<p>A the high school I will be attending next year there are only three years of Latin available. Latin also happens to be the language I want to take.
It seems that many colleges reccomend four years of a language for the best chances, and I am registered for all advanced classes (honors and APs) and wonder if not having four years of a language could hurt me and wanted to know whether you think I should switch my language courses to French (a PACKED class) or German (which might be hard, considering it's non-Romance). I would rather not do Spanish, as I did three years in private school and did not really enjoy the "cultural" aspects.</p>
<p>The colleges will not look down on you if only 3 years of the language is offered. You will of completed the language courses avalible in that language at your school and should be fine :)</p>
<p>Seems like several schools require four years…</p>
<p>I have heard this question asked at admissions presentations a bajillion times and I have never heard a college expect a student to do more than what is offered at his or her high school. You will meet any requirement if you take the most rigorous course available. Now if you want to go beyond that, have you considered taking classes at a local CC?</p>
<p>And don’t be hating Spanish culture</p>
<p>I don’t know much about German, but I do know that English is a Germanic language, so it might not be as hard as you think.</p>
<p>You can’t be asked to do more than what your school offers…</p>
<p>1) Three years of Latin, if that is all that is offered, is perfectly fine.</p>
<p>2) English is the barely legitimate child of French and German. You might like German. And, there are fewer cases than in Latin.</p>
<p>3) A lot of the cultural stuff that gets taught along with any given language can be really stupid and annoying (and I say this as an ESOL instructor myself). Don’t blame your feelings about that aspect of your Spanish classes on Spanish, blame it on the specific curriculum chosen by the school instead.</p>
<p>In general, it’s probably better to have four years of the same language. However, if you really want to study Latin, don’t take a different language just because it’s offered for four years. </p>
<p>By the time you reach senior year, there probably will be other Latin students who also want to continue with another year of Latin. It’s been some time since I studied Latin, but in the fourth year, students usually read Vergil’s Aeneid. This would lend itself to a tutorial course for those students who wish to continue. Given only schedule limitations, many Latin teachers might be willing to do this. Although four years of latin are offered at my daughter’s school, AP Latin is not offered. Her Latin teacher will assist her and a group of other Latin students to do the AP Latin course on a group independent study basis for credit.
Some other options might include taking fourth year Latin online or taking it at a local public university (if your school district has dual enrollment with a local public university for high school juniors and seniors.) Finally, if there is enough demand, maybe your high school will offer Latin IV by the time you reach your senior year.</p>