# Learning Latin In High School **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 27, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714 "2009-09-27T02:35:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/1 "2009-09-27T02:35:09Z")
Do they teach Latin in public high schools? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/2 "2009-09-27T02:52:20Z")
They did in mine. I took Mandarin instead, though. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/3 "2009-09-27T02:54:58Z")
They did in mine. But that was _almost_ back _in_ Roman Empire days. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/4 "2009-09-27T02:58:43Z")
It’s not a language course around this area. German and Spanish was offered when I went to school. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/5 "2009-09-27T03:03:46Z")
In '86 through '90, my high school taught only German, Italian, French, and Spanish. I took all of them except for Italian because the school also had the stupid idea that “all kids can learn.” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/6 "2009-09-27T03:17:38Z")
I learned Latin in High School, but that was XXXVIII years ago. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/7 "2009-09-27T03:19:48Z")
Mine did, but I can’t tell from the website whether they do now. At the time, they offered Latin, Spanish, French, German, and Russian. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/8 "2009-09-27T03:25:48Z")
Yes they did, but I took French instead. ---
**Author:** ![mcott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@mcott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcott)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/9 "2009-09-27T03:26:38Z")
Well, back when I went to highschool, Latin was an option. Taught as an “early morning” class, which meant one had to show up at 7:30 AM. I didn’t take it, but friends did. All the Latin I know is from DS9: “_Inter arma enim silent leges_” ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/10 "2009-09-27T03:29:30Z")
Kid goes to Catholic High School, they teach Latin. I know that wasn’t the question, but felt compelled to answer anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/11 "2009-09-27T03:33:05Z")
Mine did when I was a student in the early 1980s and still does (along with Spanish, French and Mandarin, although I think the fourth language used to be German). ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/12 "2009-09-27T03:41:41Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > Do they teach Latin in public high schools? I took in public hs and my son (who is a freshman) is taking it now. They offer three years of Latin. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/13 "2009-09-27T04:06:45Z")
As a public school student in Austin, Texas, I took Latin in HS - at all three schools that I attended. Latin I & II were generally their own classes. If you were a III or IV student, you just did extras stuff in the I or II class. ---
**Author:** ![Countrypolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/858c86/32.png) [@Countrypolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Countrypolitan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/14 "2009-09-27T04:08:51Z")
I took four years of Latin at my hick HS. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/15 "2009-09-27T04:48:05Z")
Mine did, back in 1946. Don’t remember much of it now, but was at least able to translate a license plate I saw several years ago. “PECAVVI”. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/16 "2009-09-27T04:49:59Z")
WARNING - HIJACK! Excel has a great little Arabic numeral to Roman numeral translator. ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/17 "2009-09-27T04:54:33Z")
They didn’t when(early 2000s) & where I went. We had French & German when I started high school and Japanese was added my last year there. ---
**Author:** ![Dynamo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@Dynamo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dynamo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/18 "2009-09-27T04:55:24Z")
I took Latin in a major county in Georgia and I know many other schools offered it as well (this was about 4 years ago). ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/19 "2009-09-27T05:08:38Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > WARNING - HIJACK! > > Excel has a great little Arabic numeral to Roman numeral translator. The Common Lisp FORMAT function will output integer values as Roman numerals. It’s in the official ANSI standard. One of the high schools I went to offered German, Spanish, and French, the other only Spanish and French. Latin was never an option. Nor were Classical Greek or Akkadian, now that you mention it. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714/20 "2009-09-27T05:51:16Z")
Not only did we have Latin in High School, but we had it in Junior High (Middle School) as well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-latin-in-high-school/511714.md?page=2)