Share with me your reasons for studying Latin vs a modern language.

[rafiki]

.

[H.S. Burrow]

For me the reason is fairly simple: 50% of the English language is derived from Latin. Scientific names are in Latin and since DD wants to be a vet, I figure 2 years of Latin certainly can't hurt her. ;) We will study Latin for one more year before moving into Spanish.

 

DS informed me yesterday that he wants to learn Greek :001_huh: ...so I'm looking into that for him.

[Ali in OR]

It's not an either/or thing here--we do both. And the reasons for each is different. With Latin, I want the girls to learn how to think, how to use grammar, and stay on the path for a classical education. I didn't have a classical education myself, but think I would have wanted one. So I can't really know or understand all of the benefits but am eager to discover them as I learn alongside my dds. Latin has turned out to be their favorite subject this year. And boy do they memorize easily at this age--that's the benefit to starting now rather than high school. So Latin is about brain development here.

 

We also study Spanish. It just makes sense in our modern world to be able to speak a language that so many people in the U.S. speak. I know my high school Spanish has been put to use in several different job situations. I expect it will be at least as useful to my dds. As for starting this early, it's more about developing an ear for the accent. Young kids pick that up more easily than older kids.

 

Languages are a priority, but not the highest priority here. During hectic times I make sure we get math done always and most of our language arts stuff. We're skipping both Latin and Spanish this week. But in general, it's working out fine schedule-wise to do both. At this age our language studies are mostly oral, so it's maybe 10-15 minutes for each language 4 days a week. We love LFC, particularly the DVD. SFC is fine but will be better when they have a DVD for that.

[inashoe]

Here is an article from memoria press.

 

http://memoriapress.com/articles/whylatin.html

 

I use Prima Latina for my 3rd graders,

then move onto Latina Christiana 1 in 4th grade

LC 2 in 5th grade.

 

Memoria Press are working on First form Latin - to follow after LC2.

They have the beta version out now and ready for testing in homeschools.

[Laura Corin]

I think both are important. I prefer to start with modern foreign languages, so that the excellent language learning ability of younger children is not wasted. If I were you I would work on a modern language, then start Latin Prep (Galore Park) at about age ten or eleven.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[Beth in SW WA]

Both here. We use Lingua Latina for Latin, RS for Spanish "lite" :)

[Carol in Cal.]

It's German.

 

And there is a 3 hour Saturday school locally that teaches it at a pretty high level. So it's easy to get it coordinated.

 

I don't know any Latin, but have used Vocabulary Vine to a limited extent to teach Latin and Greek roots.

 

I bought LC1 in a burst of optimism last summer, but have not used it yet. Don't know whether I will or not.

 

Locally, neither German nor Latin is taught at the high school level; so either I have to send DD to Concordia Villages or the German high school program to get high school credit for German, or give up and have her learn Spanish in high school (not planning to homeschool high school.)

[Rosie_0801]

We do/ will be doing both here too. We're bringing the kids up bilingually in English and Auslan out of necessity. We'll add Latin later on. Dh is interested in speaking Latin, and I intended to add it for brain exercise and to support their English. Hopefully they'll be able to take another language at Saturday school. I'm not fussed what language that is though. That will be more about exposure to another way of viewing the world, rather than actual language proficiency. For all I know, they might choose to learn Dinka and there isn't much call for that over here.

Rosie

[Peela]

I started Latin for all the normal reasons...but we have continued, and failed at a modern language, because Latin is quite easy to do for us...at least, its easy to keep going after doign it for several years now....but picking up a modern language- I find that hard to do at home.

[mcconnellboys]

I've always done both! I split the studies so that we have 5 class periods of each every two weeks. It's slower, but has worked out well for my older son - so I'm hopeful it will also work for my younger son. My older son was able to finish up Latin II studies before concentrating more on Spanish for the rest of high school. I would have liked for him to continue his Latin studies, but he just did not want to continue with it.

 

I feel that Latin helps with word study, analogies, grammar and writing. It helps with understanding scientific terms. And it helps in learning any of the other Romance languages.

 

Because Spanish is becoming so predominant throughout our country, I've felt that it would be prudent from them to study this language, as well. My older son will finish up his studies with either an honors or AP Spanish IV class next year. My younger is working with a native speaker once a week for the second year in a row, as well as doing our studies at home.

 

My older son had great difficulty in learning foreign languages, but seems to have overcome those hurdles now, finally. He is actually toying with the idea of pursuing French at this point, once he gets into college.

[elegantlion]

For me the reason is fairly simple: 50% of the English language is derived from Latin. Scientific names are in Latin.

 

This is one of the reasons we are doing Latin. Ds is also understanding grammar better when we learn it from the Latin. Plus my ds is into sciences and it will come in handy for that field. It is also creating discipline in him. I see him work hard in Latin, yet he thinks its fun. :D

 

It's not an either/or thing here--we do both. And the reasons for each is different. With Latin, I want the girls to learn how to think, how to use grammar, and stay on the path for a classical education. I didn't have a classical education myself, but think I would have wanted one. So I can't really know or understand all of the benefits but am eager to discover them as I learn alongside my dds. Latin has turned out to be their favorite subject this year. And boy do they memorize easily at this age--that's the benefit to starting now rather than high school. So Latin is about brain development here.

 

We also study Spanish. It just makes sense in our modern world to be able to speak a language that so many people in the U.S. speak. I know my high school Spanish has been put to use in several different job situations. I expect it will be at least as useful to my dds. As for starting this early, it's more about developing an ear for the accent. Young kids pick that up more easily than older kids.

 

We love LFC, particularly the DVD. SFC is fine but will be better when they have a DVD for that.

 

I agree with this as well. We are going to being picking up Spanish after we finish Latin for the year. We did a brief intro to Spanish & French in previous years. My ds loves learning other languages. I took 4 years of Spanish in high school and find that teaching Latin is bringing back a lot of that knowledge.

 

Next year we are starting with Greek as well.