So, other than to learn about language, why have you chosen to teach Latin

I know a lot of homeschoolers and private schools teach Latin. I know it is a complex language and that you can learn a lot about language while learning it. But, you can also learn a lot by learning any other language. And there are certainly a lot of languages you could choose that would be more helpful in the future (Spanish being the top one around here). So, other than to learn about language, why have you chosen to teach Latin? I really am interested in knowing more about it. Whenever I read about it online the author seems to assume that you know this is a wonderful thing to do and never explains why.

 

Not a homeschooler, but I can tell you the reasons why we were required to take a little bit of latin in school (one year at 7th grade). I also choose to take 2 years of it in high school as my foreign language (we were required to take 2 years of something).

The reasons we were given were mostly about vocabulary building. The words we were learning were the root words in so many languages. In the sciences, latin is still used for things like scientific naming. Prescription writing uses latin terms. Many legal terms are from latin. From the basics of taking latin, I can casually read basic things in other languages. I also have a much better grasp of parts of speech and types of verbs and just the fundamentals of the English language from trying to figure out how to translate and get to the proper endings in Latin. I learned more about English in Latin class than I did in English class.

All that being said, I would still probably prefer to have my kids take something a little more practical like Spanish.

Marissa

 

Yeah, what Marissa said. I don't want it instead of another language, but as an added part of their education. Spanish is a higher priority for me, and I actually started doing the Pimsleur Spanish, myself.

 

I agree with what Marissa said: Vocabulary building, easier learning of other Roman languages, huge improvement in my understanding of grammar.

Also, if your children enjoy history Latin is fun - working out inscriptions on buildings and ruins, in churches, on tombstones etc., reading great authors in the original.

I struggled with French for a long time, it did not start to click until I studied Latin. Going from Latin to Italian was a breeze. So I think it is a good foundation, probably also for Spanish.

 

Our curriculum this year recommended Greek and Latin Roots, so we are studying those--pure vocabulary building and understanding the English language [as well as other languages]. I don't consider this a foreign language, just part of our language arts.

 

My sister is learning Latin because she's studying at a med school, and they need it for some reason. I'd rather study Spanish, it's more helpful, and I've always wanted to visit Madrid.

 

Oh, I visited Madrid. It's a great city, really crowded but still amazing. I know it would be a disaster for me if I didn't know the language, but thanks to the tutor from https://livexp.com, I was able to understand the natives there and had a wonderful time. Especially my friends were glad that I was with them for the whole trip.