But
latir (literally 'to beat, pulse') is an auxiliary verb in Chilean and Mexican Spanish.
2. a. (Chi, Méx fam) (parecer) (+ me/te/le etc):
me late que no vendrá I have a feeling o something tells me he isn't going to come;
b. (Méx fam) (parecer bien, gustar) (+ me/te/le etc):
¿te late ir al cine? do you feel like going to the movies? (
link)
Are these students who speak Spanish at home or English-speaking students? I have seen the sort of error, you're talking about, but I'm wondering if the Spanish-speaking students are just using an idiomatic construction. While
lata is a noun for 'tin can", it is also the ;present subjunctive form of
latir. As I said, I was not familiar with the form, and it's been many years since I studied Spanish, but googling around for lata plus infinitive (e.g., hablar, ir, etc.) gets many hits, and not all of them are from non-native speakers.
