I really liked it. Although you couldn’t actually speak it, I found it incredibly helpful for learning new vocabulary and also, for understanding medical terminology.
I loved my two years of HS Latin and wish that I had studied harder and learned more. Even so, it gave me a foundation for English and the Romance languages that I studied.
Good jokes, too: Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes (We’ve used this before, I know.)
I took 3 years of honors and 1 year of AP latin in high school. While it wasn’t always fun it was definitely useful. The etymology has really helped me in my schooling along the way (it’s also sometimes useful on Pub Trivia nights!).
Latin may seem like a waste now, but trust me, you will find it very useful as you advance in school, and then on to adulthood. It’s actually kind of interesting to see how many of the words we use daily you’ll relate back to what you’ve learned in latin!
it might seem like it sucks now, but it is an enormously useful language to study. try not to think of it so much as the here and not, and being forced to take it, but rather that it will be very helpful (or at least entertaining) to your education. i took it in hs and totally slacked, now i regret not taking advantage of the class because it is rarely taught!
and even if you don’t like the language, roman culture is so bad ass!
Latin is responsible for the development of the romance languages, which were influential to English (along with some Germanic languages), so, like others have mentioned before, it is good to learn to understand other languages and medical terms and the foundations of some of our English words. It may seem like a waste of time now, but it will be helpful, and you can’t avoid it, so buck up and deal.
I HATE IT TOO.
If you have the chance, DON’T TAKE IT. It will cause you months of pure misery, and as soon as you stop taking classes you will forget a lot of the declensions and conjugations unless you plan on becoming a Latin teacher (and why would anyone want to do that and spread the pain?). You can learn a romance language without Latin, I started French 5 years before I started Latin and it proved to be basically no help.
Want to learn new vocabulary? Just look in a dictionary. Don’t put yourself through the unnecessary process of learning this language—it’s dead (yes, it’s DEAD), pompous and virtually useless in today’s society.
Latin is indeed considered a “dead” language. Although, Latin is not useless in today’s society. There is so much vocabulary I have gained because I am a Latin student, it has set me ahead of other students. However, something that I and the rest of us must bear in mind is the fact that the Latin program including its teachers, at each different school, will have an enormous impact on how we feel about the language.