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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]No. But if one had to rank.. Latin would be at the top[/quote]

Mandarin Chinese is not only more difficult for a native English speaker to master, but pragmatically it’s not even a fair fight. Latin will come in handy when you’re planning to storm the Vatican or if you ever gain access to a time machine … for literally everything else, bet on Mandarin Chinese.[/quote]

Latin is actually impactful for medics and lawyers. But you couldn't possibly have known that. [/quote]

AI is shitting over both of those career tracks as I reply. But please, regale us further re: the value of Latin over Mandarin Chinese in the 21st century.[/quote]

Not disagreeing that Mandarin Chinese is a great option for kids to learn.

But I will say that the most useful class I took in high school was Latin.  Learning how to structure thinking and how form and function are deeply connected was arguably more important to me when i was working on my physics PhD dissertation experiments than the math/physics I took in high school.  
[/quote] What do you get with Latin that you don't get with French?[/quote]

Latin roots and stems. And an amazing grounding in grammar.  My kid scored 36/36 in the first sitting of ACT reading and English with no prep (and a 26 in science— so this is not a “she’s perfect” thing).

Me:  Wow.  One of your English teachers did an amazing job (also thinking: and did no one teach you to read a chart or graph?)
Her:  that’s not English class.  That’s all Latin.  
Me: Even the Reading Comp
Her: Especially the Reading Comp

I guess translating the Odyssey taught her something important?

Also, after taking AP Latin, she skipped a year of HS French.  And she swears that Latin is saving her in learning a non-Romance language in college because “underneath it all, the declinations are declinations” (I have no idea what this sentence even means.  I got out of HS Spanish as soon as possible and never looked back). She swears Latin was the most useful class she took in HS. IR/foreign language major. [/quote]

Thank you for sharing.

Love reading direct, insightful, firsthand experience here.[/quote]

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