Latin Alive book 1, chapter 1--help!

[sbgrace]

I may try to cross post this, but we started Latin Alive, book 1, and I feel lost.

We've had no prior Latin instruction. 

Section 2 of chapter 1 runs through pronunciation of all consonants, vowels, dipthongs, etc at a really fast pace. Are we supposed to memorize/master this? I am finding these initial videos confusing. She went through section 2 in a different order than the order in our book, and she did it very quickly. We were spinning. I'm hoping it gets better. 

[Omma]

I am not familiar with whatever video you are using, but as for the textbook moving at a furious pace with little opportunity to practice all the reams of vocabulary you are learning each week, 'No, it will not get better'.  How did you end up picking Latin Alive?

I need to add that I am a bit biased against Latin Alive, but both my dd and I have the same opinion after using Henle and Memoria Press materials for Latin before coming into an online academy that uses this textbook.

[aaplank]

I can't imagine using Latin Alive 1 without some prior instruction. It does move fast and the translation exercises are very difficult, especially when they introduce unknown vocab in the selection and just expect you to know it. 

We had several years of Latin instruction and had all the conjugations and declension endings memorized when we started Latin Alive 1. I did think the video instruction was much better than Memoria Press, but we couldn't slog through the translations any more. We ended up back with Memoria Press Forms series. 

[sbgrace]

Oh no! I was hoping that this would be an easier way to teach Latin. I tried to research, here particularly, and I never picked up on a not for beginners vibe.

This was a lot of money. Is there a way I can make it work?

So we need to memorize all those sounds then?

I'm disappointed. 

[MamaSprout]

We had prior Latin and gave it up at Week 12. I know I posted about it. If you want to press forward, I would not do the translations.

[happypamama]

I like Latin Alive a lot, but it does move very quickly. It would be overwhelming to us without prior instruction. 

 

If you'd like to keep LA, at the very least you need to slow down and make some vocab flash cards or something so that you can practice the vocab often. At one point, CAP had some really nice PDF charts you could download and print to use as references for the endings, and those have been helpful to us too. 

 

But what I would really recommend doing is stopping LA for the time being and going through Getting Started With Latin. It’s less than $20 for the book, and there are free downloadable mp3s for the pronunciation. It has a TON of built in review and is just an excellent solid foundation for Latin. You will learn a lot and truly understand all the basic conjugations and declensions, plus you will know a lot of vocabulary. 

[Omma]

Do you like to know every word in a passage you want to translate or does that not matter to you?  This is a fundamental reason why I do not do well with LA and prefer something like Henle, but the vocabulary words in LA are much 'richer' and more varied, plus they will prepare you better for the NLE.  So it depends on your style for learning and what your goals are.  Here is a quote by MP regarding Henle:

'In the First Year text (Henle I), a limited vocabulary of 500 words allows students to master grammar without being overwhelmed with large vocabulary lists.  Repetitious Latin phrases and copious exercises produce mastery rather than frustration.'

The above quote says it all for me.  If you want profuse vocabulary lists with few exercises to practice what you are learning (but very interesting passages on mythology or history to try your hand at translating...with the answer key very handy as your best friend, then LA may work out very well for you in the long run.  But for me, it is back to Henle and Memoria Press Online Academy and  MP guides for now.  After I become more skilled with knowing all the Latin grammar, I think I will enjoy going back to Latin Alive and studying all the cool mottos and learning mythology, etc.  But I do not recommend LA as a beginner's tool for learning Latin.  It moves too fast.

Brenda

 

[sbgrace]

Thank you all so much! I think I have a plan, then.

I"m going to go ahead and work through Getting Started with Latin (the low cost for this and so many good reviews makes me feel better about this whole bad start).

After that, I guess I will think about where to go. I don't like the idea of frustration, so it sounds like LA was likely a waste of money. But we'll see. 

[ScoutTN]

I agree with the rec for GSWL. Memorize the forms that it covers before you jump back into LA.

Also, you can get a jump on the LA vocabulary by using Quizlet or Anki. The study sets are all there already. 

 

 

[Aloha2U]

I also cannot imagine using Latin Alive without prior instruction, preferably Latin for Children. LA is vocabulary heavy, and fast paced at that.

We're currently in Book 2 and it's taken much perseverance to get this far. I should have had us spend more time memorizing vocabulary, but I wouldn't change course despite it's challenges. That being said, we both have our own workbooks and (for the most part) work through them together. The teacher's manual is always close and open for me to check our progress and accuracy, especially when there are many things implied or thought to be understood already that haven't necessarily been covered yet, but my young man earns his kudos even when I'm along for the journey. (I have GSWL on the side that I've worked through, since he's worked through Song School Latin and Latin for Children and retains more than me at this pace. GSWL has been a nice reminder here and there, and extra practice for me, but it didn't teach me anything I didn't already know from LfC or LA. I also have Wheelock's Latin that I've only begun to skim through.) We started with the LA video instruction, but finally got to a point where we were better off doing it on our own, with just the text. We're looking forward relieved to begin Book 3 next year with less chapters and, therefore, more time to work through them. The NLEs are part of our goals. Unfortunately, I missed the registration for a NLE this year, but he will be taking a NLE next year.