What language should I take in high school?

Question

My high school offers Spanish, French, and Latin. Currently I'm signed up for Latin, but now I'm starting to regret it. Here are the pros and cons.


Spanish- I've been told that this is my best bet, because jobs will hire you, you use it more, its easier, etc. But personally, it doesnt interest me that much. However, if it really does help with jobs, I might consider it.

French- This seems pretty fun, but I doubt I'll use it that often. Is French really that helpful?

Latin- I figured Latin would be the best, because a lot of languages are based on it, including our own. But I've heard its a lot of work, and I don't know if its worth it.


So, if anyone who took any of these languages could help me out, it would be much appreciated. Thanks. :)

Haha, yes, I get that Latin is a dead language, and I wouldn't use it to talk to people. But yeah, I'm thinking of taking 2 years or so of Latin then perhaps Spanish. Since French doesn't seem useful in the U.S.

Answer 1

I took two years of Latin in middle school, and I took French throughout middle and highschool (compulsory, I'm Dutch). I learned a little bit of Spanish on my own.

Once you learn one of them the other two are going to be relatively easy. Personally I thought Latin was the neatest of them all. Latin really isn't any harder than the other two, and not having to learn to speak it makes it actually rather easy. In my Latin class we also learned some stuff about Roman civilization which was quite interesting.

I've lived in Texas for 2.5 years now, the first half year in south Texas, and I haven't really found any use for knowing Spanish yet, except if you want a job that requires you to know English.

The kids in Latin class are probably going to be the most motivated when compared to those in Spanish and French, meaning that the class will likely be nicer to be in. Just pick whichever attracts you the most.

Answer 2

It depends on why you want to take a language. There are a lot of things to be considered.

First, you need to consider which language sounds and culture appeal to you. Learning another language today is often tied with the culture that language appears in so if you prefer crepes over tacos, that might give you a clue. How the words sound to you will make a difference as well. I took French first because I loved the way it sounded.

Second, you need to look at your end goal. While Spanish may indeed help you with many professions, Latin and French can help you with others. It depends on what type of profession you plan on having. If you are interested in any kind of international business, French would actually be more useful. If you plan on working where there is a high concentration of Hispanics, then Spanish might be more what you need. If you are going into the medical or legal professions, then Latin would be more worth your time.

Another thing to consider is the size of the classes. If you don't mind a large class that is made up of a large percentage of students who don't really want to learn the language but who took the class because someone forced them to, take Spanish. If you'd rather have a class where people chose to take it, you will be better off with French or Latin (no, it's not 100% that way, but the odds are much better). If 1/3 or 1/2 of a class doesn't want to be there, the learning environment is affected.

Size of class needs to be taken into consideration as well. Because Spanish is so popular, the class size will be much larger than French and French will be larger than Latin. This is just how it works. If you'd rather have more personalized attention by the teacher and a smaller class atmosphere, choose Latin. If you'd like to have a more medium sized class, then French.

Teachers' personalities make a huge difference too. Talk to students who have taken classes from teachers in the different languages. Ask them what their teacher is like and how they teach. Some teachers use methods that make language-learning much easier than others.

French and Latin will help raise your SAT scores because there is so much influence from them into the English language. Spanish is much more useful in many areas in the US.

There are lots of factors, but remember, you aren't necessarily locked into only taking one language. If you take a year of Latin, you might find that both beginning French and Spanish classes would seem much easier because of the similarities in words.

Many people know several languages. It's a great path to follow and it will help you in other areas that you study.

Answer 3

Honey, it was a million years ago, but the ONLY language offered in my small school was Latin. I took two years and never regretted it. People usually think of Latin in terms of improving vocabulary in English and the other languages as you mentioned. Latin is also very important in medicine and law. However, the biggest benefit I got from Latin was learning the different cases and functions of nouns. I never understood the subtleties of English grammar until I took Latin.

Later in a bigger high school and in college, I took French. French pronunciation is idiomatic and has rules of its own. However, it really helps to know how to pronounce the French words that have entered our language. Concierge, croissants....I can't think of all of them that get butchered daily.

Today, Spanish is the second language in the US. Being fluent in Spanish might be a big plus on your resume. I am told that beginning Spanish is easier than French, but advanced Spanish is more difficult.

My recommendation would be to take two years of Latin and then pick French or Spanish for a modern language. One plus about Latin that makes it easier is that there is no conversation, just translation. You will learn a lot of history, too.

Answer 4

Well...English isn't really based on Latin. A lot of English vocabulary is derived from Latin though, but most likely came through French (or other romance languages). So even if you took Spanish or French, there would still be a lot of recognizable words. I think if you live in the US, Spanish could be more useful in everyday life, but it doesn't mean French would be useless. Since you like French, maybe you should try it. Depending on where you live, it could be helpful due to the population of Francophone Africans. A lot of countries use French as a second language or at least learn it in school, too, so there are a lot of people you could end up using your French with! Either way, whichever one you choose will be a good base for you to learn the other two, if you ever wanted to. If you choose Spanish and eventually want to learn French one day (or vice versa) then it will be easier for you. I would probably leave out Latin if it doesn't particularly interest you. Good luck in whatever you choose!

Answer 5

Well, let me start out by stating that I don't really qualify to answer your question as I did take Spanish, but I failed it a bunch of times back when I was in high school...mostly because I hated languages at the time and didn't like that it was forced on me.

That being said.

Spanish is a great language to learn if you plan on living in the United States as an increasing number of people speak it and it's great to be able to communicate with those around you.

I can't really say anything great about learning French unless it's something that you really want to learn.

Latin is a great language to learn if you are going into medicine, law, psychology, psychiatry (yeah, technically a medicine), or any culture based or language based (included people becoming English majors) fields.

It's nice because it shows you the source of the language you are speaking and it provided an amazing command of the English language to anyone who excels in it or who enjoys it.

In the end, if all things are equal (enjoyment value and value to you for your future), I'd recommend Latin.

Hope this helps.

Dan

Answer 6

I took French (between that and Spanish only) and regretted it.

Latin, as others have noted, improves your understanding and vocabulary in English, and will make it distinctly easier to learn other Romance languages at any later time.

Spanish is incredibly useful in the workforce and in everyday life in many parts of the U.S.

Personally, I'd take Spanish if I had it to do over today. You don't lose anything taking Spanish over French, because if you're going to go on and study history, philosophy, literature, or any other discipline that you'd be reading anything in the original language there's just as much, if not more, significant scholarship written in Spanish as there is in French. But if you're planning to do any real study you might as well take Latin and learn one of the modern languages later, having learned Latin already will make that half as difficult.

Answer 7

What parts of the world interest you? Where do you want to travel? What cultures do you find interesting?

Spanish - Most of Latin America, Spain

French - West Africa, France, Belgium, Quebec, Haiti, Martinique, French Guiana, French Polynesia

Latin - Vatican City

No language is more or less useful than any other language. Usefulness depends on your needs and interests. All languages are beneficial, so choose the one that you are most interested in. Once you get to college, you may find that you'd rather learn Swahili, Korean, Arabic, or some other language!

Good luck!

Answer 8

I would choose French. If I had studied it better, then I could have talked better with that cute french guy I met at a bar...

But Latin is pretty cool - for the reason you said. But if your hearts more into spanish, and you have an idea what profession you want to get into and it suits, then do spanish.

I dont think any of them will be duds - they are all worthwhile learning. Whatevrer you pick, learn it well.

Answer 9

honestly spanish would be the one you would use the most. I am bilingual in spanish and english and spanish is so important here in the US. In fact, it is the second most spoken language in the US. As for French, I took it in high school but never really used it that much so I never reached full fluency. Latin is a dead language and no longer spoken so consider that too.

Answer 10

Spanish