Is latin really that hard?

Question

i am looking to get a career in the medical feild and i think i should take latin in high school becuase most medical terms orginate from latin, but many people told me that latin is really hard and i shouldnt take it, i'm a straight A student, please help

Answer 1

No, it's not hard, it's challenging and fun. I took it in high school and loved it. It's great to build your vocabulary and for studying languages like Italian, French and Spanish. You're a straight A student and want to go to medical school? You should have no problem with Latin at all. Go for it!

Answer 2

I didn't think Latin was that difficult to learn. A lot of our words are formed from Latin - not just medical terms either. It would be good for you and I think it may be a requirement later in the medical field. Its all about memorizing conjugations and rules of language. The same as any other foreign language would be. I took Spanish, Latin, Italian, and Gaelic throughout my education. I think Latin was the best to start out with because there are so many similarities throughout the other languages that all link to Latin. Besides, you have to challenge yourself some times. You can't avoid classes in college just because you are concerned at their difficulty level. Get used to it now. :)

Answer 3

First of all, it is not any harder than any other language. Truly, though, it's not considered necessary any more to study Latin if you are going into medicine. It's a fallacy that has perpetuated from the past. You would be better off taking a good course in anatomy, which will expose you to many of the terms you will come in contact with.

Probably the hardest things about Latin are learning cases and conjugations and reading the long, boring (in MY opinion) literary works. If you are a straight A student, you probably are smart and have good study habits, so you don't have to worry about it being "too hard" for you to learn.

Answer 4

It's not as hard as many other languages that you, as a speaker of English, might choose. But if you are going into medicine, Latin really is NOT that useful. Learning another language is about grammar, not about vocabulary, so just learn the Latin words and you will be fine. You would actually be more valuable as a doctor to learn Spanish or another language that your patients might actually speak. That would be a much greater benefit to your community than another dusty old Latin head.

Answer 5

I learned Latin when I was in the highschool(many years ago). I was the best in the class. I never thought that it was a difficult language to learn. I advice you to learn it if you want to become a doctor. Most of the terms are in Latin. I don't know if in the States you can become a doctor without learning Latin. Here in Greece you are obliged to. Anyway apart that, Latin will help you learn a lot of languages ( Italian, Spanish, Portugese, French). If you know the Latin root things are a lot easier......So go for it

Answer 6

Latin is not hard for a straight A student. I took it one year myself, and it wasn't that difficult. I'm sure you can do it. The only thing with Latin is that because it's dead you can't really practice, it's all theory and study. Bu it'll help a great deal for you to understand language in general, because so much came from Latin.

Answer 7

I do not think that Latin would be that hard, though I have never taken Latin. Many of our words, not just medical, come from Latin, so I would think it would be easier to learn than other languages. Go for it. You won't regret it.

Answer 8

Go for it. I took three years of Latin in college and it was hecka fun.

As others have pointed out, there are people who find learning languages easy, others just have a hard time with it -- don't know which you are.

A big obstacle to people, though, was unfamiliarity with English grammar, as you need to understand grammatical terms in order to understand them when applied to Latin. So get a good English grammar book to help you.

Hope you enjoy it!

Answer 9

Just read your Questions carefully, some of the words you are using comes from latin..

But I wouldnt take something because they are in written Latin, you will learn that as go by..learn a different language that's going to be helpful down the road ..such as spanish or chinese.

Answer 10

You only live this life once. If you want to take Latin, take it and don't worry about everyone else. Maybe they can't handle it, but you can. Besides, colleges do pay attention to this sort of thing, and taking Latin looks a heck of a lot better on your application than French or Spanish. It IS harder and sets you apart from everyone else who is applying.