# Parents, which foreign language will you suggest your child to learn.. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 5, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373 "2008-02-05T13:14:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/21 "2008-02-05T16:10:22Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] **dangermom** , can you recommend any resources for homeschooling Latin? [/QUOTE] Can I recommend any resources for homeschooling Latin? Ha! You have come to the right place. Whaddya want, classical or Church Latin? For small children, pre-teens, or teenagers? They’re all available in 4 different flavors. 😃 We use Memoria Press’ Latina Christiana, which is ecclesiastical and has a lot of fun songs to learn. (A lot of people start with Church Latin and move into classical later.) Here’s a list of other kids’ programs, some classical and some not: Latin for Children, Lively Latin, Latin’s Not So Tough, Minimus, Our Roman Roots, and Lingua Latina. There are others too, but those are the main ones that I can remember. I’ll look up a list of high-school Latin texts too if you like. I have Henle, which is very Catholic. Now, how would you like to learn Koine Greek as well? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/22 "2008-02-05T16:55:03Z")
Some other high school Latin texts: Jenney’s, Ecce Romani, Wheelock’s, Latin for Americans, and Cambridge. Also Lingua Latina is really for older kids, but the first stories are fun so younger ones like it. [These guys](http://www.bolchazy.com/index.php?cat=latin&sub=main) are fun to look at. There’s a ton of Latin stuff all over the Web, so have fun! ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/23 "2008-02-05T17:15:18Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] I’d recommend Irish (Gaelic). It’s hard to learn though. It has very little practical application but is a beautiful language means your child can have a secret conversation with other Irish speakers anywhere it goes. 🙂 For practical use, I’d go with Spanish, Arabic, Hindi or Mandarin. [/QUOTE] Heh. That’s EXACTLY what **Nashiitashii** and I have been utilizing our fledgling skills in Icelandic for. Comes in quite handy shopping in a store with pressuring salesmen, whom in our area seem to think that only English and Spanish exist. We had quite a fun time just Sunday, when at the mall a gaggle of ritzy looking teen girls sat next to us in the food court. They started off their conversation in English, then began speaking about us in Spanish, assuming from our severe level of gringo-ness that we wouldn’t grok them. We immediately switched to Icelandic, letting them know by our tones that we were talking pointedly about them. They changed the topic of conversation with a quickness and switched back to English. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/24 "2008-02-05T17:31:18Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/25 "2008-02-05T17:35:47Z")
Welsh is also useful for this, though a bit dangerous in the U.K. In America it works brilliantly. _Wele di’r gwallt fug ofnadw ar y dyn na_? (Do you see that guy’s horrible toupee?) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Jinks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Captain\_Jinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Jinks)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/26 "2008-02-05T17:42:41Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] For practical use, I’d go with Spanish, Arabic, Hindi or Mandarin. [/QUOTE] I grew up bilingual, French and English, and I’ve studied Latin, Spanish, Esperanto and Greek. French gives me a leg up on the Romance languages, although I have a bad habit of filling vocabulary gaps with whichever language seems to be handy. Arabic or Mandarin? Great idea. I wonder, though, if-- aside from the educational advantages-- if it would “pay” to study Hindi, or another Indian language, as English is so common. Still, it’s an up-and-coming economic power, and one would benefit. Are you a xenophilic family? A US-based child would derive economic benefit from studying Spanish, while one who studies, say, Tagalog might not find sufficient scope for his/her talents at home and may be tempted to move. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/27 "2008-02-05T17:53:56Z")
I had 4 years of high school Spanish and I’d love to polish it back up. I plan on getting the Rosetta Stone software for Arabic relatively soon. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/28 "2008-02-05T18:21:25Z")
[QUOTE=Acid Lamp] They started off their conversation in English, then began speaking about us in Spanish, assuming from our severe level of gringo-ness that we wouldn’t grok them. We immediately switched to Icelandic, letting them know by our tones that we were talking pointedly about them. They changed the topic of conversation with a quickness and switched back to English. 😃 [/QUOTE] Heh. My friends and I have done similar in Esperanto. Then there was the time we were all talking in the cafe, and I heard someone at one of the other tables say, “What language is that?” and get the reply “I don’t know, but it sure is _loud_.” ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/29 "2008-02-05T19:03:22Z")
Arabic and Mandarin ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/30 "2008-02-05T19:21:00Z")
Spanish. Not only might it get him ahead in the “service industries” but it might also help him as a teacher, social worker, medical professional, lawyer or anyone else who might work with the large Spanish speaking population in the US. Mr. Caricci, LICSW certainly would have more career opportunities if he spoke Spanish. We have lots of Portuguese speaking people in our area too, but it appears that they are a pretty independant community so don’t need or have interest in non-native speaking people in business, education, etc. ---
**Author:** ![schnuckiputzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@schnuckiputzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schnuckiputzi)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/31 "2008-02-05T19:45:58Z")
Our three have a smattering of German now – the oldest can speak it quite well. Yes, their dad and I used to use it as the “secret-Santa-talk-about-going-for-icecream” language, but they caught on. And they love strolling through the Amish auctions in our countryside and eavesdropping. (Yes, it is low German, but it’s quite close.) ---
**Author:** ![brendon\_small](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brendon_small/32/17101_2.png) [@brendon\_small](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brendon_small)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/32 "2008-02-05T20:13:16Z")
We want to teach our son American Sign Language while he’s young, which isn’t exactly a foreign language, but it is a language. I wish we could teach him some others, but my Spanish is less than conversational and neither of us has studied any French in years… Brendon Small ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/33 "2008-02-05T20:21:06Z")
My kids are learning Mandarin at home from my wife, and I’ll suggest they learn either Spanish and/or Latin while in school. I think being fluent in English, Mandarin and having some Spanish on top of that ought to prepare them pretty well for the rest of their lives. Latin helps with understanding law and medical terminology as well as many English and Spanish root words. I have found my Latin classes useful. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/34 "2008-02-05T20:39:03Z")
I learned French in HS, but my Texas school did constant low level exposure to Spanish through all of elementary school. I would like to raise any children I have from birth as multi-lingual, which would be hard. I know that one of my French teachers was raising her son trilingually. English and French from her and the father, and Spanish from her nanny type. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/35 "2008-02-05T20:42:26Z")
When we lived in Lebanon, our daughter was learning Arabic and French, which seemed like a dandy combination. I’d still like for her to learn Arabic, because she is Lebanese and has a Lebanese passport, and I don’t want her to grow up feeling totally estranged from her culture. But barring that, I would say Mandarin or French; the latter is quite useful, and the former will become quite useful. ---
**Author:** ![MTRG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@MTRG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTRG)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/36 "2008-02-05T21:21:31Z")
My son is three and we will be sending him to a spanish immersion pre school next year. From what I hear, it is a great time for young kids to pick up another language and it stimulates their mental development. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/37 "2008-02-05T21:22:37Z")
Spanish is the obvious practical choice, though Mandarin is probably more prevalent here in San Francisco. ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/38 "2008-02-05T21:27:06Z")
[QUOTE=schnuckiputzi] Our three have a smattering of German now – the oldest can speak it quite well. Yes, their dad and I used to use it as the “secret-Santa-talk-about-going-for-icecream” language, but they caught on. [/QUOTE] Hehe…that’s how I initially picked up Swedish. English is probably the de facto, since it’s the first foreign language most Finnish school children start studying. They’d probably pick it up from me before starting school, though. Actually, my very first choice would be Russian, since a) it’s kind of next door b) the business connections thataways are growing constantly and c) I think it’s a beautiful language. Then again, I wouldn’t have anything against French or German, either, because then I could actually help them with their language homework. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/39 "2008-02-05T21:36:43Z")
Spanish. People in California have little excuse for not speaking it. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373/40 "2008-02-06T02:45:33Z")
For us, the questions will be which will be a foreign language? I speak English and Japanese, my wife speaks Mandrian, Taiwanese and Japanese, with a limited amount of English. We speak Japanese in the house, but want our (still future) children to learn most of the above languages. It’s not trivial to have fully bilingual (or trilingual) kids, but we’re going to give it our best shot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-which-foreign-language-will-you-suggest-your-child-to-learn/436373.md?page=3)