Which foreign language(s) would you suggest that your kid learn?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With every language there is a new culture to learn. Which culture do you think your child is most interested in? I took French over Spanish because I enjoyed a European culture more than Latin America. Although, Spanish would have been more useful in communicating with some workers we have had at the house. Another family member learned Farsi (they were told it's more useful) and now gets sent to the Middle East all the time even though they request other parts of the world. They wish they learned a different language because they dislike the Middle East and its culture. Not to say it's bad, they just that they don't like it. Think about which culture your child would enjoy more and they will enjoy learning that language more. Sometimes learning languages is about usefulness, other times it's about what you enjoy. With so many languages in the world, why not learn the one you would enjoy the most?

You do realize that Spanish comes from... wait for this...Europe, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With every language there is a new culture to learn. Which culture do you think your child is most interested in? I took French over Spanish because I enjoyed a European culture more than Latin America. Although, Spanish would have been more useful in communicating with some workers we have had at the house. Another family member learned Farsi (they were told it's more useful) and now gets sent to the Middle East all the time even though they request other parts of the world. They wish they learned a different language because they dislike the Middle East and its culture. Not to say it's bad, they just that they don't like it. Think about which culture your child would enjoy more and they will enjoy learning that language more. Sometimes learning languages is about usefulness, other times it's about what you enjoy. With so many languages in the world, why not learn the one you would enjoy the most?

You do realize that Spanish comes from... wait for this...Europe, right?

The Spanish taught in public schools in the US is more often than not Latin American Spanish and culture. Thankfully they don’t teach Canadian French.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Latin. Seriously, it helps them understand English so much better.

Latin will also help them in science classes. This is true from medical fields to any majors that include biology such as environmental conservation.

Agree with this! Sadly our high school just decided to eliminate all Latin classes, right before school started.

I agree with this as well. It always gets ridiculed for being dead, and many schools don't offer it, but Latin is SUPER helpful with English. I totally rocked the SAT thanks to my Latin classes. And in a strange twist, when I took German in HS, I was the only student who instantly understood cases.

Everything I need to know about English grammar I learned in Latin.

Truth!

DP. I think Latin is highly overrated in this regard. I got 800s on the English part of the SAT and the English SAT 2 and a 5 on the English AP, all without any study beyond my actual schooling, and I speak French because I studied an extent language from middle school through college. It's fine to study Latin if you enjoy it, but its usefulness is exaggerated.

+1

People need to justify to themselves what they did was not a waste. So the invent various rationales for it.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin. Seriously, it helps them understand English so much better.

Latin will also help them in science classes. This is true from medical fields to any majors that include biology such as environmental conservation.

Agree with this! Sadly our high school just decided to eliminate all Latin classes, right before school started.

I agree with this as well. It always gets ridiculed for being dead, and many schools don't offer it, but Latin is SUPER helpful with English. I totally rocked the SAT thanks to my Latin classes. And in a strange twist, when I took German in HS, I was the only student who instantly understood cases.

Everything I need to know about English grammar I learned in Latin.

Truth!

DP. I think Latin is highly overrated in this regard. I got 800s on the English part of the SAT and the English SAT 2 and a 5 on the English AP, all without any study beyond my actual schooling, and I speak French because I studied an extent language from middle school through college. It's fine to study Latin if you enjoy it, but its usefulness is exaggerated.

+1

People need to justify to themselves what they did was not a waste. So the invent various rationales for it.

I personally found Latin far more useful than algebra or chemistry, but whatever.

[Anonymous]

I’d say Spanish for my kids, because it’s widely spoken in this area and the access to being able to practice your language skills regularly is invaluable to learning another language.

Secondarily, I’d suggest Korean because one of my children and I are Korean adoptees. Being in reunion with my birth family and having little way to communicate is really, really hard,

I took 3 years of Latin and one of French in high school, and 3 years of Italian in college. I didn’t find Latin particularly useful, personally, and thought it actually hindered my ability to learn to actually speak another language. My Latin teacher was able to speak Latin, but obviously most people can’t do that and I think my brain really struggled with the aspect of speaking a language as opposed to reading it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chinese.

Why, unless you are specifically planning to work in China? English the language of business pretty much everywhere, and here at home Spanish would seem to be the most useful.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin. Seriously, it helps them understand English so much better.

Latin will also help them in science classes. This is true from medical fields to any majors that include biology such as environmental conservation.

Agree with this! Sadly our high school just decided to eliminate all Latin classes, right before school started.

I agree with this as well. It always gets ridiculed for being dead, and many schools don't offer it, but Latin is SUPER helpful with English. I totally rocked the SAT thanks to my Latin classes. And in a strange twist, when I took German in HS, I was the only student who instantly understood cases.

Everything I need to know about English grammar I learned in Latin.

Truth!

DP. I think Latin is highly overrated in this regard. I got 800s on the English part of the SAT and the English SAT 2 and a 5 on the English AP, all without any study beyond my actual schooling, and I speak French because I studied an extent language from middle school through college. It's fine to study Latin if you enjoy it, but its usefulness is exaggerated.

+1

People need to justify to themselves what they did was not a waste. So the invent various rationales for it.

Super weird responses. I also got an 800 on the SAT verbal, but I attribute that score almost entirely to having taken Latin. Hmmm… it’s almost as if we had totally different experiences in school, which doesn’t make sense for such a tiny, homogeneous country.

Oh well. I guess I am just trying to justify not having taken and promptly forgotten basic Spanish or French in high school 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chinese.

Why, unless you are specifically planning to work in China? English the language of business pretty much everywhere, and here at home Spanish would seem to be the most useful.

It will be the next world superpower.

[Anonymous]

I know a lot of teens are studying Korean now because it ties in with KPop. I think if you’re motivated, it would be fun because you would learn lyrics, watch dramas, and watch interviews.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chinese.

Why, unless you are specifically planning to work in China? English the language of business pretty much everywhere, and here at home Spanish would seem to be the most useful.

It will be the next world superpower.

Plus they own us

[Anonymous]

It doesn't really matter. Honestly almost any other subject would be a better use of a students time for 5 hours a week other than a foreign language, but you have to take one so just pick.

[Anonymous]

Chinese.

China will own the world in 10-20 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It doesn't really matter. Honestly almost any other subject would be a better use of a students time for 5 hours a week other than a foreign language, but you have to take one so just pick.

Ok, Colt.

[Anonymous]

Chinese will never be the lingua franca anywhere, because there exist far easier languages that the vast majority of the world‘s population can adopt (like English and Spanish). These parents who insist on Mandarin immersion classes for Larla are so puzzling; do they think in any foreseeable universe their darling child will a. be working for a Chinese boss who b. doesn’t speak English?

That said, my children are learning German because it is my native language but had I my preferred choice, I would teach them French, because it is just perfection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin. Seriously, it helps them understand English so much better.

Latin will also help them in science classes. This is true from medical fields to any majors that include biology such as environmental conservation.

Agree with this! Sadly our high school just decided to eliminate all Latin classes, right before school started.

I agree with this as well. It always gets ridiculed for being dead, and many schools don't offer it, but Latin is SUPER helpful with English. I totally rocked the SAT thanks to my Latin classes. And in a strange twist, when I took German in HS, I was the only student who instantly understood cases.

Everything I need to know about English grammar I learned in Latin.

Truth!

DP. I think Latin is highly overrated in this regard. I got 800s on the English part of the SAT and the English SAT 2 and a 5 on the English AP, all without any study beyond my actual schooling, and I speak French because I studied an extent language from middle school through college. It's fine to study Latin if you enjoy it, but its usefulness is exaggerated.

+1

People need to justify to themselves what they did was not a waste. So the invent various rationales for it.

Super weird responses. I also got an 800 on the SAT verbal, but I attribute that score almost entirely to having taken Latin. Hmmm… it’s almost as if we had totally different experiences in school, which doesn’t make sense for such a tiny, homogeneous country.

Oh well. I guess I am just trying to justify not having taken and promptly forgotten basic Spanish or French in high school 🤷🏻‍♀️

Why not both? I attribute my SAT success to studying Greek and Latin roots. I also took Spanish, and I currently have opportunities to use it IRL. I like that I can communicate with all the parents from my child's dual language immersion class.