Hours and hours of free Latin audio

by Dwane on May 5, 2012

There simply is nothing else out there like this.  If you want to increase your audio input, and thereby improve comprehension and pronunciation, the spend time everyday listening to this.  My kids fall asleep listening to the Bible in Latin.  Sometimes I play it as they wake up in the morning.

I want my kids to be able to read in Latin before high school.  (I really don’t care at all about high school credits in Latin.  By high school, I want them working on another language).  They learn the grammar from me when I am home.  I teach them the same content contained in Visual Latin.  But, just learning the grammar will never make them fluent.  They need more.  That is where Biblium.is comes in.  I turn it on as my kids fall asleep.  A few of mine don’t fall asleep rapidly.  They lie in bed wide awake for a long time.  Like me, their minds wander.  The mind of one of my daughters wanders into anxiety.  She will get out of bed these days and ask me to turn on the Vulgate if I forget.

By the time my kids are in high school, they will have listened to hours of Latin and they will know quite a bit about the New Testament as well.

When learning a foreign language, you must absorb an enormous amount of content on the road to fluency.  I know of no curriculum (including Visual Latin) that can accomplish this alone.  You will need more than any curriculum can provide.

This is one way to provide that extra content.

{ 0 comments }

Pronunciation

by Dwane on May 3, 2012

It has been a while since I mentioned Latin pronunciation on this site.  I have switched completely to Ecclesiastical pronunciation.  Ecclesiastical Latin is sometimes called ‘Church Latin’ or the ‘Italian pronunciation’.  This website had much to do with this decision.  Until I found this, I simply could not find much audio Latin.

Some helpful comments have popped up recently on you tube.  You may find them useful.  In no particular order, here they are:

I’m Italian and I’m learning Latin at school.
There are two different pronunciation: the classical one (II century b.c.) and the church’s.
In the classical, AE and OE are always pronounced separately, C and G are always velar (hard) sounds, GN are pronounced separately, H is like in english, TH, PH, and CH are always pronounced as /th/, /ph/, and /kh/, S is always /s/, TI are always /ti/, and Y is pronounced as the french u in “bureau”, or the german ü in “für”.
In the church’s:
AE is /e/
OE is /e/
C is /t͡ʃ/ before i or e; /k/ before a, o, and u
K is /d͡ʒ/ before i or e; /g/ before a, o, and u
GN sounds /ɲ/ [like in the spanish ñ. Magnus /Ma'ɲus/]
H has no sound [homo /ɔ'mo/]
S is /s/ regularly [salve /sal've/]
S is always /z/ between vowels [rosa /rɔ'za/]
PH is /f/
TH is /t/
CH is /k/
Ti is /tsi/ when it’s followed by a vowel; /ti/ when it follows a s, a t, or a x.
Y is /i/

 

{ 0 comments }

Spanish or Latin?

by Dwane on May 1, 2012

This question was posed a little while ago:

My main goal is to be able to teach my children Spanish and, if they want more languages, be able to do more. My question is: Are 2 years necessary for that goal? I am excited and am purchasing the program. I would like to know how “far” level 2 goes. Thanks…

My Reply:

I tell my students often that learning a new language is never ‘easy’.  But, after learning one language, the second language is easier.

The main goal of Visual Latin is reading.  We want students to be able to read in the New Testament by the end of the course.  They will not be able to read poetry in Latin, but they will be able to read the gospels.

However, if you already know that your main goal is for them to learn Spanish, I would skip Latin and go right to Spanish.  You can always come back to Latin later.  In fact, you may find Latin much less foreign after Spanish.

On the other hand, if you want to learn Latin first, you will find that it is an incredible bridge to Spanish.  There is one condition, though.  You really need to learn to read in Latin.  Many Latin programs provide lists of words week after week.  For too long the students study vocabulary.  Only much later do they begin reading.  Don’t do this.  Have your kids jump in with both feet.  Accomplish as much as you possibly can within 2 years.  Then make a decision.  Either move deeper into Latin, or tackle a new language.  I have talked to too many students who memorized lists of words and grammar endings for six years.  Yet, they still can’t read in Latin.  That, to me, is tragic.

Get into the language.  Dedicate time to reading.  Push yourself.  I have done it several times.  It is completely worth the effort.

{ 0 comments }

If you have ever read through Lingua Latina by Hans Orberg, you most likely encountered trouble with the Roman calendar.  Here is some help: The Roman dating system

{ 0 comments }

Breaking the monotony

by Dwane on April 30, 2012

This was sent to me recently:

My 9 yo granddaughter loves your videos and we’ve been having lots of fun with them.  However, probably due to the Spring weather, we’re getting bogged down with vocabulary when we go through the translating part of the lessons (we’re up to Lesson 19).  Can you recommend some fun Latin games, etc. to play that would help us get through this slump – we are intending to keep going through the Summer and need to mix things up a bit.

 

Here is my reply:

Hi,

You might try some of the flash card games on quizlet.  Sometimes my kids use those to break the monotony.

I will have my students sometimes create their own flash cards.  I then have them quiz each other.

More likely, I will switch to another text if they get bored.  Reading a new book can break the routine.  She could try the free Cornelia reader on the website.  Much more challenging (but she may be ready if she is on chapter 19 already), she could try to read Fabulae Faciles.  It is also free online.

There are Latin games and flash cards available (I think they are also fee) at http://headventureland.com/.

I will keep looking for more ideas and post them as I find them.

{ 1 comment }

The best language to learn

by Dwane on April 17, 2012

A reader asked:

Hello Mr. Thomas,
With all of your experience with foreign languages and having lived in Europe, I was
wondering which language (besides Latin, of course) has been most useful to you.
In your opinion, which would be the best LIVING language for a person to study after Latin. I’m not sure that there is a “best” language, I would just like to hear your
opinion on the subject.

My response:

Location, location, location!  If you are in Germany, learn German.  If you are in China, learn Chinese.  If you are in Latin America, learn Spanish, or Portuguese.

Honestly, I would learn a modern language if I were going to use that language.  Usefulness is often tied to geography.

That said, each language does have it’s own particular “selling” points.

German would open the door to other Germanic languages, like Dutch for example.  Also, the Germans are world famous engineers and scientists.  Learning German may be better for you if were considering a mathematical future.

The Romantic languages cover over half of the world.  Learn French, Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian and you probably could find someone anywhere on the planet to speak to.  Not only that, but the ‘Romantic’ languages are helpful in so many of the arts: painting, music, sculpture, architecture, ect.

Though I have never learned an oriental language, I believe learning Asian languages would be very useful in almost any business.

Don’t bother learning any of the Indian languages, as there are thousands and many Indians speak English well already.  In fact, I have heard there are more English speakers in India than in America.  Can’t prove that since I can’t remember where I read that.  But, I did read it.  Somewhere.

Quick plug for Latin.  Latin opens the door directly to over 25 languages and indirectly to many more.  It is ‘frozen’, which is nice.  There are no truckloads of new vocabulary arriving daily.  The rules don’t change.  Languages are wild, misbehaving, and rapidly growing toddlers.  They are unpredictable.  Latin is all grown up.  It doesn’t constantly change.  It makes sense to look at Latin, learn how a language performs, and then go play with the toddlers.

No matter what language you study, move quickly.  Don’t drag it out over 7 – 8 years.  Get into it.  Read a few grammars, watch a bunch of instructional videos, start speaking as soon as you can, journal in the language, correspond with someone in the language, and read in the language.  Jump into the deep end.  Don’t be afraid to make a lot of mistakes.  The mistakes are your teachers.  The faster you fail, the faster you learn.

{ 4 comments }

So where are Lessons 41-60?

by Thomas on March 30, 2012

{ 3 comments }

Why Latin?

by Dwane on March 15, 2012

This is the question I hear the most.  Why Latin?

First, I have a question.  Why anything?  We are only here for a short time.  Then we die.  In the end, what is important?  I have heard that in the end, we will ask three questions.  Did I live?  Did I love?  Did I matter?  I can help you answer the last question confidently.  You do matter.  As for the second question…. that is up to you.  Are you loving those around you?

So, what about the first question, did I live?  We have so many choices in life.  Most of us are able to choose where we live.  We are able to choose where we will work.  We can choose our hobbies.  We can choose our friends.  We are free to choose.  Our choices will improve and enrich our lives, or they will degrade us. [click to continue…]

{ 6 comments }

And now I lose all my friends….

by Dwane on March 14, 2012

What schools say: We train tomorrow’s leaders.

What schools should say: We train the factory workers of tomorrow.  Our graduates are very good at following instructions.  And, we teach the power of consumption as an aid for social approval.

By the way, I did not think this up.

Adapted from, The Linchpin: Are you indispensable?, by Seth Godin

{ 0 comments }

Words matter.

by Dwane on March 13, 2012

Words matter.  They help us define meaning.  We think with words.  We learn with words.  Words are the fundamental tools we use for communicating.  If we use them well, we can cut, and shape, and polish our ideas precisely and beautifully.  If we use them sloppily, we put ourselves at an intellectual disadvantage.  Words can help you think well.  If you think well, you can plan well.  If you plan well, you can work well.  If you can work well, you can accomplish almost anything.

From, The Pledge, by Michael Masterson

{ 0 comments }