Did you have to take Latin when you were in middle/high school?

[CTyankee]

Back in my day, if you wanted to take French or Spanish you had to have Latin first. I was so pissed off. I was just a kid but my mother took me to Paris when I was 16 and I was in love with the French language and the movies filmed there.

But I am really glad I did have those awful Latin classes. I found it so useful to my English vocabulary and my ability to write. It was invaluable.

What do you think?

[Deep State Witch]

1. I Didn't Have To

But I did. Four years of it. It helps with the spells and incantations.

[eppur_se_muova]

35. Well, you win this thread. But maybe a little Creole might be helpful in this election year.

At least enough to read the chart showing where the pins go.

[debm55]

2. Latin wasn't offered in my school. Rich took it at his HS in Boston because he had plans on being a doctor.

[Silent Type]

3. I did not take Latin, but had a study hall in a Latin class taught by a man who looked like Danny Devito as a monk.

I rarely got to study because he was so interesting and funny. Later in life, I wished I had taken Latin seriously because it is used so much in medical, legal, etc., lexicon.

[BlueKota]

4. No.

I was allowed to take Spanish without out it. I know a few phrases because of its use in history and law.

[drray23]

5. I was raised in France

And went to a private catholic school run by nuns and monks. We had to take greek and Latin in addition of two other foreign languages ( in my case English and German) starting at age 8 all the way to 18 when I graduated high school. There was a heavy emphasis on humanities, classical literature and so on.

Interestingly enough even thought it was run by the catholic church, it was not that heavy on Bible studies or the like, we had 2 hours a week of religious studies.

Back then, well to do families would send their kids to institutions like this because it was the best education you could get. My parents were not particularly religious, yet that is where I ended up.

[cachukis]

6. Hic, heac, hoc. huius, huius, huius. huic, huic, huic.

[CTyankee]

7. I have never forgotten that but was it declension or conjugation?

My guess is declension.

[cachukis]

29. Declension.

My partner in high school could translate it right from the book. That was my competition. I could get the gist, but not the nuance.
We were both altar boys.
Very helpful in my anatomy and physiology studies. Would not trade the experience even though it was forced on me by my mother. She forced me to turn out in her image and likeness. Failed at that, but turned out fairly well.

[yorkster]

19. You should take something for that....

Actually, had Latin for 4 yrs. Helped with English, French, Italian vocab. Love languages.

[rsdsharp]

8. I didn't take it, but I went to law school. Do I get partial credit?

Lotsa Latin phrases in the law.

[CTyankee]

9. My question is: would you been better off in law school if you had taken Latin earlier in your education?

[rsdsharp]

13. Probably not. Reading and writing in Latin wasn't required.

Dropping “res ipsa loquitur” into a brief doesn’t really require anything like fluency.

[RussellCattle]

56. Yes, partial credit indeed. I was the only one in my environmental law class that knew what sylvaculture was.

Tree farming.

[BoomaofBandM]

10. Took it in 7th grade. I don't remember why and i remember none of it.

Partly old age but mostly I have never been able to memorize very well.

[Paladin]

11. Didn't have to; glad I did.

Caesar's wartime commentaries were interesting.

[Joinfortmill]

12. 2 years of Latin..

For decades I could determine the root of every English word, even the ones I had never heard before. What a gift it was.

[CTyankee]

14. It even helps when you watch "Jeopardy." Hubby hates it when I get a word right because I took Latin and he didn't.

Then I cackle and he doesn't like my cackle, says it's obnoxious.

[yorkster]

73. And it helps with the grammar structure of

English, the Romance languages and German. Verrry interresting, no?

[murielm99]

15. I took Latin in high school,

and I loved it! It is true that it helps with English spelling, vocabulary and writing. It helps that I had a great teacher. She had character as well as teaching ability. I learned study skills from her as well as Latin.

She married a widower who had a mentally challenged daughter. He ignored the girl and beat my teacher. She left him and took custody of the girl. At the time, special ed. was not required for high school kids, but it was available. My teacher made sure our high school had a program. The kids were mainstreamed in some classes, where possible. We got to know them and treat them like human beings. Students were bussed in from our community and nearby communities. They could stay in the program until they were 21.

My teacher put her stepdaughter in things like 4-H and home ec. She taught her life skills. She did the same thing for her students, in a gentle, persuasive way.

I ran into them about ten years later, in a restaurant. I did not recognize the girl at first when I saw her ordering. She seemed like a young person who was a bit odd, but not mentally challenged. I hope that makes sense.

Maybe my teacher was an angel. She touched and changed so many lives.

[kimbutgar]

16. Latin was offered at my school and I regret I didn't take it.

I took a Spanish class in my sophomore year with this awful teacher and it made me not want to take Latin.

[CTyankee]

18. If you had had Latin it would have been fun in Spanish.

Late in life (after college and 2 degrees) I took a community college course in Italian because I loved the language so much. I really loved doing and as a resident of New Haven I could take it for free.

[cloudbase]

17. At least two years of a foreign language was required.

Latin was but one of the options.

[2naSalit]

20. Depended on...

Where I lived. On the East coast, yes, on the West coast no. Though I did start French in the second grade in Maine, Latin came later but etymology was taught within the vocabulary lessons so we knew where all the words came from. And we were, in the East, exposed to multiple cultures most of the time so it wasn't unusual to hear foreign languages at any time anywhere in public. You could pick up some of them just from the neighborhood.

I have always wanted to take an extended stay in France. Such a rich culture with fabulous food and wine.

[Fiendish Thingy]

21. I didn't have to, but chose to

I took Spanish all four years, and Latin for two years.

I agree it helped my vocabulary.

[Polly Hennessey]

22. I went to secondary school in Paris, St. Cloud to be specific.

So happy we had to take it. It comes in handy when you least expect it to. Kinda like algebra and geometry and chemistry. Who knew!

[grumpyduck]

23. Jesuit high school, required to take two years.

I didn't see all that much use for it at the time, but was glad I took it when I went to England after my second year in college and found I could read most of the old Latin inscriptions on monuments.

To this day I often go, oh yeah, I can read that.

[CTyankee]

24. I know! I took Latin 60 years ago (I'm mid-80s now) and can still remember it when I see a word I don't quite know but

can figure out based on the latinate nature of it.

[babylonsister]

25. I had 4 years of Latin. nt

[Ocelot II]

26. I didn't have to, but I did

because my dad insisted that you can't be a properly educated person if you didn't learn Latin. Pretty old-fashioned, I guess, but I'm glad I got talked into it.

[Srkdqltr]

27. I took Latin in catholic high school 1950s.

Inside the book i wrote: as we all did: Latin is a dead language, dead as it could be. It killed the Ancient Romans and now it's killing me.

[bullimiami]

28. No. Elective only. 3 years of it. Small group of us just stuck it out.

[snot]

30. No, but it was offered, and I wish I had.

Or rather, I wish Latin as well as other languages were taught at younger ages, when I think they're easier to learn.

[Dale in Laurel MD]

31. Took four years of Latin in HS

I was brought up pretty much bilingual English/French. In college I branched out and took Welsh.

[montanacowboy]

32. 4 years

In high school

[Turbineguy]

33. I did three years of Latin.

Because I was thinking of studying life sciences. The first instructor looked like a Roman Centurion, except for the toga. My second instructor was from Texas who spoke Latin with a heavy Texas accent.

Quintus, let us proceed to the Forum! The Romans never walked anywhere, they proceeded. Also, soldiers were always sticking their gladia's into their vagina's. These translations at age 13 stay with you.

[eppur_se_muova]

34. Never had the opportunity, and I was disappointed. We had German, French, Spanish. I wanted Latin and Greek.

I'm *really* surprised about the Latin prerequisite for other languages. I don't see it as all that helpful. (Yes, I know they're related, but the differences are important -- no articles in Latin is a biggie.)

Latin and Greek vocabulary are useful in any science, but knowledge of the grammar isn't much help. So I took one semester of Greek in college and figured that was enough. A handbook of Latin and Greek etymologies in science does me more good than practicing all the rules for first and second aorist verbs. Still fun to be able to read the Greek alphabet (alpha, beta, gamma is where that name comes from) when I'm seeing old coins, murals, papyri etc. in photos and on TV, even if I don't always know what the words mean; on coins the writing is mostly names of rulers easily recognized as such.

I'm really not much of a linguist, or even a polyglot (which is what most people really mean when they say "linguist" ), but I do have one bit of advice for anyone who wants to study languages: If you're curious about a language which uses a non-Roman or modified Roman alphabet (you've probably never seen an "English" alphabet; "Modern Roman" is what we use to write English), start studying the alphabet(s) or ideographs that language uses before you begin any formal study of grammar, syntax, etc. Once you've got even a partial grasp of the alphabet you can start building up your ability to recognize words and, simultaneously, your vocabulary. (This kinda assumes you are more interested in the language as written than spoken, though.) If you're learning a language for travel, this is especially helpful, since you can read maps, road signs, storefront signs, etc. even when there's no one around to ask. (Bonus: reading protest signs and banners on TV news. A glimpse of a fraction of a second is all I need to catch a sign saying ПУТИН НЕТ!)

[Squeaky41]

36. Other Languages

Took 2 years of Latin and 3 years of French. Got an A in each. Idioms difficult.Eaves dropping on local Canadian-French in Maine was fun.

Same great teacher for them.

Self studied Russian. Alphabet is a bear.

[surrealAmerican]

37. It was never an option.

I suspect you went to much better schools than I did. Junior High offered French, Spanish, and German. High School offered those three and Italian (we had a large Italian-American student population).

[CTyankee]

38. Where were you? I was in Dallas, Tx.

[surrealAmerican]

39. suburban New York ...

... but it was the 1970's, and we would spend every few years "on austerity", which meant cutbacks to a lot of programs, and increases to class sizes.

[JoseBalow]

40. French was mandatory for 1st to 8th grade at my school

After that you could add or switch to Spanish, Latin or German.

[ConstanceCee]

41. Yes, the Best

Latin was offered, not mandatory, at my high school. The Latin teacher I had for two years is up there with the good teachers, K-grad school, I had that can be counted on one hand. I often say that in high school, I learned to sew, to type, and learned Latin.

[Elessar Zappa]

42. Nah, there was no Latin in my schools.

Most of us took Spanish. Graduated in 2002.

[mountain grammy]

43. Amo, amas, amat

One year all I remember. I was a lousy student

[LudwigPastorius]

44. Are you kidding? I never even had to take Spanish.

...and I lived in a border state.

[Mad_Dem_X]

45. No, I took 3 years of French

And I can hardly remember any of it, LOL.

[malthaussen]

46. Nope. It wasn't even offered.

You needed two years of a foreign language to pass college prep, but the choices were limited to German, French, or Spanish. This was in a public school district in suburban Philly, late 60's/early 70s's.

-- Mal

[rurallib]

47. 2 years in high school - 2 semesters in college

Anybody else here ever heard of a dude named Catullus?

[CTyankee]

49. I'm gonna guess that he was a writer. History perhaps.

[rurallib]

65. A poet actually

Pretty sexual and known for his allusions to sex.
I could never actually read him. But one day in desperation I found a translation in the U's library and cheated my way to a C

[WestMichRad]

48. Was no longer a requirement for my class

But my (several years) older brother had to take it. Was still on offer to my class, but I declined. Years later, wish I had taken it- am trying to learn some plant taxonomy, it would be a great help!

[CTyankee]

50. It might be fun, actually.

[northoftheborder]

51. Three agonizing years

But did help with vocabulary

[applegrove]

52. The suburb next to mine as a kid could not go to my high school

that had a great academic reputation. So all the kids from that neighborhood would say they wanted to study latin to get in (most other highschools did not teach it). I'm talking about almost a third of the whole high school.

[patphil]

53. I went to a Catholic High School; had to take 3 years of latin...church latin.

The pronunciation of church Latin is different from classical Latin. But, the study of structure and sentence construction did help some with my English.
A lot of the English language has it's roots in Latin, especially in science and medicine.

[C_U_L8R]

54. Agricola. Agricolae. Agricolarum.

I think I just broke out in hives.

[no_hypocrisy]

55. I wish I had.

[samnsara]

57. I took it as an elective...

[marble falls]

58. Four years. My dad wanted three lawyers in the family. My lawyer brother and sister never took Latin. I didn't ...

... become a lawyer.

My advice: Semper ubi sub ubi.

[CTyankee]

61. Oh, that's cute! I had to look it up...

[marble falls]

71. I haven't had a chance to use lazy Latin for years. It's the only one I remember. Just keep in mind: ...

... All of Gaul 'est in tres partes', and before crossing the Rubicon: Look both ways.

[sakabatou]

59. No

[brush]

60. I took Latin too, 3 years. It helped me learn how to study as we had home work every day.

I wish I had taken Spanish too as I grew up in the southwest with many native Spanish speakers I could practice my Spanish with.

[catbyte]

62. It was an elective in high school, but maybe I should've taken it.

I took Spanish in high school and French in college, but my brain kept mixing them up. I'd start out speaking French, then my brain would short circuit, and I'd finish the sentence in Spanish.

Needless to say, I suck at any language but English to my sorrow.

I can't manage a stick shift either -- maybe they're in the same area of the brain.

Stupid brain.

[arlyellowdog]

63. Yes, so did my millennial son

It was required in my 1960s Catholic school so I did it. My son was really good in Math and science, but struggled with Spanish. He switched to Latin for the required years of a language. Do either of us remember any Latin? No, but then I don’t remember any French either. It’s a nice alternative for those of us born without an ear for languages.

[Cartoonist]

64. My Latin experience

In third grade at a Catholic school, I had the opportunity to become an altar boy. While we didn't have to learn Latin, we had to memorize certain phrases. I was no good at that so I didn't advance.
In fourth grade they went to an all English mass. Then I was no longer able to apply. Talk about a close call.

[rockbluff botanist]

66. I took it as an elective

I took 2 years of Latin in high school (74-75-76), even though it was considered a "dead language".

Taking this language served me well. I am a biologist/botanist and Latin is quite alive in my profession. Plant nomenclature is all in Latin.

[AllaN01Bear]

67. nope.

[IbogaProject]

68. I took Latin willingly

In a couple of grades, my teacher finally realized we weren't absorbing it and moved to writing out details of a draft he had of Latin sourced phrases and details about those uses. It has been very informative to me to have learned that. I wish I had pushed him to get in published it would've made a great paperback reference.

[gopiscrap]

69. No we started in 4th grade

at the Cathedral School in Germany

[Traildogbob]

70. I did not in high school

But after 4 years of Science in Wildlife and Forest Management, memorizing literally hundreds of animal, as well as hundreds of plant Latin names, because of Binomial Nomenclature classification seems I did. After graduating and teaching all those names to college students for a career, I always thought if I had taken it in HS, all those Latin names may have been easier, knowing what they meant as a descriptive word for the species when given the Latin name as genus and species.

[c-rational]

72. In Junior High, 9th grade, it was called Development of Modern English (DME). I quite enjoyed it.