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Medieval Latin Exam - CMS Toronto | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| CorneliusSneek Newbie Canada Joined 4900 days ago 5 posts - 5 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Latin, French | Message 1 of 4 13 April 2015 at 5:28am | IP Logged | ||
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I need advice on how to prepare for a difficult translation exam in Medieval Latin.
The exam is the Level Two Exam offered by the Center for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto. Here is a link to its description: http://medieval.utoronto.ca/latin/examinations/ If anyone has taken this exam, or others like it, I would love some advice on how to prepare. Here are the relevant details: 1. The exam: Notoriously difficult, consisting of translating approximately four passages in three hours without the aid of a dictionary. 2. My background in Latin: Two years of classical Latin at the undergrad level dating from the early nineties. I would asses myself as a beginner. 3. Timeline and time commitment: I hope to take the exam in two years, and can commit on average to between 30-60 minutes a day. Any advice on strategies? Particularly, is this doable as a self-learner? Many thanks. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| akkadboy Triglot Senior Member France Joined 5394 days ago 264 posts - 497 votes  Speaks: French*, English, Yiddish Studies: Latin, Ancient Egyptian, Welsh | Message 2 of 4 13 April 2015 at 11:17am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi CorneliusSneek,
As an avid reader of medieval Latin, I felt compelled to answer even if I don't know much about this exam. My first impression, after reading their website and a couple of past exams, is that, while they expect people to be fairly good at understanding Latin, they do not expect you to produce a perfect translation.
Given this, I'd say it looks to me feasible to pass this exam, provided that you can indeed spend 30-60 minutes studying Latin every day for two years. My strategy would be something like this: 1) to work through a Latin primer and get a good grasp of basic vocabulary and grammar. Collins, A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin could be a good choice but I guess any other will do as long as you're confortable enough with it. My personal "style" would be to learn the basics really, really well. Knowing something like 500 words, declensions and indicative tenses (roughly till lesson 20 of Collins), then work my way through the remaining lessons without worrying if the material doesn't stick, then tackle some easy texts, going back to the book and learning new words, verbal forms and syntax as they appear in my reading. Of course, you might prefer a more structured approach such as finishing the book entirely and learning everything well before actually tackling any text. 2) to read a lot of (Medieval/Ecclesiastical/Christian) Latin. Maybe the Gospels can be a good idea, since they should be at least vaguely familiar. Another book/tool that should very useful is Sidwell, Reading Medieval Latin. The texts are heavily annotated and cover a wide spectrum of genres. I hope this helps. Edited by akkadboy on 13 April 2015 at 3:38pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| akkadboy Triglot Senior Member France Joined 5394 days ago 264 posts - 497 votes Speaks: French*, English, Yiddish Studies: Latin, Ancient Egyptian, Welsh | Message 3 of 4 13 April 2015 at 3:18pm | IP Logged | ||
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After reading more of the past tests, I realize I didn't pay enough attention to the time constraints. The texts are not very long but still, producing a decent translation of four of them in three hours should be challenging, even if the texts are perfectly understood.
So I guess, I'd still say it is feasible but make sure that your average Latin studies is 60 minutes/day rather than 30 :-) A third phase could be: 3) test yourself using every past exams and be sure to have at least some of your translations checked by someone else. Edited by akkadboy on 13 April 2015 at 3:36pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| CorneliusSneek Newbie Canada Joined 4900 days ago 5 posts - 5 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Latin, French | Message 4 of 4 14 April 2015 at 6:47am | IP Logged | ||
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akkadboy,
Thank you for your swift and helpful response! I like your idea of getting the basics down first before moving on to texts. That suits my style too. I also like your suggestion to study Collins up until chapter 20 and then tackle some easy texts. Translating sooner than later would definitely keep my interest up. Turns out I own a copy of Sidwell's reader. Had totally forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder :) Thanks again for the advice. All very encouraging! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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