Debating between teaching Greek or Latin

[Surfside Academy]

I'm having a debate with myself whether to teach Greek or Latin to my dc. I know Latin would be beneficial because it reinforces grammar and many of our words are Latin-based. The downside is that it's a dead language and you dont speak it.

 

Greek also sounds interesting. My dc have enjoyed learning the Greek alphabet (orally) and the upside would be they could actually speak it. I'm just not sure what other benefits there are.

 

I'd appreciate any input as to why you chose one language over the other. Another option would be to scrap the whole idea and just teach Spanish :).

[Laura Corin]

Are you thinking of teaching Ancient Greek (either Koine or Classical) or modern? My aim with my boys has been to teach Latin plus two modern languages. Hobbes has diverted me rather by wanting to learn Greek, so may end up doing Classical Greek plus Latin and Mandarin. I expect Calvin to study Latin, Mandarin and French.

 

What are your aims? For me, Latin is a language requiring rigour, which also offers a good background for English and Romance languages. Modern languages are a must as simple communication tools.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[dangermom]

Why not get both?!? [/muppet movie]

 

I'm not sure that modern Greek and Koine/Classical Greek are all that similar, so you might want to check that. But I think there are different reasons for studying the two.

 

Latin is rigorous and gives you good grammar and vocabulary skills. It teaches you to think really hard. It makes learning Romance languages easier. It's a great base for learning to read, speak, and write in English. But, aside from the Aeneid, there's not a ton of wonderful literature to read in Latin, unless you want to read Thomas Aquinas in the original for religious reasons. I don't personally see a lot of incentive in becoming really fluent in Latin.

 

Greek, OTOH, is a beautiful language with a lot of great literature to read, especially the New Testament. If you study Koine and then Classical Greek, there's a lot to read and enjoy. But it's not nearly so related to English, and studying Greek won't do the same things for you as Latin will. So for myself, I tend to see Koine as a sort of bonus language in which fluency is more of a goal than it is in Latin. I don't have to do it, but it will be a source of great enjoyment.

 

So in our family, Latin is more of a useful, basic tool, and Greek is a worthwhile extra. We're hoping to do both eventually, but we started with Latin. (And we just bought Elem Greek I, yay!) We will definitely be doing a modern language as well, but later on. But hey, I'm no expert on either one, so feel free to ignore me. :p

[cin]

I am debating too. I just got samples from LFC and they have a great Greek and Latin program for K-2(ish) Song Song Greek and Sing Song Latin (spring 08). I'm trying to decide if I could teach dd both. I think she'd do great with them, but I also want to teach them Chinese, (Mandarin). I'll do that with Rosetta Stone. Just not sure if Greek and Latin at hte same ttime would screw up their brain like it would mine:D

[Beth in Central TX]

We are doing both Latin and Greek in our homeschool, and we speak both during our lesson time. The lower elementary Greek programs that are available use Koine Greek (or New Testament Greek). If you want to learn and speak modern Greek, I'm not aware of an elementary program to that end.

 

We chose to do Latin because of the logical thinking that it produces along with the reinforcement of concepts in our grammar program. In addition, it will build a foundation to pursue a modern romance language in high school.

 

We chose to do Greek because of the New Testament study it provides (in the original language), and DH wanted to teach it.

 

I found Latin easier to teach because it uses mostly the same alphabet as English. I'm not a visual learner, and I could not easily learn the Greek alphabet. Well, I probably could, but I just don't have the time as this stage in my life. Therefore, DH offered to teach Greek. It's commitment of our time, but based on our homeschool goals, we feel that it is worth the effort.

[cin]

Why not get both?!? [/muppet movie]

 

 

Latin is rigorous and gives you good grammar and vocabulary skills. It teaches you to think really hard. It makes learning Romance languages easier. It's a great base for learning to read, speak, and write in English. But, aside from the Aeneid, there's not a ton of wonderful literature to read in Latin, unless you want to read Thomas Aquinas in the original for religious reasons. I don't personally see a lot of incentive in becoming really fluent in Latin.

 

But hey, I'm no expert on either one, so feel free to ignore me. :p

 

 

And for that reason, I've also toyed with just teaching Latin Vocabulary. I'm already teaching English Grammar, so Teaching Latin Vocabulary might be all I really need. It would give them the vocabulary roots to help with word deciphering and any other romance languages they may wnat to learn down the road. Greek, for religious reasons and Mandarin for Heritage Reasons (and career opportunities, maybe).

[PeterPan]

Koine and classical greek wouldn't be the same as modern greek.

 

I'd chose by the materials you like best. Other than Hey Andrew, which I personally am not keen on, the greek materials seem better starting in around 4th grade, jmho. You can start earlier, but they're more complicated, will need more guidance, involve more writing, etc. Just reread the other posts and realized CAP has come out with some stuff recently I haven't seen. Again, I'd chose by whatever has materials you like and feel comfortable teaching. Prima Latina could be started with a precocious K5er or 1st grader quite easily, with it's slow pace, minimal writing, etc. So it really depends on the age of your kids, what type of text you want, whether you need video instruction to make this happen, etc. I personally don't think the world floats on latin, but you'll have a wider choice of materials for the lower grades with it. If you want to do greek, do greek. You could just as easily do latin for a couple years then add greek. The big thing is to get their understanding of grammar in inflected languages up to speed, which takes a while.

[Karenciavo]

I'm having a debate with myself whether to teach Greek or Latin to my dc. I know Latin would be beneficial because it reinforces grammar and many of our words are Latin-based. The downside is that it's a dead language and you dont speak it.

 

Greek also sounds interesting. My dc have enjoyed learning the Greek alphabet (orally) and the upside would be they could actually speak it. I'm just not sure what other benefits there are.

 

I'd appreciate any input as to why you chose one language over the other. Another option would be to scrap the whole idea and just teach Spanish :).

 

I would not scrap Latin for Spanish. I will also beg to differ with you about Latin being a dead language, I don't consider it as such. All right, perhaps in its truest sense it is, but studying Latin is relevant, just as relevant as studying some dead people, and I dare say more relevant than studying most.

 

Greek is a beautiful language.

[Surfside Academy]

What is the difference between Classical and Koine Greek? I like the idea of Koine Greek because of the New Testament conncection?

 

To be honest, I hadn't thought about my reasons for teaching either language that thoroughly so I appreciate everyone's input!

[Karenciavo]

What is the difference between Classical and Koine Greek? I like the idea of Koine Greek because of the New Testament conncection?

 

To be honest, I hadn't thought about my reasons for teaching either language that thoroughly so I appreciate everyone's input!

 

Koine is the common tongue that came into being as Alexander expanded his empire. It's an outgrowth of Classical and simpler.

[SandraDumas]

but we really plan to do both. I actually started with Greek because it's the only one that has a good program for first graders. Hey Andrew Teach me Some Greek. I love Hey Andrew, and I plan to use their Latin program as well!

 

We are doing Greek because we think it would be neat for dc to have a Koine Greek New Testament and be able to read it. It's not really necessary, but nice.

 

Hey Andrew is a great program. My son is barely six and he's already halfway through level one. He can write and say the name and sound of 10 Greek letters perfectly. Hey Andrew is a program like Saxon with lots of review. It's very simple and easy to use. We are taking it very slow. I add extra writing practice on regular lined paper on the days when he does not review the letters in the book. My ds always needs extra review in writing anything though. (He is Visual SPatial)

 

I have no idea why people don't like Hey Andrew. TO me it's a no-nonsense, easy to teach program that is affordable. And you can move straight from it to another high level Greek program like Munsch's book.

 

My dh just likes Greek but if I were giving anyone else advice *I* would say Latin, and I would have started with latin except for my dh's enthusiasm over Greek. Additionally I could start Greek earlier b/c my son doesn't confuse the letters. As a first grader my son would *definitely* confuse Latin and English letters and pronunciation. That would throw him for a total loop. So I will wait till 2nd or 3rd on Latin.

 

That's our story anyway.

[abbeyej]

Latin and Greek will both provide a child (or adult!) with practice using a different (and in some ways, more complex) grammar than English. It's really *not* the same as simply studying English grammar. Of course, you would get that in other highly inflected languages like Finnish, for instance, as well.

 

Both Latin and Greek contribute a great deal to English in terms of vocabulary -- and many Greek words influenced Latin vocabulary as well...

 

Both Latin and Greek have many beautiful and influential works to read in the original, whether you're looking for Christian or secular materials.

 

Ancient Greek (Koine, Attic or other dialect) is not the same as modern Greek, as others have pointed out. Perhaps not quite as significant a difference as Latin to Italian, but pretty darn close.

 

As to why some people don't care for "Hey Andrew", it spends an excessive amount of time on the alphabet (which is pretty similar to the alphabet we use, though with much simpler phonics -- I truly believe that anyone who reads English easily and has some small amount of determination can learn the Greek alphabet in a matter of a couple of days, not years), and it doesn't teach grammar explicitly. I know many people who have worked through 3-4 levels, only to become distinctly disenchanted and frustrated.

 

I don't think you can go wrong choosing Latin *or* Greek. They're both wonderful languages... (Can you tell I make my kids do both?) :)

[ELaurie]

Hi abbeyej - We've missed you on the boards! Welcome back : )

[fishnoises]

From what I understand, start with Latin than introduce Greek. Any other modern day language will be much easier to learn. (They all follow a certain formula, it is all a matter of how much time you spend them.)

You need to decide what your goal is. DO you want your kids to be fluent in Latin and Greek?

[profmom]

Just a quick comment here to say that we're doing both too. Dd began Latin in 3rd (and is now in 5th), and we added EG1 for all three of us this year when ds reached 3rd grade. I'll probably wait until he is in 5th to add Latin to his Greek.

 

I was wondering the other day which I'd begin first with my toddler when it's time. Dd suggested Latin first, but ds was sure it should be Greek!