beginner Latin for an 8th grader?

[ktgrok]

She has no previous Latin knowledge. I have no previous Latin knowledge other than a decent understanding of latin and greek roots. I do have a decent knowledge of Spanish, but of course she doesn't want that. Despite us living in FLORIDA with TONS of native speakers all around, lol. Basically, Harry Potter knows Latin and therefore it is way better than the language that mom actually could help with and would be super practical 🙄

So, Getting Started with Latin? That's what DS24 used a zillion years ago. (thankfully he can help her a bit at least)

Or is there a better option? Latin Alive or First Form Latin more appropriate?

I want one that won't be overwhelmingly rigorous/difficult, but that would prepare her for a Latin 1 highschool course next year of some kind. 

I have zero preference as far as ecclesiastical vs classical. 

And online, asynchronous course is also an option, but I don't think she would like a live class due to some anxiety issues.

(She did Getting Started with Spanish this past year, alternating/overlapping with Duolingo. She finished all but a few lessons at the end when we got bogged down with life/stuff going on with my mom, etc)

Edited August 16, 2023 by ktgrok

[HomeAgain]

GSWL is ideal, I think. 

Pros:

• cheap
• has audio available
• quick lessons
• non-consumable

Cons:

• easy to lose your place
• no significant output for kids who like to feel accomplished
• should have someone sitting there to do the lesson together

It's a great first step and lets a kid decide if they want to continue.

[ktgrok]

Also open to an asynchronous class if that is an option out there? Will go back and add that in my post. 

[Spryte]

We used GSWL for DS, and also the Big Book of Latin from Lively Latin. He really enjoyed the Big Book. I think they were both good prep for high school Latin. 

Edited August 16, 2023 by Spryte

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, Spryte said:

We used GSWL for DS, and also the Big Book of Latin from Lively Latin. He really enjoyed the Big Book. I think they were both good prep for high school Latin. 

How did you utilize the two? One and then the other, or an assignment from each each day, or?

[Spryte]

He started with GSWL, and later we added in the BB. I think he alternated days when doing both, but really enjoyed the BB the most. Looking back, I think it would have been enough to just do the BB. He’s my artistic spectrum kid and he found it engaging and enjoyable, but YMMV.

[ktgrok]

Ok, so just realized duolingo has latin. So could we do Getting Started with Latin plus Duolingo (since GSWL lessons are so short) as an intro  year, and then figure out a Latin 1 after that? Honestly, I'm not 100 percent sure she is going to stick with Latin, she may go back to Spanish, but at least she would have a comparison to decide after that. 

[HomeAgain]

1 minute ago, ktgrok said:

Ok, so just realized duolingo has latin. So could we do Getting Started with Latin plus Duolingo (since GSWL lessons are so short) as an intro  year, and then figure out a Latin 1 after that? Honestly, I'm not 100 percent sure she is going to stick with Latin, she may go back to Spanish, but at least she would have a comparison to decide after that. 

This did not work out well in our house.  Duolingo has a tendency to jump into grammar that hasn't been explicitly taught.  DS wasn't a strong fan of the Duolingo lessons, but he was game enough to try out Transparent's lessons this year (and didn't like those much, either).

I might suggest looking up Lance Piantaggini books.  They are very, very simple and repetitive, giving a new student a chance to work with the vocab like in GSWL.  Marcus Magulus is one of the first, with only 20 original words or so.

[ktgrok]

9 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

This did not work out well in our house.  Duolingo has a tendency to jump into grammar that hasn't been explicitly taught.  DS wasn't a strong fan of the Duolingo lessons, but he was game enough to try out Transparent's lessons this year (and didn't like those much, either).

I might suggest looking up Lance Piantaggini books.  They are very, very simple and repetitive, giving a new student a chance to work with the vocab like in GSWL.  Marcus Magulus is one of the first, with only 20 original words or so.

thank you for the warning! I will look at those books, and I think we are going to start with just Getting STarted with Latin and go from there. She liked Getting Started with Spanish, knows the format, and I don't have to be able to teach it well!

Or maybe I'll have her look at the lively Latin stuff as well and see what she thinks. (that's a LOT of printing...but I have ink tank printers so fine..but stil!)

Edited August 16, 2023 by ktgrok

[ScoutTN]

Yes, GSWL.

If you ever do pursue a live class, I highly recommend Anne Van Fossen at CLRC.
 

They use the Oxford books - a balanced approach not all grammar/vocab/forms but also not just reading and assuming those mechanics automatically get mastered. 

[caffeineandbooks]

11 hours ago, ktgrok said:

Ok, so just realized duolingo has latin. So could we do Getting Started with Latin plus Duolingo (since GSWL lessons are so short) as an intro  year, and then figure out a Latin 1 after that? Honestly, I'm not 100 percent sure she is going to stick with Latin, she may go back to Spanish, but at least she would have a comparison to decide after that. 

My kids are doing precisely that this year.  @HomeAgain is right that Duo is conversation focused and doesn't explicitly teach the grammar, but it's not causing my kids any confusion and they get to practice hearing and speaking Latin as well as reading.  Some of the sentences are bizarre ("The angry parrot killed him" is one), but they are motivated by the league tables and streaks.  They can decline puella (girl) because it's come up in GSWL, but not puer (boy) because they're not up to nouns of that declension yet, but they're still practicing the vocab on Duo and it will be familiar when they reach it in GSWL.

[jboo]

The old duolingo tree was decent, with detailed grammar notes and explanations for each level. Unfortunately, when they redid the tree, they replaced the grammar notes/explanations with a short list of sentences. And that was it.

I think that Duolingo still is an OK supplement -- the gamification they've incorporated is great as a motivator to help put in the practice.  I am, in fact, using it myself, as I slowly proceed through a Latin curriculum. (I've completed the Duolingo tree, and am now just finishing up the "challenge" exercises.) But I don't think you can start Duolingo at the same time you start an actual Latin program; you want to be at least a few chapters in before you even start Duolingo-ing, because Duolingo is expecting that you'll be able to just pick up the grammar rules implicitly, and that's not going to happen.

[happypamama]

I will still vote for Getting Started With Latin. It's what my 21-year-old started with when she wanted to learn Latin because she thought that Susan from Narnia would know Latin, and it's what I've used for the four boys after her and will probably use for the little one when he's ready. At this point I can practically quote it. I am slightly disappointed that none of my boys wanted to go on to do more Latin after that because Linney has a next step Latin book now.

 

Also my daughter and I did try Latin Alive as the next step, and I liked it and liked the way it looked and its approach, but it does move very quickly. 

Edited August 26, 2023 by happypamama

[ktgrok]

Thanks all! She is starting with Getting Started with Latin for now, and we may add on depending how fast she moves through it.