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Lift off in Latin | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5557 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 1 of 47 17 July 2012 at 2:09pm | IP Logged |
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Kanewai brought up an interesting question recently: is it possible to learn a language over a longer sustained period by investing just 5-10 minutes a day? (here's the original discussion).
The general consensus seemed to be that it depends on the language you're studying, and which skills you want to bring to some level of proficiency and fluency. It was suggested that 5-10 minutes a day would be far too slow a pace for many languages, and to take Mooby's excellent analogy, it would require some initial intensity to break free of Earth's gravity first, before decelerating in a difficult language without fear of free-fall. All the same, I love an odds-against challenge, and would like to give the 5-10 minutes a day approach a go for a while...if only to see where it takes me and shed some further light on the issue. In choosing a language for this side-project, I've decided to make life easier for me by including some stipulations: 1. I've opted for proficiency and fluency in reading skills only. This significantly reduces the workload and is more realistic in the long run. 2. I want to take on a dead or mainly written language where correct pronunciation isn't that important. 3. The alphabet and culture would ideally not be too far removed from my own native language. 4. I need access to plenty of quality reading materials and interesting stories. 5. It would be great if I could improve my understanding of other living languages through the process as well. After battling with several ancient languages in mind, my choice is: Learn to read Latin! 
Small Project, Quite Risky! (image by Ssolbergj, source: Wikipedia) I've never studied Latin before, so I'm starting out as a complete beginner and am under no illusions that fluency will be reached swiftly. I already have Hans Ørberg's "Lingua Latina: Per Se Illustrata" on CD, which contains loads of interesting inductive reading material with accompanying audio to ignite the rocket boosters and keep me going (maybe not directly upwards, but hopefully at least forwards down the runway) for quite a while. I've also spied some excellent old Latin readers based on a similar inductive method in the Internet Archive (e.g. Arcadius Avellanus). After that, I'm open to suggestions? Edited by Teango on 19 July 2012 at 10:53am 7 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5566 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 2 of 47 17 July 2012 at 2:36pm | IP Logged |
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Evan Millner's downloadable course would be perfect for this - it is set out in 'steps'
(there are currently 200 steps) in book and read out on the audio - with each step lasting about 4-6 minutes long. There is also a workbook with exercises for each step. The whole 200 step course costs $16 - although you need to print out the material (or, I suppose, you could send it to Lulu to print if you want a book) The first part is here: http://store.payloadz.com/details/1006223-ebooks-language-1- 50-millner-latin- textbook.html Add to that if you also downloaded his Comenius Vestibulum http://store.payloadz.com/details/990966-audio-books-languag es-comenius-vestibulum-to- the-latin-language-2h51m.html You would have something to read as well. Edited by Elexi on 17 July 2012 at 2:39pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5557 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 3 of 47 17 July 2012 at 3:01pm | IP Logged |
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It's funny you mention Evan Millner, as I was purusing his excellent YouTube site "Latinum" only last night. I think I'll still kick off proceedings with Lingua Latina, as the CD's within hand's reach on my desk and I love the idea of learning through continuous inductive reading. However I'm definitely bookmarking Evan's materials for later! :) Edited by Teango on 17 July 2012 at 3:02pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| ZombieKing Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4528 days ago 247 posts - 324 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin* | Message 4 of 47 17 July 2012 at 10:20pm | IP Logged |
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This sounds so exciting! :D I wish you lots of luck in your studies! I'll be following your log religiously :)
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5557 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 5 of 47 18 July 2012 at 1:54am | IP Logged |
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Thanks for the extra mojo, ZombieKing! The ready support for this little project has already put me in high spirits. ;) Edited by Teango on 18 July 2012 at 1:55am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| ZombieKing Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4528 days ago 247 posts - 324 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin* | Message 6 of 47 18 July 2012 at 3:17am | IP Logged |
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You're very welcome! I also read your entire Spanish L & R log, and was very very impressed. Your log was what inspired me to finally begin doing my German L & R with Harry Potter, which I'm still working on now.
Are you planning on upping the amount of time you'll spend with Latin everyday in the future? Either way, with the kind of persistence and learning ability you have, I'm sure you'll be successful :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5557 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 7 of 47 18 July 2012 at 3:51am | IP Logged |
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@ZombieKing
You wouldn't believe how tempting it is already to increase my study time for Latin (Lingua Latina is so damn addictive!). Nevertheless, I'd better stick to the main experiment of seeing where 5-10 minutes a day gets me for now, as I think it's a fascinating challenge. Thanks for the kind comment about "Fighting Windmills", by the way, and I hope you enjoy your Harry Pottering in German. :) Edited by Teango on 18 July 2012 at 3:53am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| ZombieKing Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4528 days ago 247 posts - 324 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin* | Message 8 of 47 18 July 2012 at 3:55am | IP Logged |
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Yes, I think your experiment will benefit many many users on this forum. :D
You're welcome. I think it's well deserved ^_^ And thanks, I am enjoying it! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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