Latin

 Yesterday in our Current Events class, we were talking about the Common Core, and education, and we ended up spending a lot of the time discussing how we would structure a national school system. Being homeschoolers, most of us don't have a lot of experience with traditional schools, so the discussion was quite interesting. At one point, we were talking about what should be taught (stick with the basics, like language arts and math, and let the students do the rest on their own, or teach them some of everything), this question came up: Why do we learn something? There were a variety of answers to this question, most of them being somewhere in the "Because I'll need it later," category, but somebody said, "Because it's fun."

Our leader, while trying to get us to say "Because it's fun," or "Because it's fascinating," used Latin as an example. When he said, "Why would you learn Latin?" my mom and I both started laughing because this is a conversation we have on a nearly weekly basis.

Now, here's a little perspective on this. When I was in 4th grade, I started learning Latin using Latin for Children. I continued this through sixth grade. In 7th grade, I stared Latin Alive!, and over the next two and a half years, I went through the first book and a half in that series before realizing that I had learned very little and that I was doing it wrong. Last spring, I went back to the beginning of Latin Alive Book 1, which I am now almost done with. This is my 7th year of Latin, so I think I think I have some right to an opinion on this topic. The problem for me is that my thoughts on the matter change on a regular basis.


Let's start at the very beginning. Why would you want to learn Latin in the first place? There are a variety of answers to this question including, but not limited to: Because it would help you with your English vocabulary and grammar; it would help you learn other Romance languages; it would allow you to read ancient texts in their original form; it would prepare you for jobs in things like medicine and law. I think these are all good and valid points for learning Latin.

My personal issues with it come later on. I have done Latin for over six years now, but in reality, I've probably only done about two years worth of high school Latin. The early programs I did were for kids to help immerse them in the language, and really didn't go that deep. While Latin Alive does go much deeper, I haven't gotten very far in it.

What this means for me is that I know a lot about basic Latin. I can tell you tons about 1st, 2nd, and 3rd declension nouns, 1st through 4th conjugation verbs, the present, imperfect, future, and perfect verb tenses, the five basic noun cases, and some about the other two, and plenty about adjectives of the 1st and 2nd, and 3rd declensions. That's where most of my knowledge ends. Of course, that's not all I know. I know a LOT of vocabulary, and much more grammar than that, but what I just listed, which is about a year's worth of high school Latin, maybe a little more or less, is really all I feel completely comfortable with.

Now, I can read Latin relatively well. I can parse and label and translate pages of Latin text. I understand concepts far above and beyond what I mentioned above. I have a quite good grasp on most basic grammar. But for six years of work, this feels miniscule. Here we finally get to the point where my argument with my mom comes into play.

I think all the reasons people list to learn grammar are completely valid. I think they are very good points. In fact, for those same reasons, I would encourage people to learn Latin. The problem for me is that I think I have achieved those goals. My Latin does help my English vocabulary. My Latin grammar occasionally helps my English grammar (though it actually more often makes me incredibly confused. I learned a lot of more complicated grammatical concepts in Latin before I did in English. I then expect the English to be the same, but it rarely is. More often, it's a lot more complicated, or at least different enough to be confusing.). My Latin does help some with Spanish. I have read original Latin texts, and translated them. I have enough of a background that if I go into something like medicine or law, I will have a great basis of knowledge to work from.

At this point, I do not see how continueing to learn Latin will help me with any of these goals. I think those arguments are past their point of usefulness for me. That does not mean however, that I think I should just stop learning Latin right now. I know my mom is reading this right now, and she is probably a bit confused, since some of what I'm saying here will sound like the opposite of what she hears me say regularly. Don't worry, Mom, I'm getting there. Really, really slowly. I think Latin is a wonderful language to learn, and I don't want to stop learning it. I really don't.

Over the past six years, I have attempted, many times, to quit Latin, without success. My mom never let me. She would cite the above reasons, and tell me I had to keep going. I'm now grateful that she didn't let me quit back in elementary school, but I'm still conflicted about whether it is currently worth it.

I'm a pretty stubborn person, as anyone who has ever lived with me can tell you, and after this many years, quitting now, just when I'm finally getting somewhere, would feel like failure. At the same time, I have more work this year than I have ever had, and I'm beginning to feel a bit of pressure to focus more on what I'm going to use in college, and less on what I just want to do (are any of you Current Events people reading this? This is exactly what we were talking about on Tuesday.). Latin is now a subject that is not going to help me get into college. It's not going to help me get a job. Is there a point in continuing at all?

Quitting right now would make me really, really sad. I like Latin. It's hard, and I do get frustrated often, but in the end, I like it. It's logical (usually), it has clear patterns and rules, and it's very black and white. That sounds a little like math, doesn't it? Latin also has a kind of poetry to it that math will never have. You can use those patterns and rules to create a kind of art. I really haven't done THAT much Latin, and I don't want to stop. I want to make it through Latin Alive book 4.  It makes me really, really sad to know that that probably won't happen.

College is becoming more and more of a priority right now. Things like Math, English, and Science now seem far more important that Latin. I am struggling each week to get through all the work I have to do. Is Latin really worth it any more? If Latin was commonly taught in college still, if I knew I could continue learning it, this would be a no brainer. Of course Latin would still be worth it. I would need to continue so that I would be prepared to continue it in college. But the chances of going to a college that teaches Latin are relatively slim. Do I still have time for Latin?

In conclusion, I want to say that this is something I still haven't figured out. The pressure of being prepared for college is now stronger for me than the desire to learn things like Latin and History. Does this mean I'll stop entirely? Probably not. But it leaves me very conflicted with no real answer. What's more important? In class yesterday, we never really answered that question, and I don't have an answer either. Is Latin worth it?