Further Maths vs. Latin

[emilylxe]

Hi, Year 10 student here.

 I've done like a year of Latin in Year 8, but I've haven't studied it for two years now because I moved to a different school. Would it be a good idea to continue doing Latin in year 11?

Side note : I'm going to Haileybury, and they only let you do the 3/4 Latin exam in Year 11. Which means I have exactly a year to learn all the grammar, vocab, and essay writing techniques. (right now, i'm subpar at Latin. I have a general grasp on the language, and I can scan sentences with like 40% accuracy. I'm alright at vocab but I haven't memorised much of anything grammar-related). In total, that means I've had two years to learn Latin compared to normal students (who have five years)

So should I do Further Maths in year 11 instead? I'm better at Maths by far, but I still do like Latin and I regret the time and money that I spent on it. At the same time, I think doing Latin will take up a lot of my time that could be spent on my 1&2 subjects (Meth, Specialist Maths, French, Chemistry and English)

Help me aaa

[darkz]

Hi, Year 10 student here.

 I've done like a year of Latin in Year 8, but I've haven't studied it for two years now because I moved to a different school. Would it be a good idea to continue doing Latin in year 11?

Side note : I'm going to Haileybury, and they only let you do the 3/4 Latin exam in Year 11. Which means I have exactly a year to learn all the grammar, vocab, and essay writing techniques. (right now, i'm subpar at Latin. I have a general grasp on the language, and I can scan sentences with like 40% accuracy. I'm alright at vocab but I haven't memorised much of anything grammar-related). In total, that means I've had two years to learn Latin compared to normal students (who have five years)

So should I do Further Maths in year 11 instead? I'm better at Maths by far, but I still do like Latin and I regret the time and money that I spent on it. At the same time, I think doing Latin will take up a lot of my time that could be spent on my 1&2 subjects (Meth, Specialist Maths, French, Chemistry and English)

Help me aaa

Well, latin is a very rewarding subject for those who put in the time and effort. e.g. I have a friend who began latin halfway through Year 11 at my school and continued to score a 40+ in Year 12. So has it been done before and can it be done? Yes. Not to mention in my friend's case he had to juggle his 3/4s and not his 1/2s. However, that is not to say that he probably sunk a lot of time into studying and whether you're prepared to do that is the real question. If we look at the situation from a purely ATAR-oriented position, provided that you put in the adequate work and effort, your scaled study score in latin should surpass whatever you score in further, and in the event that you're unhappy with your latin score, you can always take further in Year 12 i.e. taking six subjects. Provided that you say that you enjoy maths and your mathematical ability is strong, then further shouldn't be too much of a struggle.

Also, the length of time spent learning latin doesn't necessarily help. At my school, we learn latin for four years beginning in Year 9 - and I'd say that we probably could have crammed 2 of those years into a single year as we just screwed around in Year 10 when the school had to get a relief teacher. I've been told that this is comparatively shorter than other schools who tend to begin in years 7/8, but nevertheless, we generally always have the most 40+ students.

So what I'm trying to say is, if you have the drive and energy, then you should be more than capable of doing well in latin - essentially, you've got the rest of this year to learn grammar and some basic vocab and then you should be on par with everyone else. However, the points you raise are valid as well, and whether you want to put in the effort could really come down to whether you like latin or not.  I'm probably slightly biased since latin was my favourite subject, but yeh.

[J_Rho]

I SECOND WHAT DARKZ SAID!

[emilylxe]

Well, latin is a very rewarding subject for those who put in the time and effort. e.g. I have a friend who began latin halfway through Year 11 at my school and continued to score a 40+ in Year 12. So has it been done before and can it be done? Yes. Not to mention in my friend's case he had to juggle his 3/4s and not his 1/2s. However, that is not to say that he probably sunk a lot of time into studying and whether you're prepared to do that is the real question. If we look at the situation from a purely ATAR-oriented position, provided that you put in the adequate work and effort, your scaled study score in latin should surpass whatever you score in further, and in the event that you're unhappy with your latin score, you can always take further in Year 12 i.e. taking six subjects. Provided that you say that you enjoy maths and your mathematical ability is strong, then further shouldn't be too much of a struggle.

Also, the length of time spent learning latin doesn't necessarily help. At my school, we learn latin for four years beginning in Year 9 - and I'd say that we probably could have crammed 2 of those years into a single year as we just screwed around in Year 10 when the school had to get a relief teacher. I've been told that this is comparatively shorter than other schools who tend to begin in years 7/8, but nevertheless, we generally always have the most 40+ students.

So what I'm trying to say is, if you have the drive and energy, then you should be more than capable of doing well in latin - essentially, you've got the rest of this year to learn grammar and some basic vocab and then you should be on par with everyone else. However, the points you raise are valid as well, and whether you want to put in the effort could really come down to whether you like latin or not.  I'm probably slightly biased since latin was my favourite subject, but yeh.

Thanks for your reply and advice! I've emailed them and asked if I can do Latin instead (I submitted Further, but after reading this I've changed my mind)

Ems