<p>Has anybody ever done this before? I want to teach myself Latin outside of school so I have more time to take other classes. Is this a good idea?</p>
<p>No, seems pointless. Unless you plan on taking the AP which would require AT LEAST 2 years of the actual class.</p>
<p>Regardless latin is a dead language anyway</p>
<p>No 10chars</p>
<p>If you’re going to do a language outside school, latin seems like a good one to do, as it’s all about the basic grammar and learning vocab, so you don’t need a teacher as much.</p>
<p>^ I disagree basically 100%. Latin is probably the worst language to decide to self-study. It has a great deal of order that would be learned much better by a teacher. I took 5 years of Latin and also took one of the AP Latin exams (there were two different ones when I took it). It is a very hard exam and Latin is one of the hardest languages. You have to realize that since it’s a “dead” language it’s much harder to develop an understanding of it. With all of the other languages you have fluent speakers who can develop ways of learning the language, with Latin you unfortunately don’t have that. All you have is scholars who try to decipher the language based off of the ones we have today. </p>
<p>Anyway, long story short, if you want to self-study an AP language choose one of the main languages. But unless you are going to major in something like Classical studies or Romance languages or whatever, it really isn’t even necessary to take an AP language exam.</p>
<p>Don’t do it. It’s definitely possible, and really isn’t so much difficult (especially compared to other languages) as it is a LOT of memorizing, but it’s not worth the time at all. Invest your time into doing something more valuable, please - for your own sake.</p>
<p>(but seriously, what is up with CC’s obsession with self-studying … are six to eight classes a year really not enough?)</p>
<p>If you have a genuine interest in the subject, go for it. Just make sure it is genuine.
If you see it as a means to some end, its a waste of time.</p>
<p>To clarify further on that, do not waste your time if you are trying to look good to colleges, improve your grammar, complete more AP exams, etc. There are more efficient ways of doing this.</p>
<p>If you are interested in learning the language that much of Western Civilization is built on, learning Latin is not a waste of time.
No you do not have to desire to be a classical studies major to want to learn Latin. That is like saying “Don’t learn how to program unless you plan on majoring in electrical engineering or computer science or whatever” If you are creative enough you can find some sort of use for Latin. It just may not be as blatant as learning how to program.</p>
<p>Finally, take all advice you get on the internet with a grain of salt. You can decide for yourself if it is worth your time to learn it or not. We do not know you and your background.</p>