Which foreign language is your child learning and why?

[HeWillSoar]

I took Spanish so that is what I am planning on teaching my kids, plus I just love that language.  My oldest son, who is in public high school and also taking Spanish, says German might be more useful in engineering, his likely college major.  I wonder how much it really matters?  So what language is your child learning and why did you or they choose that?

[EKS]

My son is learning German because he has always wanted to learn German.  I think it's because he is a car nut.

[aggieamy]

German.  It's more useful in business and engineering than other languages.  I also love the language and culture.  

 

 

[Miss Tick]

My dc are learning Spanish because I know enough to get them well started. Also, conveniently, there are a lot of resources available locally and online. That has let me come up with a mix of materials that is working for us (at the moment). We start in K and slowly and steadily keep at it.

 

In 3rd we started Latin. We are approaching that more systematically but drawing lots of connections to Spanish. In college I had a couple of instances wishing I knew some Latin. There are a plethora of curriculum choices and reviews for it, which also helps.

 

In middle or high school I'm expecting to turn the choice over to them, unless they express interest earlier.

 

As an engineer I will say that I never regretted my lack of German - but there is not a large German presence in the aerospace industry. I did, however spend a week in Spain as part of my job and my bits of Spanish were great! For my two weeks in Japan, however, I was functionally illiterate.

[Mbelle]

My dd is learning Italian, because she liked the sound of it, wants to know more about the culture and loves the food.

 

My ds is learning Latin and now has started koine Greek. He's very good at patterns and Latin has been a good fit.  He has always been interested in Greek. 

 

My dh works with engineers a lot, and German would be a very nice perk. 

 

[freesia]

Ds1 is in high school now and doing Spanish bc there are alot of Spanish speaker around us and it is easier to spell. In elementary-middle he did French some years (because I've had the most French and we started out in Canada) and a couple of years of Latin. We didn't continue in French mostly bc it is as hard to spell as English and spelling isn't our thing. Fortunately,I have had some Spanish so I can support him.

 

Dd1 did a year of Prima Latina and then switched to Koine Greek bc she wanted to. It is a stretch for her bc she finds grammar difficult, but she is managing bc she "wants" it. I would like her to do Spanish in high school, but we'll see.

 

Ds 2 and Dd 2 are doing Salsa Spanish right now bc it's fun and easy for me to do. Ds 2 may do Prima Latina or start Latin Road to English Grammar next year.

[PeacefulChaos]

My oldest is starting Japanese because he has always wanted to learn Japanese.  

 

 

 

ETA: My intention is just for them to learn whatever languages they want.  Right now, Astro thinks (and has thought for the last few years, so I wouldn't be surprised if it sticks) that he wants to start with Mandarin.  Our plan is starting one language in 5th grade and doing it for at least 3 years, and then possibly starting a second in 8th grade.  I'll see when we get there for sure.

[happypamama]

Both kids are learning Latin, for its many other benefits, not for speaking.

 

7th grader is also learning Spanish, her choice, because she likes it and thinks it will be more useful. She did study French for a bit but wasn't that all into it.

 

4th grader is learning Italian, again, his choice, because he wanted to.

[Matryoshka]

German and Spanish, because I can speak them fluently and can teach them.  German also connects back to our heritage (still have relatives there we keep in contact with).  I did let one dd drop Spanish after a number of years, as she is really not a language kid, and a second is a language kid and has added Dutch and Icelandic and wants to learn a bunch more.  But they all started with German and Spanish. :)

[Ethel Mertz]

DS started with Latin in 2nd because I want him to have a thorough grounding in grammar and derivatives. He likes it and I see us continuing it for a few more years. He started Spanish in 4th because so many people speak Spanish and he wants to travel to Central and South America some day.

 

This year (6th) we added Koine Greek because he wanted to study the language. I don't know how long we'll continue with Greek.

 

DS loves the study of languages. He may add German or French later. Our biggest problem is juggling time for studying 3 languages.

[8filltheheart]

My oldest was completely fluent in Portuguese bc we lived in Brazil for 2 yrs. When we moved back, we transitioned it to Spanish bc we couldn't find anyone who spoke Portuguese. Ditto to number 2. #3 took French. # 4 took 3 yrs each of Latin and French. #5 is taking French, Latin, and Russian. (She loves Russian.) #6 has no interest in languages and is taking Latin.

[Jackie]

Spanish because I wanted the excuse to learn it alongside her ;)

 

She actually wants to learn multiple languages, so once she has a good foundation in Spanish we will look at adding another language of her choice (likely French or Arabic).

[lewelma]

Mandarin because he wanted to and because China is NZ's biggest trading partner.

 

Ruth in NZ

[Kathy in Richmond]

My kids both elected to learn Latin. Ds had been introduced to several languages in public school before we brought him home, and that's the one that appealed most to him.

 

Once he got started (grade 6), dd wanted to learn Latin also, so she started in grade 3. Dh and I knew French, Italian, and German between the two of us; of course, the kids had no interest in any of those languages. So I learned Latin along with dd and ds, and both kids continued till they graduated from high school. My son picked up Spanish in college, and my daughter majored in Classics & added Greek.

[Sdel]

Spanish because I know it well enough to be comfortable teaching it.  My DH and I want to audit the local community college Spanish classes sometime in the next year too because he wants to become conversational himself.

 

Stefanie 

[Wabi Sabi]

My oldest started taking a Japanese class this year with his best friend and a few other kids. He and his friend have always been interested in anime, sushi, and all things Japanese, and have asked for Japanese lessons for several years, but this is the first year we've actually had the resources to make it happen. 

[duckens]

Chinese because
--1.2 BILLION people in the world speak it
--China is rising
--We are a science family and dd7 is a science girl.  China sends a lot of students to the U.S. to study science.  If either of our daughters become scientists, it is likely they will have peers who are either Chinese or of Chinese ethnicity.
--Dd7 wants to be a paleontologist, and there are a lot of dinosaur bones in China.

Spanish because
--most likely, my daughters will live in the U.S. when they grow up, and Spanish is the language to know.
--Spanish is the official language for dozens of countries in Latin America.  If either daughter travels, knowing a little Spanish may be helpful.
--there are a ton of really good resources for children learning Spanish

French (just a little) because
--I took it in high school
--dd learned some friend through K1 Coop last year, so we built on that
--there are many good resources for children learning French

Russian
--PetraLingua was having a REALLY good sale last spring, so I listed the languages.  Dd chose Russian, so here we go!!!
--I am old enough to remember "The Evil Empire," and I have always been intrigued by the language, culture, and people of Russia (vs. the propaganda).

[Amira]

They are currently doing Spanish in high school because we live in Mexico. They did Russian in Kyrgyzstan and I wish they would do Arabic when we move to Saudi, but they are understandably tired of new languages and it's reasonable for them to continue with Spanish after we leave Mexico. When we've been in the US, they've done Spanish, Farsi, and French. And we did Latin for about four year in late elementary and middle school.

 

The two things that have made language learning most successful for our family have been interest on the part of the child and a good tutor. We've tried several different programs with varying success, but nothing is works as well as good teacher. I think it's really important that the child feel motivated to learn the language. I don't think it's easy to predict what languages will be useful in the future, especially when it takes quite a bit of time to become fluent enough in another language to really use it.

 

My oldest son hates learning languages, but one is required as a minimum at our house at all times. He thinks Spanish is the easiest and most practical choice to meet that requirement, whether or not he lives in Mexico.

[Luckymama]

Dd (ninth grade) is studying Arabic---her choice!

 

We did a couple years of French during middle school, but she didn't really like the language. I told her that she could choose whatever language she wanted to study for high school if she remained homeschooled (I did limit her to the languages taught at the university here, figuring I could find tutors and/or outsource if needed).

[JenneinCA]

Japanese because I found a good Japanese Saturday school that works with our schedule. My daughter is doing German on her own with duolingo just because she wants to. I am not counting that as a class because there is no teacher and no grade, but she is enjoying it.

[purduemeche]

We have been doing FL for just a couple years and are so glad we are doing Latin. Definitely worth it and improving reading comprehension.

[Penguin]

Latin for the same reasons everyone mentions and Danish because we live in Denmark.

[EndOfOrdinary]

Spanish because Ds loved Dora and asked to start learning it when he was about 4 and fascinated with Dora and Diego.

 

Latin because I knew it would tie in well with the Spanish and help quite significantly with future languages.  Ds wants to really learn a lot of languages so it seemed like a good one to start early.

 

Greek because he is now in love with the Odyssey, Greek mythology, and wants to major in the Classics.

 

He will more than likely DE at the community college for Japanese (because I cannot for the life of me think of teaching it) when he starts high school.  We have a native Russian speaker in our extended family now, and Ds has thrown around the idea of learning Russian and speaking with her.  I'm exhausted right now, so he has to wait a good three or so years before we go jumping into anymore!

[OlgaLA]

Russian because this is the language we (at this point, DH and I) speak at home. Both kids can speak it, and I feel that they should also be able to read and write. They go to Saturday school, where they get language, literature, and some other subjects in Russian.

 

French, because we have a good tutor.

[Rebel Yell]

I took Spanish so that is what I am planning on teaching my kids, plus I just love that language.  My oldest son, who is in public high school and also taking Spanish, says German might be more useful in engineering, his likely college major.  I wonder how much it really matters?  So what language is your child learning and why did you or they choose that?

 

I took French in high school because the French III class went to France the summer after the class. When I foudn out the trip was cancelled due to some international whatever (1985ish?) I dropped French III nd never looked back.  I think SPaniosh was the only option at DH's parochial school.

 

Diamond took Spanish for many years,  from beginner elementary Spanish through Spanish III in high school because she loved it- but we started out with Spanish because it was what was offered at the local enrichment classes.

 

SweetChild is in her final year of Spanish- Spanish II. She really wanted to learn German or Hebrew, but there were no group classes nearby, and she preferrred a class with people over sitting alone with the computer and headphones.  She still does not love Spanish, but gets high B's or A's at the co-op classes.

 

BabyBaby Is currently taking Latin because she wants to. She has taken several years of ASL, but at co-op this year it conflicted with her very favorite class. No plans for her to take Spanish as long as I can help her through at least 2 years of Latin for high school, but she will do ASL aggain if she can.

 

I'd like to learn Greek.

[Catherine]

He's taking Japanese because he chose it.  He would like to go to Japan.  We also do Latin, more as an academic subject than a "language" if that makes sense.  IOW, there is no expectation of fluency...we are just trying to reap the benefits of knowing Latin.  

 

I had one child who was a serial language learner.  He is good at languages, and at this point has some Chinese, Is fluent in German, some Spanish, quite a bit of Russian, and some French.  He was a total autodidact in this area.

[Ad astra]

I'm teaching my native language, Korean, to my kids. We have tons of books at home and watch children's shows through YouTube, KORTV channel (on Apple TV) and DVDs. I'm also teaching my DS4 how to read in Korean.

[ScoutTN]

Latin because I can teach it reasonably well.

When they get older and I can outsource, they can choose a spoken language.

[73349]

We've just started Spanish because it's a useful language to know in this part of the country. When he gets older (~6th grade), we'll add Latin, and we can add any other language he'd like after that. Languages are fun.

[Hoot]

DS15 is learning Spanish because it was the only available language at co-op and he wasn't interested in Swahili, the language that I once knew a bit of AND have a ton of resources for.  He doesn't love it.  Because of a friend from Ireland, he is interested in Irish Gaelic and has been doing it on Duolingo on his own.

[EmilyGF]

German, because I know it.

 

I don't think it is very helpful to know German, so I wouldn't advise someone to make their child learn German unless their child absolutely wants to work abroad in a German speaking country. Most educated Germans can speak excellent English and are looking for opportunities to practice. You must speak excellent German (and I do) before Germans are willing to speak to you in their own language. Getting the practice necessary to become excellent was a fight, but I was tough! If a German in Germany spoke to me in English, I would just answer over and over and over again in German until they gave up.

 

Emily

[Chrysalis Academy]

Spanish, because we live in CA and it's the majority language in our neighborhood.  Also, I speak enough to teach Spanish 1 and there are oodles of resources including local tutors.  That's fine for Shannon, she's not ever expressed an interest in learning other languages.  Morgan is flirting with wanting to learn German or French, which I am fine with as long as she continues with Spanish.  We're just focusing on Spanish at the moment but I've gotten her a bunch of videos in French or German so she can hear the language - as of right now German is winning.  I speak zero German.  Not sure what we'll do pre-DE if she is actually serious about it.

[SorrelZG]

Latin for cultural reasons more than academic ones (it also pulls together the rest of our curriculum), Khmer because it is the local language where we live most of the year, and Spanish because it was requested.

[chiguirre]

We do Spanish and Latin. T really needs to speak Spanish. She should have learned it as a baby, but we were trying to teach the boys to speak English so it fell by the wayside. We started Latin as a stealth way to study Spanish when T flat out refused. After LC1 and all the Caesar's Spanish bits in MCT, she finally realized Spanish wasn't as impossible as she thought and we started studying in earnest. She didn't want to give up Latin and did FFL last year and Landry Academy's Latin 1 this year. She enjoys it and likes the way the pieces fit (and not having to process fast enough to speak it).

[Space station]

Latin for all of the reasons mentioned. Spanish very casually (Duolingo) just because so many Spanish expressions are creeping into English.

 

Dd13 - Russian because she wants to be an astronaut, they currently offer the only ride to the space station. 🚀 Plus dh speaks it and can teach her.

Dd10 Greek because she loves mythology and Greek culture and begged to.

 

 

(I studied German when I was an engineer, because it was the best foreign language for an engineer, and it was my family heritage. I studied French and Italian when I was an opera singer, for obvious reasons.)

[Space station]

DP

[RootAnn]

My kids will at least have an intro to Latin for many of the reasons other people have already posted.

 

My oldest is studying Spanish because she wants to know what the people behind her in the supermarket line are saying.  :laugh:  (Not really.) It seemed the easiest language to add at the time she started.

 

I studied French in high school. DD#1 wants to add French next. She has expressed the desire to speak many languages when she's older. I can easily support her in French for awhile, but we'll wait until she's further along in Latin/Spanish before adding it.

[mathmarm]

American Sign Language--its a heritage language and Hubby is adamant that his kid will know his Deaf grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and communicate with them freely and openly.

 

 

 

 

[sdobis]

My high schooler took 4 years of Spanish. He decided to switch to Latin this year. Since he has his language requirements, I told him he could do as he pleased.

 

My 10 yo dd has decided to teach herself Chinese. She really wants to be a missionary in China. At this point, we just borrow books, music, and DVDs for learning Chinese at the library.

[Mbelle]

German, because I know it.

 

I don't think it is very helpful to know German, so I wouldn't advise someone to make their child learn German unless their child absolutely wants to work abroad in a German speaking country. Most educated Germans can speak excellent English and are looking for opportunities to practice. You must speak excellent German (and I do) before Germans are willing to speak to you in their own language. Getting the practice necessary to become excellent was a fight, but I was tough! If a German in Germany spoke to me in English, I would just answer over and over and over again in German until they gave up.

 

Emily

 

I know German, although my spoken language has gone down the drain, however I could easily teach my children.  Of course, they don't want to learn German and for the reasons above I really didn't care to push it.  I still learn German on the side as a hobby, but I'm nowhere near as good as I used to be.  Learning one language has made it easier to teach another one though.  I just tell dd to really learn that grammar and the articles.  I know she thinks I'm crazy, but a recent Italian test for dd has proved my point! ha!

[blue daisy]

I learned French in high school, but we are learning Spanish now as a family because I feel that will be more applicable to my kids' lives.  There is a large Spanish speaking population here and I think it will serve them well throughout the US and if they travel.  My DH knows some from high school, and I've picked up a bit here and there over the years, so as I'm learning, it's not so difficult as I thought it would be.  (not that I expect to be fluent any time soon, but I am picking up the beginning skills easily.)  I've started my 4th grader on Duolingo, and my younger two are learning bits and pieces through daily conversation, CDs, DVDs, etc.  My 4 year old is taking a Spanish class at her preschool and she has taught us a couple of songs too.

 

 

ETA - I plan to teach them Latin at some point, but not for a couple of years.  I decided to start with Spanish simply because I have no Latin experience at all, so I thought Spanish would be easier to actually implement at this point.

[Mergath]

We're doing Spanish right now, because I think by the time dd is an adult, anyone living in the US who can't speak at least basic Spanish will be at a real disadvantage.  We're going to do a bit of Latin when she's a few years older, and if she wants to add a second language later on, I'm going to let her pick.  That's the plan, anyway. ;)

[myfunnybunch]

Ds13 is taking third year Spanish. We found a fantastic homeschool co-op Spanish teacher and we both wanted to learn, so I signed him up. I had to drop out (parents were welcome for free), but he's still going and loves it.

 

Ds11 will be taking Chinese. We're starting next week. He didn't want to take Spanish, and I told him he had to start a language in 6th grade. He chose Chinese because our choir homestay hosted a Chinese choir at the same time I told him he had to choose a language. :)

 

Ds9 will probably dabble in Chinese with his brother, but once he reaches 6th grade, he can choose whatever language he wants to study. He's thinking about Japanese because that's what his sister is majoring in at the university.

 

Cat

[momacacia]

Latin, because they just will. French because oldest wants to. Smatterings of Hebrew because I want to.

[Elisabet1]

My daughter picked Latin, French, Japanese, and Gaelic. She excelled in French and took 1st place sweepstakes last year in French competition.

 

13 yr old is studying Latin, because he wanted to. It is not required.

 

10 yr old is studying German, because he wants to. Not required also.

 

[Runningmom80]

Latin because he likes it. Next year French because I speak it. (Not well, but enough to get him started.)

[MistiDelaney]

Primarily Swedish, because Caboose Boy needs to be able to communicate easily with his nieces and nephews in Sweden.  Also a smattering of Spanish, Latin, Greek, and ASL because they are very useful.

[Dagne]

My three oldest are learning French because I speak it. Ds12 and Ds9 are studying Latin because I bought into "it's good for them" and they both ended up liking it. Ds12 is learning Spanish and Russian on his own because he likes them. Portuguese and Arabic are up next, apparently. 

[Donna]

Latin for the vocabulary benefits, to learn grammar, and because it will help her pick up other languages like Spanish.

 

French because she wanted to learn French after visiting Quebec last summer.

 

 

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

We had planned to start Latin in third grade, but we are moving close to the border, and we feel Spanish will be very helpful.  So we're starting with my 3rd and K students this year.  We eventually plan to learn Latin in Jr. High for all the benefits you have heard mentioned.  However, we read an article from a Latin teacher in Jr. High who did not feel that taking Latin earlier gave the children in her class a large advantage from students who had just started learning.  Given that Spanish is a spoken language, we wanted to teach that to our children when they are younger and have a better ear for new languages.  I hope to immerse them in this as well and develop their ear for the language.  Spanish and Latin have a similar structure, as well.

 

I took Spanish, and my husband took some, but he took Latin and Greek.  He is happy to teach Latin when they are older, and they will learn all the root words in vocabulary.  However, I am open to other languages they want to learn in high school, too.  But Spanish and Latin will be taught before that.