Dr.Horse

Is Latin easy or Hard compared to other Languages classes.

lethargytm

I took latin for 4 years and it isn't hard per se but it takes work and time. You have to learn all the stem endings and different kinds of tenses but I guess thats same for all languages. I hear its very similar to learning spanish but I wouldnt know...

srunni

(10 char)

dcs790

By the second year of latin, I found it difficult but I think it was because of my teacher. I have only taken three years of latin. It has helped me a lot for SAT.

SolaCatella

Took it for three years and did a directed study of it in high school. If you hate the speaking portion of foreign languages, Latin's good. Vocab tends to be easy to learn if you have a big English vocabulary--but if you don't, Latin will make it bigger. There's a fair bit of memorization involved, particularly in first and second years (or I guess semesters at the college level). The rules for memorization are quite easy to learn, though it helps if you know the mnemonics for them--my teacher was always providing us with an acronym or a short song to hum to ourselves to make it easier to compartmentalize the rules.

I found it quite easy and engaging, but my teacher was awesome. Your mileage may vary.

lethargytm

srunni, what? did i use it wrong?

Aeneas

Per se is Latin.

akhman24

First year was really easy. Vocab is usually pretty easy to learn, and it is the easiest language to speak imo. But year two, when you have to learn more and more different endings and all that crap, it gets complicated. And then when you get into studying literature, you find that all the ancient authors hardly followed the rules you have been spending your time learning.

Waste of time imo though.

lethargytm

yea i know it is in latin.
per through
se itself

Granny

Latin, to me, was much more difficult than Spanish, primarily because nouns are declined (the same thing varies based on whether it is a subject, object, whatever - there are five variations). That said, I took Latin in eighth grade and it made both Spanish and French easier than they would have been otherwise. It also made it easier for me to wade through technical papers in other languages.

Greens

How much does Latin actually help for the SAT?

lethargytm

greens,it doesnt really help, atleast for me. but i mean it could help you if you dont know a word but you can do that by learning prefixes, roots, etc.... not worth it for the SATs.

I love latin and the roman culture, i wish i was a gladiator or caesar.

Rich Hobo

Learn Chinese

Latin was pretty easy for me in 4 years of high school (except the vast amount of vocab involved), but I'm sure the influx of the history and classics you learn in college Latin will be more interesting than translating Vergil for an hour.

It helped a bunch for the SATs, since I have a dreadful vocabulary. Actually, putting Latin roots and English together is pretty interesting and fun

b@r!um

I guess in the first few years Latin is easier than French because the grammar is similar but you don't have to learn how to speak and understand it. But once you start reading actual Latin literature, the language becomes a pain in the ass for the reasons mentioned in post #8.

Ilovesoftball44

@ Bar!um, I must say having taken both french and latin. I find that french is much easier in the beginning then latin and once one starts reading latin literature, it is just implementing what one has already learned. I took latin for two years, and I found the declensions/cases to be hardest.

In regards to the SAT, my latin teacher claims that French is actually more helpful with the vocab section, since a lot of the words have french roots. She claims that Latin helps with the writing section, especially with grammer and word order, etc.

Overall, I would say latin is never easy. Once you learn everything, translating can become quite tedious especially with all the vocab. On the otherhand, I do find it to be quite rewarding.