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Beginning Latin | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| JasonChoi Diglot Senior Member Korea, South Joined 6302 days ago 274 posts - 298 votes  Speaks: English*, Korean Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese, Latin | Message 1 of 103 11 July 2007 at 12:16pm | IP Logged |
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Having taught English in Korea, I've come to realize something: Most of the methods I've seen for language teaching is very ineffective compared to what students can learn on their own. I've since been looking for any resources I could find about polyglots and effective language learning. Having read about such people, I couldn't help but think I ought to learn a language so as to be a better teacher. Additionally, as a language enthusiast, I was inspired by some on this forum, so I've decided to start my own language journey with Latin. This journal entry will serve as something like an official launching point of my Latin learning.
My objective: To become fluent in Latin. In other words, I want to be able to read, write, listen, and speak this language enough to potentially communicate with a latin speaking cardinal if it were to happen. My primary focus will be on speaking. During the entire process, I will not be using any classical latin texts, simply because I have very little interest in them. That, however, may change over time. I have a belief that if I can learn a 'dead' language on my own, I can surely learn any modern language on my own. The problem however is that I really am on my own: native speakers of Latin simply do not exist though I hope to be proven wrong! I really believe that if I can learn this language, the rest is really downhill. Learner profile: Beginner, working full-time, native English speaker Available time for studying: early morning, late afternoon/evenings and during breaks/lunch Assumptions: Recognizing cognates will facilitate vocabulary learning; however learning cases, declensions, and other aspects of the language will present a challenge. Anticipated Problems: Time, interruptions from friends, life issues, lack of Latin speakers, lack of Latin audio content; will likely mix up classical and church latin pronunciations. Temptation to be lazy. Anticipated Achievements: Gradual understanding of Latin grammar and syntax, comprehending the New Testament, gradual improvement of Latin conversation. Learning method: Various. I will use whatever method is available to me since conversation resources are limited. Ideally, bilingual texts with audio (i.e. the 'Listening-Reading' method, the Birkenbihl method, or Steve Kaufmann's method as explained on his blog 'The Linguist', all of which employ the same idea). -=Resources that I will use=- Electronics: Laptop MP3 Player Internet: Latinum Latin Vulgate Latin The Easy Way Reading Latin Simplicissimus Fr. Gary Coulter's Latin Links and Resources Greek/Latin New Testament Audio Readings An Interlinear Translation for the Tridentine Latin Mass Religious texts: Latin Vulgate Tridentine Mass translation (English/Latin) Novus Ordo Mass translation (Korean/Latin) Academic texts: Teach Yourself Beginner's Latin by G.D.A. Sharpley (including audio cds) Lingva Latina: Familia Romana by Hans H Orberg (w/supplementary audio cd) A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin by John Collins An Answer Key to A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin by John Dunlap Conversational Latin for Oral Proficiency by John Traupman (w/ audio cd) Cambridge Latin course unit 1 North American edition (w/ audio cd) Nunc Loquamur: Conversations for Latin by Thomas McCarthy Books in Latin: Fairy Tales in Latin: Fabulae Mirabiles by Victor Borocas Harrius Potter Et Philosophi Lapis Regulus (The Little Prince in Latin) Phrasebooks: Latin for all Occasion by Henry Beard Veni, Vidi, Vici by Eugene Ehrlich Amo, Amas, Amat and More by Eugene Ehrlich Software: Nunc Loquamur Books I will eventually purchase once I advance: Cambridge Latin Course Unit 2 North American edition (w/ audio cd) Cambridge Latin Course Unit 3 North American edition (w/ audio cd) Cambridge Latin Course Unit 4 North American edition (w/ audio cd) Lingva Latina Part II: Roma Aeterna Other possibilities: Winnie Ille Pu Cattus Petasatus: The Cat in the Hat in Latin Virent Ova! Viret Perna!! (Green Eggs and Ham in Latin) Ecce Romani series Note - I am intentionally avoiding technical grammar books, though I purchased Collin's book for mere reference. As a former TESOL certified English teacher, I am a huge fan of the Natural Approach to learning (i.e. Stephen Krashen, Tracy Terrell). Thus, I believe grammar should never be the focus of instruction, and that learning should come from comprehensible input. Having already studied a bit, my biggest concern is that I will make up stupid excuses to be lazy as this is what I've noticed about myself. I will update this at least once a week for several months, so as to track my progress. Hopefully, by each month, I'll have noticed a considerable difference in what I will have learned. Edited by JasonChoi on 16 August 2007 at 11:23am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Sprachprofi Nonaglot Senior Member Germany learnlangs.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6413 days ago 2608 posts - 4866 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Esperanto, Greek, Mandarin, Latin, Dutch, Italian Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Swahili, Indonesian, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Portuguese | Message 2 of 103 11 July 2007 at 12:44pm | IP Logged |
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I think you may enjoy the lessons I created at http://www.learnlangs.com/biblelatin, as they promote a gradual understanding of the language.
But I believe you will find it difficult to "focus on speaking", as no course I know teaches conversational Latin - courses just vary between being entirely grammar-based or more learning-by-doing, aiming at reading only or reading/writing (few of those), aiming at Classical Latin or Church Latin. This reflects what people need: most learn Latin to be able to read the classics or to read the Bible. A few also want to be able to compose things in Latin. Apart from you I haven't met anybody who is looking for conversational fluency, since even the bishops' conferences aren't typically held in Latin anymore for lack of people able to converse in Latin. Latin is a very atypical language to learn, not an ideal first self-taught language. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| LilleOSC Senior Member United States lille.theoffside.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6634 days ago 545 posts - 546 votes 4 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: French, Arabic (Written) | Message 3 of 103 11 July 2007 at 12:55pm | IP Logged |
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Yeah, please keep it updated. I want to know how it goes for you. I plan to learn Latin in the future so I really want to know how the experience is.
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| tmesis Senior Member Mayotte Joined 6591 days ago 154 posts - 146 votes Speaks: English* | Message 4 of 103 11 July 2007 at 2:18pm | IP Logged |
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- Edited by tmesis on 17 February 2008 at 2:03pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| senor_smile Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6329 days ago 110 posts - 115 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Latin, Russian | Message 5 of 103 11 July 2007 at 6:36pm | IP Logged |
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I tried to learn latin in the past. I must admit that I have most of the books that you have listed. I think where I erred is in not having nearly any audio material, and no one with whom to speak. I can carry a decent conversation through msn with people that I have met that speak latin, even though I have whitakers words loaded to look up several words and to parse the forms. I'd be interested to see how your methods turn out, as well as conversing about them in latin. ;)
-shaun 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| JasonChoi Diglot Senior Member Korea, South Joined 6302 days ago 274 posts - 298 votes Speaks: English*, Korean Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese, Latin | Message 6 of 103 11 July 2007 at 6:58pm | IP Logged |
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I forgot to mention one important thing: I have a friend who is good enough to teach me Latin (though I will not be learning from him).
By the way, this site has free software for learning common expressions in Latin http://www.discamus.com/nunc/index.html It's 100% free (for one year), and the audio is decent enough for me. Edited by JasonChoi on 11 July 2007 at 7:03pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| LilleOSC Senior Member United States lille.theoffside.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6634 days ago 545 posts - 546 votes 4 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: French, Arabic (Written) | Message 7 of 103 12 July 2007 at 12:29pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks for that link. If you find more audio materials please post them.
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| JasonChoi Diglot Senior Member Korea, South Joined 6302 days ago 274 posts - 298 votes Speaks: English*, Korean Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese, Latin | Message 8 of 103 16 July 2007 at 1:01pm | IP Logged |
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It's been nearly a week so far, and I've been using the podcasts from Latinum for quite some time. Having editted out silence, I found them far more useful. Unfortunately, it's not as good as I had hoped. Hearing mere phrases outside of a story or dialog can only do so much after a few times. I've found them useful for pronunciation and building some vocabulary, but quite frankly it doesn't really hold my attention after a while.
The Nunc Loquamur software is very useful for learning basic phrases. I'm surprised it's available for free, because it actually teaches basic language expressions taught in most beginner language books "Hello, nice to meet you, my name is, etc", which is precisely what I wanted to know from the beginning. As a Catholic, the Latin Mass text as well as the Vulgate are very helpful. The pronunciation for the audio mp3s that I've found (unfortunately) are quite horrendous and a bit off, respectfully. Teach Yourself Beginner's Latin is useful at the moment. I use it primarily as a very light introduction to the language. I'm particularly interested in the short dialogues. Having listened to them several times, I'm being more aware of the grammatical features of the language. Lingva Latina: Familia Romana is great! I think it's by far my favorite resource. This particular method does not use a single word of English, because the language that is presented is so simple that translations simply are not necessary. In a classroom setting, this is the type of approach that I would like to learn any language from, because it allows the student to figure out and notice how the language works rather than being 'spoon fed' in a classroom. The audio recording also helps for building (classical) pronunciation and reading. I haven't tried shadowing yet. Lastly, my Classics friend is willing to read books in Latin, provided that I pay him (this was my idea in fact). He is willing to read entire books in Latin (like Winnie the Pooh and possibly Harrius Potter). I know it will be costly, but I am willing to do this. Moreover, I have the option of having it read in more than one pronunciation! I'll stick with Church Latin, since that's what I want, and I have plenty of Classical Latin audio anyway. The idea is to use the audiobook listening-reading method with several different books. I hope I'll get considerably good results. However, recording audio will take sometime. In the mean time, I'll focus on everything else I have. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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