<p>How hard are foreign language courses. I am enrolled in Latin 1 and was just wondering how vigorous it will be...has anyone ever taken Latin?</p>
<p>Language classes in general are very difficult in terms of taking up a lottttt of time.</p>
<p>Latin is good. It is like any other language class at Berkeley, requiring a good deal of your time and effort, but since it lacks a speaking component – and, for the most part, a composition component – it is relatively easy. There is definite emphasis on the relative part of that sentence.</p>
<p>You will be doing weekly quizzes. You will have homework most every night. You will have several exams, including a final that asks you to remember everything you learned this semester. Latin involves a lot of rote memorization (because the only “application” of this language is reading, most of which you won’t be able to do until much later). Most of what you learn is conjugation and declension, with a few (okay, a lot) of crazy grammar rules making exceptions. The hardest part about Latin is that the words themselves tell you everything you need to know, not word order, and you need to learn how to decipher.</p>
<p>That said… great applications for learning other languages, firming your knowledge of English, and getting access to older knowledge.</p>
<p>Take the Latin 1 section taught by Vera Hannush. She is bad ass and a very, very, very, very, very, very, lenient grader.</p>