^^^ cause or correlation? Guess the only places where Latin is taught - the BS and day schools that cater to the children of the super elite. Their SAT scores aren’t diluted by public school kids who have to choose between French and Spanish. The percentage of people in this world who care about fluency in a language that hasn’t been spoken out loud in 400 years is infinitesimal, and includes no one who isn’t already part of that group. If we are raising kids to think and act globally, wouldn’t it be helpful to have the kids take a language that is spoken somewhere on the globe? Spanish, Arabic, Hindi and Chinese are the languages our kids should be taking. French? With their immigration policies, even the French won’t be speaking French much longer.
From a student perspective: I know I chose Spanish over Latin because it is, after English, the most widely used language in America. Practically speaking, even base level knowledge of Spanish can go a long way in daily interactions, especially if you are living on the West Coast… Many of my classmates who chose Spanish have similar thinking: since their plan for the foreseeable (or perhaps not so foreseeable 
) future is to continue living in America, some Spanish can come in handy (esp based on what kind of career they are looking at… i.e. whether it is service based, or computer coding…it really depends)… And in day to day routines, Spanish can be a bit handier than Latin…
Imagine trying to haggle in Latin at the farmers market 
Our approach was to expose our kids to all choices, have them spend some time on Duolingo, speak to the department heads at the school and make a choice based on all those factors. Mostly around what feels right. Please don’t pick for your kids based on our generations outdated constructs. The only bad choice is the one your kid hates!!!
And we would know - our starter kid -aka first born, we pushed to take Chinese for many of the reasons outlined in this thread- it was a total disaster. He ended up killing his GPA for 2 terms and being quite miserable as a result- before he switched to German. The world our kids will exist in continues to evolve- no point trying to control for uncontrollables. Best to let them spend time doing things that interest them in BS- not preparing for specific end goal.
I studied Latin in HS years ago and have forgotten it all… But I think the true benefit of Latin is in learning - perhaps for the first time - proper grammar. It’s such a highly inflected language that forces you to examine the role that each word plays in a sentence. In English, why does “Give it me?” sound “wrong” but “Give me it” is ok? “Give to me it” sounds wrong but “Give it to me” is ok. Are “I” and “me” the same words? Can “me” and “to me” be used interchangeably?
All these are pretty straightforward questions I guess, but Latin answered them (and a million others) for me. Moreover, Latin got me thinking about and noticing questions like this in English and later in other languages.
Spanish is the second most spoken language in the U.S., the most spoken language by non-English speakers in the U.S., reasonably substitutes Latin for it’s medical, science and English roots learning usefulness, and is much easier to learn than Asian or other non-European languages for English speakers.
The likelihood is that no 2nd language will be terribly useful for job interviews because there are plenty of those language’s native speakers who are fluent in English. But Spanish probably is the most useful language while living in the U.S. for everyday living especially in west coast.
I pushed Japanese, Chinese and French in addition to Spanish and mother-tongue Korean since dd was young. Eventually she dropped all but Spanish before bs started.
Also, I read all the Latin canon books in Korean in my high school. They were still really good. I bet they would be pretty good if read in English as well.
And BS are notorious for it’s high standard for all foreign languages. Spanish class will be well demanding and stimulating. At least that’s the case for my daughter who was tutored 3 years and took a community college Spanish class before BS, and is getting a B in her Honors Spanish II now. She won’t be acing the course, but still needs to be proficient before end of this school year, because the next course, Honors Spanish III prohibits using English at all during the class.
Anyone who thinks Latin will help them in a future career in law or medicine - forget it, it wont. No more than studying any of the romance languages will, anyway.
@doschicos , I did not mean that studying Latin is only good for test taking. I mean it increases your vocabulary and reading comprehension, which of course also helps with testing but that is a side benefit. Much of the English language, as well as the Romance languages, is rooted in Latin. A Latin student will discern the meaning of new words based upon his or her knowledge of the Latin root. It also teaches great study skills.
And I think one should take both Latin and a modern foreign language at the same time, though I frankly do not see how studying Latin first would limit a student’s ability to speak French or Spanish when he studies it later, anymore than another student just beginning in the same course who did not have Latin first.
@vegas1, I was thinking about the Chinese language trends as I responded above. Our local schools chose to offer Chinese instruction, dropping Latin. All well and good, I suppose, but only about 2% of the students who started Chinese in elementary school stayed in the language for high school. My children do have friend who stayed with Chinese, but it requires significant time spent in China, a commitment which is expensive and which precludes other activities.
@Korab1, everyone in our family has a knowledge of multiple languages. So for me, the question is not, “which foreign language should one take,” but rather, “where do you want to start?” A good start for foreign language acquisition is a firm grasp of grammar, which is the center of all language study. Our local public elementary school spent more time showing animated films in the limited time available for foreign language study (French and Spanish) than teaching grammar. Oh, and who could forget the “international festivals,” in which mothers provided food?
Indeed, the need for competent language instruction in a variety of languages is a reason to change schools. A few exam schools, such as Boston Latin, do offer Latin to students.
(If you might go to graduate school, keep in mind that graduate students in some disciplines may be required to demonstrate reading fluency in at least two foreign languages, which cannot be from the same language family. If the program prepares for international service, speaking fluency will be required.)
Sadly, studying any foreign language is a choice available to relatively few students in the United States. Foreign language study is thus “elite.”
So, crunching the numbers, 0.25 x 0.43 x 0.07 = 0.007525, or three quarters of a percent, learned a non-English language “very well” primarily in school.
So no matter what, if you aren’t studying a non-English language spoken at home, the choice of what foreign language to study 1) will not make a difference for most students, and 2) is thus not a life-altering choice. I would prefer Latin, German, or Russian, were it on offer, but most schools do not offer those languages. Be grateful if your school offers any foreign language instruction, but don’t override a child’s preference with thoughts of a language’s “practicality.”
I have to say this whole discussion is fascinating and valuable. Thank you all.
@Periwinkle While there is no national standard for taking a foreign language in the States, it is not at all uncommon and almost all states require at least some study in a foreign language. In my very large state, three years of a foreign language is required for high school graduation. Students normally have a choice of French, Spanish, and if they are lucky, some other language.
What a wonderful world it would be if every child was exposed to and had an opportunity to learn multiple languages from a young age, but that is just not the case here. This isn’t Europe. There aren’t a dozen countries within driving distance. Many people in the US will go their entire lives without leaving the country or encountering someone who doesn’t speak English
Of course kids aren’t becoming fluent in French class. It takes years of practice and near immersion to become fluent as an adult or near adult, but that isn’t the point of taking a language class. And that’s why taking Latin makes so little sense. Unless you devote yourself to becoming fluent in that dead language, you will have a passing familiarity with a language in which you can’t even swear. I agree it can be helpful, especially if you are intent on becoming fluent in multiple romance languages. But unless you are one of those learning Latin so that you can say you speak Latin, what benefit do you derive from it that you wouldn’t also derive from Spanish? You will certainly never make a pretty Latina (or handsome Latino) blush by speaking Latin to her.
I disagree that not speaking a language well means it is of no use to you. A passing familiarity with Spanish will allow you to read a menu, order food, ask for directions and make change. I’m using Spanish as an example, because there is no way I’m going to Quebec City for vacation.
You will have to enlighten me on which graduate school disciplines require fluency in a second language (besides interpreting, of course).
By the way, I took a year of Latin in college after three years of a romance language in high school. Neither helped my proficiency in the other. You know what did? A semester abroad. Although I have forgotten everything but the swear words all these years later.
I went to a dual-immersion (English/Spanish) school and the kids who were bilingual and biliterate outscored the monolingual English speakers on the SAT verbal. ONce you speak Spanish, picking up Latin is EASY. The opposite is not necessarily true. (You’ll be able to read Spanish, but not as well as you might have if you had started with Spanish first.)
" And then again, the question of which accent is the “best” tends to get tied up in debates about class and colonialism"
You and I obviously hang around in different groups. If you become fluent in Spanish, there will be little concern if you speak with a Spanish, South American, whatever accent. I don’t judge those fluent in English as a second language by their accents.
" Our local public elementary school spent more time showing animated films in the limited time available for foreign language study (French and Spanish) than teaching grammar. Oh, and who could forget the “international festivals,” in which mothers provided food?"
We’re talking boarding school here, so who cares what goes on at public schools. Just being able to show multimedia in the chosen modern language kind of makes the point - they are living languages. Plus, watching tv, movies in another language are good ways to pick up a language. That’s why good schools actually have learning labs - to listen and speak. Just like we learn as babies and through immersive learning, plenty of time needs to be engaged in listening and speaking for fluency, not just grammar. That’s a difference between a dead and a living language.
It is far more natural to learn a language through exposure than through explicit grammar lessons. That is how we all learned our Mother tongue, no?
Over the years I’ve met dozens of Americans who got perfect scores on the AP Spanish test after years of grammar-focused study but who cannot sustain a simple conversation in Spanish.
I’ll admit to teasing my Argentine and Puerto Rican friends about their accents… but they tease me back and it is all in good fun. No big deal. Just like it isn’t a big deal if you speak English with a midwestern, New York, British, Texan or Irish accent, right?
Did anyone go to the Spanish immersion programs in Spain or Costa Rica?
@Periwinkle …Won’t these numbers be different for BS? Since in BS the classes are more focused, in depth, etc… Also many BS offer semester/some sort of program abroad for language immersion… So arguably more BS students/graduates should be able to say that that they learnt the language “Very well”…
Which relatively few take advantage of.
You can split hairs and say it’s 1% or 2% or 10% for boarding schools; nobody knows. However, from my experience, few HS students who start HS in level 1 or 2 of any language will reach any level of proficiency above the high-intermediate level. Which is still good, but far from proficient.
For some reason, I’ve been thinking about this. Learning another language can be a way of connecting with another world, another people, and another culture. It’s maybe the most meaningful way to make your world bigger. A friend advised to study a language only if you were interested in the culture. (I might broaden that to include " or some aspect of it".) When we were doing re-visits, a student talked about having loved Latin and the connection it gave her to a different time and the great thinkers of that time. She’d become so enthused that she’d also started studying Greek. It was genuinely exciting to hear her talk about it. Studying Latin solely for vocabulary purposes however, sounds like a bitter pill. There are easier ways of getting to that same end.
Personally, I would let your son’s interests guide him. It helps enormously if you can use what you learn to better access something that interests you. I know kids who were interested in soccer, and who enjoyed following the Mexican leagues or connecting with local fans/players in their travels. When DS was following an issue in both the American and local media that affected both Americans and the country reporting on it, the issue became much more complicated and nuanced for him. Over the years, I’ve met people whose love of the martial arts lead them to learn Japanese, art historians who have learned Italian, etc.
There’s no “right” answer to this, but I’d vote not so much on what is “useful” (however that’s defined) but on which makes the world bigger and more interesting. Which is all part of the same theme at this point.
Totally agree.
A conflict I see from aiming proficiency in a 2nd language, even if it is a mother tongue, is that the time and effort could be instead used for English, Math, Science or EC for possibly bigger gain in personal growth and college preparation, unless foreign languages are your one thing.