Mom wants to learn Latin

[Mom27kidz]

I would like to learn Latin for myself only. Well the kids can tag along if they want to but I'm not setting any goals. I've always wanted to learn Latin but where do I start? There are so many different curriculum out there but where would an adult start? I would like something ecclesiastical and doesn't take up too much time daily.

Any suggestions??

[JudoMom]

I would start with Getting Started with Latin, and move on from there.  I think GSWL provides a great overview of the language and plenty of translation practice.  And it's inexpensive and takes only a bit of time each day.

[happypamama]

Get Getting Started With Latin.  It's a very solid foundation with plenty of review.  You will learn a lot in just a few minutes a day.

[KrissiK]

I am using Henle Latin with Memoria Press's study guide. Now, granted I have been working along side 3 kids so far learning Latin with Memoria Press's materials, so I didn't go into it cold, but I love Henle. And MP's study guides make it so easy. They have daily assignments for you to do, and pretty much spoon-feed it to you. Check the boxes sort of thing.

 

Regarding time spent.... you can put as little or as much time as you want. Some of the lessons I divide up, because they are long. I'm on my third day of a translation right now because it's long, but that's fine. The key to learning Latin, really, is memorizing the conjugations and declensions and vocabulary, and eventually you can rattle that off pretty quick once you know it. Sometimes I even do my recitations when I'm putting on my makeup and doing my hair.

Edited April 15, 2017 by KrissiK

[blondchen]

Another vote for Getting Started with Latin.

[winterbaby]

My degree is in classics. Check out Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata by Orberg. It has you reading Latin from page one. Rattling off paradigms is not the main thing in learning Latin. Most people who take that route never progress to fluent reading (note how rarely one sees posts about people progressing to literature). I did, but it took me four years of college, and I really wish I'd known about Orberg.

 

"Ecclesiastical": Christian/medieval Latin is easier to read, with fewer extreme bends and turns of word order. But it's the same language - learning general Latin will prepare you for it. Pronunciation is personal choice and both systems are easy to learn.

[Mom27kidz]

Thank you! Seems like GSWL is fairly quick.... like 1 semester? What does a person do after (besides the online Linney's) ?? I'd rather stick with a book ... online doesn't really suit me.

[Hunter]

Not Eclesiastical pronunciation, but Udemy has classical proninciation videos to accompany Henle Latin which is for both pronunciations.

 

If you load your wishlist up with Henle courses, and wait, Udemy will eventually offer the courses to you for $10.00 each. Often within just a couple days.

 

Udemy also has Wheelock, which is easier AFTER doing some Henle. But again, that is not ecclesiastical pronunciation.

 

Sorry my experience has been with classical pronunciation.

[Hunter]

I really really really like Udemy for foreign language courses. The quality of courses is the same as much much more more expensive options. I keep expecting to find some of catch. Like it is too good to be true.

 

I like some other things, but not to start. GSWL and Henle are my default starter books.

Edited April 16, 2017 by Hunter

[Mom27kidz]

So do you go straight into Henle after GSWL??

[2_girls_mommy]

I have loved learning it through MP materials with my kids. Plus I just get books from the library, and I couldn't even tell you the names of all that I have picked up there. Some I go through fully, some I just scan and pick up something from. 

 

I do agree with being able to learn the grammar MP style before you start reading literature. I don't think there are few threads about getting to literature because learning grammar first won't get you there. I think it is because most people aren't going the full 4 years of latin or aiming for a degree in classics. I think most kids want their required 2 years of a language and to be done. MP will get you to reading after Henle if you want to continue. Most likely my dd will get there. I think she is headed that way, but certainly she could stop after some basic translation work like she would get in any public high for a couple of years and be done with it too and move onto Spanish instead of the 4 years of latin and reading the full classics in latin before college. 

[winterbaby]

 

I do agree with being able to learn the grammar MP style before you start reading literature. I don't think there are few threads about getting to literature because learning grammar first won't get you there. I think it is because most people aren't going the full 4 years of latin or aiming for a degree in classics. I think most kids want their required 2 years of a language and to be done.

I didn't say learning grammar first won't get you there - it got me there, just slowly and painfully.  Besides, Orberg does teach you grammar; "learning grammar" doesn't have to be synonymous with blindly chanting paradigms. I don't think people who are spending money to start their kids on Latin programs at 6, 7, 8, years old are just trying to get two years in; I think, to some extent, they are being sold a bill of goods about how much it really takes to get to literature (starting with the proposition that one can even teach a language one doesn't know oneself), and as reality slowly dawns, it quietly gets dropped. As it happens, there is another way, using materials that treat it as a real language rather than an exercise in rote memorization. Your point about not wanting to spend years and years only underscores what I'm saying - one wouldn't expect to still be nowhere near understanding real, non-potted texts after two years of French and Spanish. It's not that one shouldn't learn grammar; but treating a language as a set of tables to be memorized is very inefficient. If there's no ambition to ever use the grammar, that seems even more inefficient - why not just study word roots and Roman culture?

[Hunter]

So do you go straight into Henle after GSWL??

In my opinion, yes. I own 3 curricula. GSWL, Henle 1, Wheelock. I tried jumping straight from GSWL to Wheelock, as Henle doesn't have a digital answer key, but I realized the vocabulary memorization expectations of Wheelock were unnecessarilary rigorous for beginners.

 

I have no use for all the newly published curricula with all the "helps" and pieces, except for GSWL. I could skip GSWL, and start a student in Henle, but it is a cheap and easy introduction, and for SELF-EDUCATION, I highly recommend it before starting Henle.

[WoolC]

My degree is in classics. Check out Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata by Orberg. It has you reading Latin from page one. Rattling off paradigms is not the main thing in learning Latin. Most people who take that route never progress to fluent reading (note how rarely one sees posts about people progressing to literature). I did, but it took me four years of college, and I really wish I'd known about Orberg.

 

"Ecclesiastical": Christian/medieval Latin is easier to read, with fewer extreme bends and turns of word order. But it's the same language - learning general Latin will prepare you for it. Pronunciation is personal choice and both systems are easy to learn.

I'm going through GSWL now and I'm very intrigued by the Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata that you have recommended. Which components, if any, do you recommend purchasing along side the main text? I'm seeing several on Amazon: Latine Disco, Grammatica Latina, College Companion.

I think I will try this for self study, thank you for sharing!

[winterbaby]

I'm going through GSWL now and I'm very intrigued by the Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata that you have recommended. Which components, if any, do you recommend purchasing along side the main text? I'm seeing several on Amazon: Latine Disco, Grammatica Latina, College Companion.

I think I will try this for self study, thank you for sharing!

IIRC the College Companion includes Grammatica Latina. It's hard for me to judge what's really necessary because I already knew Latin by the time I discovered it, and my daughter is still doing Minimus, so it's hard for me to see it through newbie eyes, but my instinct would be to give the Exercitia first priority after the text. But again, this is the perspective of someone who learned a different way still only planning to use it in the next couple years. I worry if all the add-ons have the potential to drown out the "show, not tell" spirit of the main text. But I don't think you can go wrong with the Exercitia. Maybe see how well you get it with just the main text and the Exercitia, then add the others if it's really not clear.

 

[WoolC]

IIRC the College Companion includes Grammatica Latina. It's hard for me to judge what's really necessary because I already knew Latin by the time I discovered it, and my daughter is still doing Minimus, so it's hard for me to see it through newbie eyes, but my instinct would be to give the Exercitia first priority after the text. But again, this is the perspective of someone who learned a different way still only planning to use it in the next couple years. I worry if all the add-ons have the potential to drown out the "show, not tell" spirit of the main text. But I don't think you can go wrong with the Exercitia. Maybe see how well you get it with just the main text and the Exercitia, then add the others if it's really not clear.

 

Thank you! I'm looking forward to getting started.

[Tranquility7]

IIRC the College Companion includes Grammatica Latina. It's hard for me to judge what's really necessary because I already knew Latin by the time I discovered it, and my daughter is still doing Minimus, so it's hard for me to see it through newbie eyes, but my instinct would be to give the Exercitia first priority after the text. But again, this is the perspective of someone who learned a different way still only planning to use it in the next couple years. I worry if all the add-ons have the potential to drown out the "show, not tell" spirit of the main text. But I don't think you can go wrong with the Exercitia. Maybe see how well you get it with just the main text and the Exercitia, then add the others if it's really not clear.

 

I heartily agree with the Orberg Lingua Latina recommendation. I have been learning Latin with my DS (I had never had any before). We started with GSWL and then graduated to Lingua Latina Familia Romana. He was young when we started (only 6), but it is a *great* program. Extremely effective for learning both vocab and grammar, not to mention enjoyable! It becomes hard work after the first few chapters, but if you hang in there it really pays off.

 

The text is technically a one year college Latin program. If you study with your kids, the materials below will last you several years. Studying on your own, you could maybe do them in two years, but IMHO if you go too fast it is hard to really absorb all the vocab really well (and it has a LOT!).

 

I recommend getting:

Lingua Latina Familia Romana

Exercitia Latina

A College Companion (this does not undermine the natural method as PP feared; as a newbie to Latin I really find it to be a helpful resource, and we use it regularly, not only for our new chapters, but also when reviewing grammar concepts. I have a zillion Latin currics

Answer Key (for exercises in the textbook as well as much of Exercitia Latina)

 

After a while you might want to add some additional readings that are correlated to the grammar and vocab you are reading in Familia Romana. For that I recommend:

Colloquia Personarum

Fabellae Latinae (free download; once downloaded, change the extension to .doc (remove the single quote in the download filename) in order to get it to open)

 

Hope that helps!

[happypamama]

I personally couldn't stand the look of Henle.

 

My kids start GSWL in 3rd-4th grade and move into Latin's Not So Tough after that. For an adult or older kid, I really like Latin Alive a lot.

[Holly]

I was teaching myself over the summer until life got in the way. Visual Latin and Henle with the MP guides were working very well for me. VL explained everything very well, and Henle gave me lots of practice to solidify what I learned with VL. The MP guides were super helpful for structuring the lessons, and have a much better answer key than the Henle one.

[Miss Tick]

Small side note here. I have been learning Latin along with my kids for the past couple of years and the single most helpful thing for me has been using a flashcard app. I use Ankiapp, which is free for Android. Learning a new app is frustrating, but now that it is up and running it takes care of when we each need to study which flashcards. I wish I had started it when we did GSWL.

 

Best of luck!

[Omma]

Another vote for Memoria Press First Form Latin with the DVDs...so well organized and easy to learn with no Latin background.  Even though Henle is harder to follow as it is not neatly arranged, I did find it to be very FUN because it has you translating sentences so quickly.  So I used a combination of both for great success thus far.  One caveat I have, though, is that I did get to sit in on Henle classes during Classical Conversations, which I started after completing a summer of First Form Latin on my own. 

 

My personal opinion is to not skip anything and check answer key often to make sure you are on the right track, whatever Latin program you pick.  Whatever you get wrong, make sure to take the time to understand why you got it wrong.  Also, do not feel bad about going back and redoing parts of whatever Latin curriculum you choose. 

 

Practice memorizing dictionary entry forms from the beginning, as they will help you figure out what endings you need and are the key to solving the Latin grammar puzzle, since Latin is an inflected language of stems and endings!

 

Oh, and what I almost forgot to add...

 

Are you a whole to parts or parts to whole individual when it comes to learning style?  What I enjoyed about Henle is that every word you needed to translate the given sentence was supplied to you in the new vocab/grammar for each lesson.

 

Now that I have some Latin experience, I can handle new words added that I never studied before, but I still prefer to 'know it' before I try and translate it.  This just depends on your learning style and mine is obviously parts to whole and linear sequential to the nth degree!!!

 

Most of all, pick an approach where you have FUN and feel SUCCESS as you learn!!!

 

Blessings,

 

Brenda

 

 

Edited April 22, 2017 by Omma

[KrissiK]

Another vote for Memoria Press First Form Latin with the DVDs...so well organized and easy to learn with no Latin background. Even though Henle is harder to follow as it is not neatly arranged, I did find it to be very FUN because it has you translating sentences so quickly. So I used a combination of both for great success thus far. One caveat I have, though, is that I did get to sit in on Henle classes during Classical Conversations, which I started after completing a summer of First Form Latin on my own. !

I agree. Memoria Press's Study Guide for Henle is very helpful because it organizes the book into lessons and assigns exercises, etc. I would have been really lost with Henle if I didn't have those study guides.