Spanish or Latin?

[Anonymous]

I would wait for school to start. The beginnings of Latin study involves a lot of root memorization. Without a teacher to inject the historical and cultural topics, it could come off dry to a kid self studying.

[Anonymous]

1. A reference although not a primer, but here is a quick read that is fun and topical and that a teen might like:

"Latin Matters - A little knowledge is a dangerous thing" by Simon R. H. James
Copyright 2008, Portico Books
ISBN 978-1-906032-31-9

First line of the introduction: "Latin trains the brain...."

2. New Latin Grammar, Bennett, 1945, Allyn and Bacon publishers. Sure, it's an old text, but explains things step by step.

3. Anything from the Ecci Romani series? Very basic, maybe too basic. I don't know if that series is the best to recommend or not, I'm not an expert when it comes to teaching.

4. But finally, keep in mind, there are also some fantastic Latin tutors in the Bethesda and McLean areas. Hiring tutors is something I AM an expert in. They are easy to find, just ask your kid's teachers. There seems to be a whole network out there of friends of Latin.

[Anonymous]

Would you share your list of Latin tutors?

[Anonymous]

Different poster here. I believe my college age DC who is passionate about Latin would probably love to tutor part time in the summer (and no doubt at more reasonable rates than a career teacher)- DC tutored students while in high school. If you want to set up some email account for this purpose so we can communicate off line I'd be glad to ask about DC's interest and connect you.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much but the timing is off since It would only be helpful this Spring. The tutoring places I've been in ciontact with say there is a dearth of Latin tutors at the Subject test level so I must be looking in the wrong places!

[Anonymous]

Understood. If you are talking about the SAT subject test (assuming here you are not OP)my DC just studied from a prep test book and that worked fine. The Subject test is not as hard as the higher level National Latin Exams if you child has taken those (or so I am told)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP. Thanks for the input. Upon further investigation, I found that although Latin would be recognized as the language requirements for HS, it likely will not be recognized by most universities. So Spanish it is next year. Then sophomore year we may look at Latin as an elective. Both DS and DH want Latin...but I am trying to be practical. If he skips Spanish this year, he will lose ground on the two years of HS spanish he had already completed in middle school.

This is completely not true. I have had three kids over the last 12 years all take four years of Latin in high school. Not only did it fulfill the language requirements of all the colleges they applied to (one went to an Ivy and the other two went to top LACs), the feedback from the admissions people is that they really liked seeing the Latin on kids transcripts, for all the reasons stated earlier. All my kids took another language in college and found it easy to learn, which is the experience of most people who take Latin. Also, all three said it really helped their writing and organization skills in college. I am not advocating taking Latin because it may boost one's SAT scores or attractiveness for college admissions. But there are clear and well documented benefits of taking any language in depth, especially if it is a language they want to take.

I think the Service Academies (Air Force Academy, West Point) don't accept Latin.

Actually, I know for a fact that they do. I've been to service academy admissions programs where it has been stated that Latin fulfills their requirements and they see it on the transcripts of strong candidates. Latin is a big plus at all the top schools my family has researched.

And make sure you are talking about the right kind of "credit" .

As a USNA graduate who worked in admissions after graduation and who applied and was accepted to multiple other colleges as well: every college I looked at accepted Latin as a high school language just as they did with French or Spanish (incl USNA and West Point).

Now, the service academies won't give you AP credit for college because that is not a language that they offer, but that is true of many other colleges/universities as well. USNA also does look at scores on the AP Latin exam if your DC takes it and they do count that as a positive -- but they will not give credit for a college-level course that they do not offer...

I read the OP as looking for information on whether colleges that require three or four years of a language to apply will accept Latin. I didn't think she was looking for AP credit. The service academies don't give AP credit per se. They give tests during the summer that allow "validation" of courses so the next level can be taken, but they don't give credits in the way that a civilian school does.

Again, the answer is "it depends", and the academies vary in their emphasis and availability of language instruction. None offer Latin, however.

At West Point they are looking for two years of a foreign language in high school (not necessarily modern though). They actually offer a major in a (modern) foreign language.

At USNA, high school foreign language is strongly encouraged bur not an absolute requirement . It does show ability to stick with something though, and I know very few folks admitted without having taken one in high school. Once you are in, you are required to take foreign language (two years) if you are not an engineering or science major (you can take it as an elective if you are a technical major though). All the language options are modern.

At Air Force they "strongly recommend" two years of a modern language in high school. All cadets are required to take a year of a foreign language at USAFA and they will assign you to one based on your performance on a placement exam. Supposedly Latin students who are accepted to USAFA (and yes some have been; all rules have exceptions) are placed into a Romance language in college, but this is one I suspect is case by case and I would check. You can minor in a (modern) foreign language.

If the point is to get ahead in your college course requirements, then by all means take Spanish.
If the point is to get INTO college, though -- consider Latin...