Should i pick up Latin or German?

Question

I have a blank spot in my course next year, which is a French major and am struggling to decide whether to pick up a third 'living' language or go back to where it all began.
Any pros/cons/comments would be appreciated.

Answer 1

My native language is English, and the language I have studied the most is a romance language,Spanish, though not at the level of being a major.

Years ago I took a German-for-reading-knowledge course. It was very enlightening to see how a non-romance language works. I think my knowledge of Spanish (with the indirect understanding of Latin it implies) plus German gave me new insights about how English evolved from both germanic and romance language roots. (And since the direct romance influence on English was Norman French, I imagine you would experience this even more.)

On the other hand, I am now teaching myself Latin and I love it! I find it uncanny to see how the romance language I know had it roots in Latin. Strangely enough, my previous brief exposure to German is actually helpful in learning Latin: German has 4 cases, whereas Latin has 6, and the German word order is similar to the Latin.

I suspect that latin would help you with Old French.

One thing that attracts me to Latin is the pithy sarcastic wit of some of those Roman writers! I can't really say that German literature has much of a draw for me.

Where German gave me new insights into English, Latin gave me new insights into both Spanish and English.

So it's a matter of pursuing depth (French to Latin) or breadth (French and German.)

Well, all I can do is ramble about my experience. It's you who has to decide. I am sure you will benefit from either.

Answer 2

Hmm. Well both language I'm sure would be very fascinating but German might be a bit better in the long run. True Latin has influenced many languages including English however the fact that it is no longer spoken means that you will never have native speakers to practice the language with. As for German, you can find pen pals online, watch German t.v., and listen to their music. Plus by knowing both German and French you would speak the two most spoken languages in Europe (well... excluding Russian). Although there may be more English speakers in Europe as a whole, the number of people who speak German as a native language greatly surpasses English. Plus, it's a very good language to know if you plan to go into either the business or science field.
But ultimately the decision is yours. If you still can't decide I suggest you think of why you might want to learn another language. If you are learning just for the sake of knowing another language then you could probably go with Latin. But if you want to be able to use the langauge on a day to day basis I'd say go with good 'ol German.
Good luck and have fun!

Answer 3

Reasearch the Latin course first. Many Latin courses are mainly about the literature and culture of the Roman period and although you do study the language, it plays a secondary role. I really enjoyed the Latin I did, but the course was definitely biased towards the non language elements. If this would frustrate you, then you would be better to choose German. If you wanted to learn German in the future, it would be easy to do it with a teach yourself course. It's easily done if you have a background in languages, as you obviously do. However, this might well be the only opportunity you have to study Latin.

Answer 4

Latin won't be the most use full thing you ever took. It might help with your french classes, and give a minor bit of insight into English, but that's about it. German may be use full, even if you never go to Germany or meet anyone who is German. It would look good on an application to be able to say you speak three languages that are all use full and relevant. Plus, in the German will have some similarities with English, as they are both Germanic languages (German, Germanic, go figure). I took a few years of Latin and I am sorry to say it was completely useless to me.

Answer 5

I took some Latin in high school & it was very helpful because a lot of words (English & French) are based off the Latin. So I vote for Latin, although knowing some German could be practical, I guess, as it is a language that isn't "dead."

Answer 6

being focused on linguistics, you should try German. you have already the basics of the roman language family from the French. German would expand your capabilities. German is a lot more useful than the Latin, unless you are preparing for studies of medicine or law. German would allow you to speak with 80 mio of people in Germany, plus people from Nederlands and eastern Europe. Latin on the other hand is purely theoretical.
Clearly Latin is optimum startup language for a bunch of french+Italian+spanish, but is not usable on its own.
Go for German.

Answer 7

With German you can probably use more in your life. With Latin, if you're into literacy then it could work.

You can't speak to anyone in Latin, except those that learned Latin themselves.

Also, Spanish and Latin have a lot of similar words. You can try Spanish...?

But I'd still say go for German. If you ever plan to go to Europe, German is SO useful, and with you knowing French, you're pretty much set!

Answer 8

Well, I think german is a bit more easier to learn than latin.

LATIN would be useful if you want to get a basic understanding of other languages. Like.. if you were to look at a word, you can easily figure out a meaning, because in latin, you learn the ROOTS of words. for example, mal = bad.
Just like in french! malheuresment... ^_^

GERMAN. It's more easier I think...... And, it's more useful than Latin if you ever decide to go to Europe. Austria, Germany, Sweden...etc. they all speak german. Also, german is related to japanese. So, if you pick up german, you have a higher chance of understanding the japanese language... =)

ermmmmmmm.......... I guess it depends what you want out of learning either one of these languages. Latin can help you with abroading your knowledge of languages in GENERAL (even english!). And german is pretty good to know if you ever go to europe or major in science/engineering...

Most people speak english in germany though so.......=)

Answer 9

nicely, I only picked mine for next twelve months...and that i picked Spanish. yet, I even have already had 3 years of Latin. So, i might do Spanish considering the fact which you will maximum in all probability have the capacity to apply it later in existence......yet Latin is great too, considering the fact which you get roots and stuff. good success in making you determination!

Answer 10

I would go with latin.
If you think that you would ever use German (ie. travel to Germany or that sort of thing) then go for it, but I think that Latin would be very interesting because you would learn so much about where words in our modern languages come from!