University of Notre Dame “We value the study of Latin very highly, at least on par with other languages.†Steve LeMenager, Director of Admission and Associate Dean, Princeton University “We add on extra ‘weight’ when we see Latin on a transcript.†Philip Ballinger, Dean of Admissions, Gonzaga University “That’s a student who is willing to step away from the crowd.†Ray Brown, Dean of Admissions, Texas Christian University “We consider students who study Latin seriously (with strong, steady performance) to be excellent candidates for Bryn Mawr.†Elizabeth Mosier, Acting Director of Admissions, Bryn Mawr College “This year, I was particularly impressed by a student with average test scores and grades who had taken Latin throughout middle and high school. We ended up offering the student admission, and I think it is fair to say that it was his commitment to Latin that tipped the scales.†Andrea Thomas, Assistant Dean of Admission, Hamilton College “This student is likely to be disciplined, have a strong basis for further learning, be a little more creative toward intellectual pursuits than most.†Michael C. Behnke, Vice President for Enrollment, University of Chicago “Classical languages on a transcript indicate seriousness of purpose and true devotion to a rigorous program of study.†Fred Zuker, Vice President and Dean of Student Services, University of Dallas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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