<p>D begins 7th grade at a competitive college-prep (7-12) school in the Fall. She must decide this week whether she’ll take Latin or French as a foreign language. Any retrospective suggestions from those of you with college kids?</p>
<p>Definately latin. It is the foundation for many languages and provides a lot of the tools necessary to utilize English. People sometimes say latin is a dead language but in reality French is just as dead. Unless you plan to visit France, French is useless. Not many other countries use French or adopt French sayings, etc. in any significant way. </p>
<p>You did not ask about Spanish, but the reality is that an American student will have much more opportunity to use Spanish than any other foreign language.</p>
<p>Although we live in Southern California, the only opportunity one might have to speak Spanish is to the gardener. D is not interested in taking Spanish, for some reason. I took French, myself, in school. It does help in deciphering root words, adjectives, etc., but I have never used it otherwise. </p>
<p>French and/or Spanish might be useful if contemplating a career where a spoken foreign language would be beneficial. But, that’s hard to know in 7th grade…</p>
<p>Mortua lingua sola est bona.</p>
<p>“The only good language is a dead language”</p>
<p>LOL. I recognize the Latin roots (I never took a course in Latin, but it’s sort of a hobby with me… our school’s “theme” is one of Rome…) … </p>
<p>If Spanish is totally out of the question, then I would say French is the next best option. (Sorry, coureur… it seems like as a modern language, Latin’s out of the running… :P… sorry for the pun…)</p>
<p>I am 2 classes shy of having a minor in Latin, so of course my opinion is a little biased ;)</p>
<p>I’d encourage Latin, but French would be good as well. </p>
<p>BTW, the reason Latin is referred to as “dead” is because since it’s no longer used as everyday language by native speakers, it does not change and evolve like other “living” languages…it is, in effect, frozen in its grammar and vocabulary. </p>
<p>Is she limited to only one? If it were me, I’d take both if I could get away with it :D</p>
<p>I am currently taking both French and Latin, and if I had to pick between the two (though I really enjoy them both), I’d probably pick Latin, simply because it’s been unbelievably useful for my English classes and standardized tests. Also, if your daughter decides to pick up French later, it will (possibly) be easier for her thanks to her Latin background.</p>
<p>Why not two years of Latin (7th and 8th grade) in MS then go onto French in HS?</p>
<p>My D took both in 4 yrs of hs…2 of Latin, 3 of French. She’s taking a year of Latin in college (contemplated being a Classics major) and will be taking some French later on.</p>
<p>Bigmain, French is a useful academic language, a useful language in the arts, and a reading knowledge of it is still useful in international relations. C’est bien entendu.</p>
<p>If you want to receive a Ph.D. in some fields, a passing knowledge of either French, German or Russian is required. Of course, my S, who plans to study math, took Spanish and Latin. 
French remains a very useful language in academia, in France, in parts of Canada and in former French colonies. Someone wanting to practice medicine in this country, however, would be well advised to learn Spanish.</p>
<p>My S took Latin because he thought he would enjoy its logical structure–and he has (many math nerds have an interest in linguistics, it turns out). He took Spanish because that was the only language offered in k-8 school, so he’s continued it in high school. But he enjoys Latin more.</p>
<p>I had 2 years of Latin, then 2 of French. I’m not linguistically (is that a word?) inclined and struggled in both, but would definitely take the Latin if I had to choose. I’d do so because Latin is so helpful with our vocabulary. I also think it was easier as a 1st language since there’s not a big speaking component to it.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s necessary or advisable to think about this as a college or career option issue at this point. No doors will be closed regardless of which language she chooses. I think the best thing is for her to pick whichever one she is more interested in, because she will be more motivated and learn more that way.</p>
<p>I will say that Latin is great because, if you study Latin first, the conjugations and declensions of all the other Romance languages will be easy after that since they are less complicated. Trying to make the transition from Latin to French will be much easier than trying to make the transition from French to Latin. Also, modern language classes are full of drills on boring but “useful” exchanges like, “What color is the pencil?” “The pencil is orange.” In Latin you get to be in a different world, reading stories about battles, barbarians, legends, deities, and so on.</p>
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<p>Latin is not dead. I prefer to call it immortal!</p>
<p>Latin is so beautifu! If it was up to me I’d take Latin…but back in 8h grade I wouldve taken French. In fact I did take French :p</p>
<p>“Although we live in Southern California, the only opportunity one might have to speak Spanish is to the gardener.”</p>
<p>Well, that right there is a good reason to know some Spanish. But goodness, do you ever get out? I hear Spanish spoken all the time in CA, in my kids’ schools, in the gym, on the phone (when you call our HMO you can choose Spanish or English), out and about in Oakland/Berkeley/San Francisco, on T.V.–I wish I knew more Spanish.</p>
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<p>Ha! I love it :D</p>
<p>I would’ve loved to take Latin in HS, but in the city where I grew up only the Catholic prep school offered it, and I did not go to that school. So, I took it in college. If my college would’ve offered classics as a major I would’ve SERIOUSLY considered it…but settled on linguistics ;)</p>
<p>Yes, the conjugations and declensions are complicated (Russian even moreso, I’ve heard!) but the pronunciation is a breeze.</p>
<p>My daughter studied Latin and French through high school. She liked studying French but LOVED Latin. She is another mathematically inclined person who enjoyed the “logical progression”.</p>
<p>One other thought to throw into the pot - As a pre-med my daughter really, really regrets not knowing some Spanish. She plans on eventually taking an immersion course. Hopefully her background in Latin will hold her in good stead as she begins a new language.</p>
<p>I second the opinion that anyone planning on a career that will deal with the public a lot (assuming in the U.S.) may want to choose Spanish. I am thinking of medicine, law, politics. </p>
<p>My D took Latin and Spanish in high school and continued with the Spanish in college. Then she took up Chinese (Mandarin). </p>
<p>Myself, I had four years of Latin and four years of French in high school. Loved the Latin as a mental exercise - the precision, the translations that fit together “just right” when you have them figured out is like solving a puzzle to me. </p>
<p>Trying now to convince my Latin-taking son of its beauty. Not sure he has been won over – yet. ;-)</p>
<p>She’s in 7th grade. So the goal of having her take a language would be a) to see if she likes learning languages b) to give her a foundation for the ones she will have to learn in high school, whether she likes it or not? Because come high school she could change completely. Come high school she might have the chance to take Chinese, for example. Let’s say I’m right:) So as long as the Latin class, to the best of your knowledge, is enjoyable, have her take Latin. Here’s why. If she is a language type - it will fascinate her. And there is some good Latin poetry. If she is not a language type - it will prepare her and when she takes either French or Spanish in high school she will be well-grounded. The only thing this strategy means that has a little downside is that if she changes languages she will not take AP until senior year, which will drag down her GPA a little. But frankly, not enough to make a difference. My D started Spanish 1 in high school, because she went to an alternative school through 8th grade with no language. Didn’t hurt her.</p>
<p>Yours sincerely, Alumother, a former comparative literature major in French, Latin and Italian. And BTW, about to take Chinese, and also really really wish I knew Spanish because I agree. Way more than just the gardener and besides I like talking to the gardener…</p>
<p>Although I studied Latin, if I want to attend grad school, should I study Spanish or French?</p>