I've studied Latin, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Dutch.

Latin is not a spoken contemporary language which obviously makes it different from all the others. But it is actually extremely helpful from both a vocabulary and grammar perspective for all of the languages listed above (plus English!)

Spanish/Italian are the easiest; then French; then German/Dutch.

I have no idea why the State Dept. classifies Dutch as easier than German - that makes no sense to me. Dutch is a simpler for grammar but more difficult to pronounce than German. That said, I think Dutch/German are at a similar level of difficulty for a native English speaker.

I learned German and Spanish at the same time. I found my German to be very helpful when reading shakespeare and cantebury tales. I found Spanish to be helpful when I started studying Italian.
I would go with what he is interested in.

Having Latin as a choice is a gift, it is uncommon to have it offered now. It would be so helpful for his english, his spanish and if he wants to learn another romance language later.

Latin gives a fantastic base for what - 6 living languages? My kids are bilingual (spanish/english) and if they could they would take latin but it isn't offered here in middle school or high school.

My dh and I speak several languages.

I like the new way that latin is taught now in schools here.

Germany doesn't even enter the top 10 for languages. And Latin obviously isn't a spoken language, but I guess if he wants to do well on the SATs...

1. English
1.121 billion total speakers

2. Chinese
1.107 billion total speakers

3. Hindi
534.2 million total speakers

4. Spanish
512.9 million total speakers

5. French
284.9 million total speakers

6. Arabic
273.9 million total speakers

7. Russian
265 million total speakers

8. Bengali
261.8 million total speakers

9. Portuguese
236.5 million total speakers

10. Indonesian
198.4 million total speakers

Anonymous wrote:What does he want to achieve?

Learn Latin if you want to talk to a really old Roman
Learn German if you want to talk to a really old Nazi
Learn French if you want to talk to a really old existentialist
Learn Spanish if you want to talk to the maid and the gardener

Lol! OP here. There is no way he would test into Spanish 3. Most likely, he wouldn't test above Spanish 1. He has Spanish 3 days a week and rarely has any homework in that class (he has more than enough in his other classes). He says he just wants a change and that's fine.

What does he want to achieve?

Learn Latin if you want to talk to a really old Roman
Learn German if you want to talk to a really old Nazi
Learn French if you want to talk to a really old existentialist
Learn Spanish if you want to talk to the maid and the gardener

Anonymous wrote:German is the easiest language for a native English speaker to learn.

No way.

I speak Spanish and took French in school.
Latin is tough but practically, pretty useless.
I now work for a German company and have visited Germany several times.
It's SUPER hard to learn and speak.

Go with French.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We live in Baltimore so he is going to one of the Catholic high schools here and those are the languages they offer. I am pretty sure he doesn't like Spanish is because of the revolving door of Spanish teachers he has had in MS. He equates Spanish with drudgery but I think it is because they have had such uneven Spanish teaching for the last 3 years. He has no interest in French.

There are a ton of kids taking Latin in the Baltimore area. It might be easier to find a tutor for Latin than German, just based on how many schools offer each language, if that is of concern. The semester I had a priest as my Latin teacher we were expected to speak it. If your son's going to a school where they're expected to do spoken Latin, that should probably be weighed in the decision.

The further you get in a language the more fun you can have. Upper level language classes often have include movies and interesting novels. If he's willing to give it a few minutes, perhaps ask the school if your son could get in contact with a Spanish student, a Latin student, and a German student? It's also not uncommon for kids to repeat a level of their foreign language when they move up to HS. How would he feel about starting HS at Spanish 3, so if it is a case where he didn't master the basics like he should have, because of inadequate teaching, he'll have time to pull that together.

I learned (in order): German, Latin, Italian, Classical Greek, French, Spanish and Russian. I'm a native English speaker. For me, Latin was the most difficult but the most useful in terms of education/academics. It's easy for me to pick up spoken language and I excelled in communicating in them. I struggled more with Latin because of the emphasis on precision and knowing how to conjugate/decline words. I also understand why Latin/Greek are considered integral to a 'classical' education. The requirements to understand and analyze the written word has helped me become an excellent writer and improved my marketability significantly in professional areas.

Anonymous wrote:My DS is in 8th grade and has taken Spanish for 3 years. Soon, he has to choose which language to take next year in high school. He doesn't love Spanish and wants to try something different. The other choices are French, Latin and German. He is trying to decide between German and Latin. How difficult are these languages to learn? Spanish is the only one I could help him with. TIA!

I took French, German, Latin, and Spanish at various times as a kid.

I would say French is easier than German, and German is easier (and more useful) than Latin.