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Thinking about switching from spanish to latin. what do you guys think. spanish is pretty boring imo.

By Koopatroopa (Koopatroopa) on Wednesday, March 17, 2004 - 02:28 pm: Edit

If it's boring, don't even think twice about it. QUIT! And it's a smart move on your part, Latin in alot more benefical if I do say so myself.

By Zuka (Zuka) on Wednesday, March 17, 2004 - 02:32 pm: Edit

how is latin more beneficial when its the only language offered today that isnt spoken by any population anymore.

By Bobbyh (Bobbyh) on Wednesday, March 17, 2004 - 03:17 pm: Edit

it may be boring, but almost half the US speaks spanish (this is assuming you live in the US). so don't switch. also, no one speaks latin. what a waste of a class.

By Jennyzsong (Jennyzsong) on Wednesday, March 17, 2004 - 03:25 pm: Edit

yeah but knowing latin makes you classy and sophisticated. no one really cares if you speak spanish. lol

By Glowingamy (Glowingamy) on Wednesday, March 17, 2004 - 07:35 pm: Edit

I take both and Latin > Spanish majorly. But if it's the class itself that bores you, maybe wait a few years? I used to want to quit Spanish cause my teachers were so horrible, but this year I like it. And if it's verb conjugations and gender that bothers you, stick with Spanish: Latin conjugates verbs, nouns, adjectives, and pronouns. There are five declensions, which are "conjugations" a noun belongs to (like Spanish -ar, -er, -ir), and nouns are masculine, feminine, AND neuter It's really worth it though if you like it, and even though there's so much to memorize, it's pretty easy because it all follows basic patterns that you learn within the first two months. (of course this is coming from someone in Latin I, hahaha...)

By Crimsonrider (Crimsonrider) on Wednesday, March 17, 2004 - 08:18 pm: Edit

I already did switch from Spanish to Latin in my junior year due to the quality of the Spanish teachers in my school (or lack thereof, I know people say bad teachers is not a reason to switch, but they never had those Spanish teachers)
If you hate it, don't take it. A good argument can be made to take either of these courses. Latin improves your English and Spanish is useful for communication.
Colleges want you to have at least three years of one language or two years each of two languages, as long as you do this you should be set from that standpoint.

By Koopatroopa (Koopatroopa) on Wednesday, March 17, 2004 - 11:53 pm: Edit

"how is latin more beneficial when its the only language offered today that isnt spoken by any population anymore."

Sorry for the slow response, I've been out. Now, regarding your question. In addition to drastically improving one's grammatical skills, Latin also helps with vocabulary. These two skills alone make Latin extremely beneficial when it comes to reading, writing and the SAT/GRE tests. And as if that wasn't enough, most of your anatomy, in addition to medical/legal terminology, has it's roots in Latin. Also, knowing Latin will make learning romance languages *cough*Spanish*cough* easier since most of their words derive from Latin.

Spanish isn't without it's own merits though. With the huge amounts of Spanish immigrants coming in, I could see why anyone would want to learn Spanish. On the flipside, it almost seems as if everyone and their mother is learning Spanish.

Remember, it's all a matter of opinion.

By Bobbyh (Bobbyh) on Thursday, March 18, 2004 - 12:49 pm: Edit

i dont think you should take latin just to do better on tests. you can still do well w/o latin. the entire idea of taking latin to understand medical terms is pretty stupid. you go take latin so you can learn those words, and ill make a list of the terms and memorize them and know them just as well as you, and ill know how to speak spanish. if you're going to live in the US, then you should definitely take spanish over latin, especially since almost half the country speaks spanish by now.

"yeah but knowing latin makes you classy and sophisticated. no one really cares if you speak spanish." probably true in canada, but not in the US. i think you were kidding (im not sure) but still.

By Nycgirl969 (Nycgirl969) on Thursday, March 18, 2004 - 12:56 pm: Edit

heya, i am freshman and since 5th grade i took french and latin together and this year i finally decided to stick with latin and then im gonna take greek next year. I asked a similar question last year on this board about the benifits of latin over a modern language (though my question was more addressing the benifits for college). I got a ton of responses that said colleges and schools love kids who take classical languages simply because its rare. A lot of students want to become fluent in a modern language (and thats great), however there are even more kids who never become fluent. This makes the whole language experiance seem like a waste of time. Personally for me, I see the benifits of latin on SSAT's and it will help out even more of hte SAT's. Also you said you think spanish is boring, do what makes ya happy

By Betsy (Betsy) on Sunday, April 11, 2004 - 08:44 pm: Edit

My daughter switched to latin from spanish for the 6th grade, and loves latin over spanish. Her classes are much smaller, it helped with her ssat score and she is very interested in mythology and greek, so it was a nice fit. It all depends where your interests lie.

I took french and latin together when I was in school, and ultimately dropped the latin. In the end, I barely know any french, but the basics of latin have stayed with me for a lifetime.