I did, from age 11-16 (i.e. starting at the beginning of senior school, to taking O level in it, in the UK). Loved it, loved it. Would have enjoyed continuing it to A level (age 18) but for reasons that still seem good, couldn't fit it in. I'm still jealous of my DH who did take it to the next stage, though, and am reminded of this several times a month; it's that relevant. What hooked me in the first place was learning a language logically, with more focus on rules than on learning to stumble through basic conversations about essentials (I was a mathematician, after all!). What I loved later was the literature. We studied Book 4 of the Aeneid as our set book for O level, and that meant we really read it: understood every word [some chunks were not examinable, but we did it all in class], could translate, discussed the use of language and the themes, put it in historical context etc. In the MFL I did to the same age, we got nowhere near such discussions of such important literature; even in English literature, I didn't meet all of the same depth of study. It helped that I was very lucky in the teachers I had: I remember three Latin teachers and they were all fantastic.
My DS will start Latin at age 8 (it's still a standard compulsory subject i n UK prep schools). He is likely to add ancient Greek a few years later, which will make both me and DH green with envy :-)
[ETA: looking at your page, I'm struck by the fact that nobody mentions any Latin literature. How long did you actually study Latin? I tend to think that the 5 years I took is about the least that's really worthwhile; I don't think I'd be nearly as keen on its being taught as a hobby subject or just for a year or two, as sometimes happens.]
Last edited by ColinsMum; 07/19/11 11:52 AM.
