should i take spanish or latin in high school?

Question

i want to be a doctor and i heard latin helps for that and SATs but i think itd be good to know spanish because americas second language is spanish

Answer 1

Spanish of course! Not only is it the second language in the USA, but it it is the prevalent language in the new world. Most of South America and Central America speaks Spanish. Latin is not useful in the real world. And don't forget Spain. Also, as a doctor, you may have many Spanish speaking patients. You will do a great service to your patients if you can speak Spanish. And I can tell you, Latin is NOT really a help in medical school, That is mostly a myth. And what good will it do you in the real world? You can visit a Spanish speaking country and get to know Spanish speaking people, but Latin does nothing for you there.
So, if you must choose, pick the language that is useful, allows you to communicate in many countries, here in North America, and with many of your patients......Spanish

Answer 2

You already listed the pros for Latin so I will list a couple for Spanish. First of all, it is a common spoken language in America (whether anyone likes it or not) and in the job field this will make her an asset to the company :if she works with the public in any ways.~ This would be beneficial if she wanted to be a nurse, doctor, teacher, social worker.... Personally, I took Spanish in school and our only other option was French (which I would have rather taken but my mom wouldn't let me because I am hispanic and should know my language~) and have found little use for it.. in fact it being a class I didn't want I didn't follow through with it. I knew more French than Spanish by the time I was 10 because I liked it so the obvious course of action would be to have taken French when I was in high school. So what your daughter wants to take should be a huge consideration. She will stick with it if she enjoys it. Out of the options of Spanish or Latin~ I would choose Latin. Latin will help academically now and in the long run.

Answer 3

Spanish. More useful.

Latin isn't that useful. You can memorize the medical terms just fine without taking Latin. It's not like you'll be learning in Latin. Your patients won't be speaking Latin either.

If you like Latin, that's another story. But if you don't have a preference either way, I'd say Spanish is more likely to be useful.

I took Etymology in Jr. High based on the same reasons you think Latin might help. Learning the parts of words, with much of it based on the history (including the original Latin words). Honestly, it didn't help on the SAT that much. Maybe 10 words I had a better idea of what it meant based on what I learned. However, my reading tons of books, magazines, or whatever helped much more in my vocabulary than knowing the building blocks of words.

As a lawyer, we use actual Latin phrases all the time. I still wouldn't recommend taking Latin. We don't use the phrases all that time. Time is much better spent just knowing those common latin phrases instead of learning the language in general.

My wife's a pharmacist. Never took Latin. Knowing what part of the drug or term means really doesn't help in memorization that much.

Answer 4

If you live in an area where proficiency in the Spanish language would be a benefit in your day-to-day life, taking Spanish may seem attractive. But if you take the longer view, Latin proficiency will provide the basis for enhancing vocabulary in English, since such a large percentage of English words have Latin roots. Of course, Spanish, French and Italian all derive directly from Latin, so it would be comparatively easy to acquire proficiency in those languages after studying Latin. As for the medical school angle, I would suggest that a strong science and math background would be far more important than Latin, but having a strong English vocabulary would also be of benefit. Whatever you choose, have fun with it!

Answer 5

This is a great question! My mom took latin and she's the best speller I know. Latin is the root of a lot of american language as well as most modern medical language, so it would definitely be a benefit to you as a doctor. However, you are correct that Spanish is the second most common language in the US. If you live in any state that borders water or in the south, Spanish would be a wise move (Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Florida), but if you are in the northern/midwest states, you won't encounter people who speak spanish as much. So I guess it depends on where you live. If you live in a state with a large Hispanic population (or plan to live in one) I'd go with spanish. Anywhere else, I'd go with Latin because of it's help with school.

Any chance you could do both?

Answer 6

If you are able to, take them both. I do. They are both important. Spanish will be important as a doctor because so many people speak the language. My sister volunteers at a hospital and she was able to help a woman who only spoke spanish. Latin is also important because so many words, especially medical terms, have latin roots. Both are very easy and it is not hard to double up on those to languages. If you can, take both.

Answer 7

I would take Spanish in high school and Latin in college. You're right, Latin will help with medicine and with generally understanding our language better, so you will want to study it. I would study it in college so it will be fresher in your mind when you are trying to get into medical school and thereafter. Plus, in college you would probably have a more knowledgable teacher, and trust me, you want that because Latin is tough. Another reason I would take it in college is because whatever you learn in high school you will probably just repeat in college. Latin, unlike Spanish, does not have as many course offerings in college as far as levels. In college you might have Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced. Spanish you will probably have different levels at the Beginning level and different ones at the Intermediate level. Then, if you chose to take Spanish you could find a class that wouldn't repeat what you already know. If you took Latin, it's likely you'd have to either take a class that would repeat info or expect you to already know more than you know.

Spanish by comparison is much easier than Latin. And you are also right about Spanish - many people in this country speak Spanish and that number is only going to increase. If you practice medicine, it's highly likely that you will interact with Spanish-speaking patients. So it would definitely behoove you to take it. I would take what you can in high school and then perhaps even take some more advanced courses in college. There's no reason you can't take both Latin and Spanish in college.

Get as fluent as possible in Spanish - this way if you wind up changing your mind about medicine you'll already have a very marketable skill in any career field. Employers love people who speak more than one language.

Answer 8

Spanish. its easier to pronounce, and youre right, spanish is important to know when your a doctor. latin words are hard to pronounce, but spanish also helps for the SAT. And, the chances that you already have some experience in spanish from junior high school

Answer 9

Might as well take Spanish. It's more useful, and everyone has to learn terminology whether they know Latin or not. Besides, Spanish will also help a little with terminology, since it is closer to Latin than English.

Answer 10

Well, consider acquiring an extra language not only for your career but for your life. Latin might help for old texts, but remember that almost no-one reads or writes in Latin anymore.