Linguistics is for everyone

Introducing students to linguistics before they embark on their undergraduate studies can increase awareness and interest in the field. After documenting my ultimately unsuccessful attempts at creating a standalone course in linguistics at an independent school in Los Angeles, CA, I discuss how I have successfully incorporated linguistics lessons into both my elective classes in the Latin language and my core course in world history. I will show that high school students, particularly older students in advanced classes, are capable of sophisticated linguistic analysis approaching the level of undergraduate student work if they are given proper training. Their progress in the field of linguistics is limited only by the number of hours available to dedicate to linguistics activities in an already packed curriculum. By introducing students to the field of linguistics early in their high school career and revisiting these skills as frequently as possible over the course of four years, I have found that they are more likely to enroll in linguistics classes at the undergraduate level.