#learning latin

Study and fluency tips, plus my review of a few different Latin textbooks here

Free online resources here

Suggestions for if you've studied Latin in the past and want to brush up/re-learn here

Tips for expanding vocabulary here

Links for Latin literature and suggestions on which works to start with here

I'm new to Tumblr and I created this account to dive more into the cultural aspects and language of humans, hoping to meet an awesome buddy/penpal to help with the study process so we can both help motivate each other and learn!

I have always loved learning new stuff, as a lot of things in this world have intrigued me.

The languages I'm currently learning are the following listed to priority:

Currently Studying:

🇩🇪 1. German (3+ years, around A~B).

🇯🇵 2. Japanese (off and on).

🇫🇷 3. French (beginner!).

On Hold:

🇨🇳 Chinese.

🇪🇸 Spanish.

🤟 ASL (American Sign Language).

Haven't Started:

🇧🇷 Portuguese (Brazillian).

🇷🇺 Russian.

🇰🇷 Korean.

✨️ Latin.

Might Want to Learn:

🇸🇪🇫🇮 Scandinavian Languages.

🇦🇪 Arabic.

🇮🇩 Indonesian.

🇺🇦 Ukranian.

If you thought, "hey, these languages align with the one(s) I'm studying right now!", then feel free to send me a message! *Even if It's non-language related, feel free to send me a message about culture, music, your interests, etcetera!

Things to keep in mind:

I don't study everyday, I study only when I want to. Though ofcourse once you've sent a message, I'll try to reply as fast as I can.

I'm very bad with grammar (e; Japanese), so I naturally lean more towards a language's vocabulairy first. We can still learn grammar, It's just something to keep in mind.

I'm a casual and slow learner, I take my time to learn a language.

So exciting! I'll try to keep this short:

I recommend starting with this very short informal intro, especially if you don't have a strong grasp on technical terms about grammar (most textbooks take that for granted). Latin grammar follows a rigid organisational system and the earlier you understand how it works, the easier it will be to learn the rest of the language. The 18-page PDF in the link uses English examples and practice questions to go through basic Latin grammar concepts and tables. It doesn't go through less basic things like participles or conditional clauses, but it does explain everything you need to know in order to learn those more easily. It also includes a hyperlinked list of good online resources for self-taught Latin and Greek students.

If you want to work through a textbook, Wheelock's Latin is probably the most widely used and comes with a lot of accompanying resources and guides (even though the official website looks older than Rome). Ecce Romani may be a bit more approachable and there are plenty of unofficial online lessons and guides made to go along with it. Those are my top two personally; I know some people like Latin Via Ovid because the practice texts are adapted from an actual ancient text about different myths, but imho I don't think it's as good a starting point if you're teaching yourself from scratch. Keep in mind that they'll all follow different formats for conjugation/declension tables, which can make it a bit confusing to switch between them; the short intro in that first link is a good way to understand how these charts work well enough to use them no matter the format.

There are tons of free resources online, even including full recordings of lessons, live study groups to join, communities with forum posting, and written-out explanations. For any individual concept that's troubling you, there are almost definitely multiple youtube videos of someone in front of a whiteboard saying it differently from the textbooks. Again, there's a good list included in that first document.

For practice in reading and understanding without deliberately translating, it's fun to try reading Latin translations of books you already know well in English, like Harrius Potter, Hobbitus Ille, Winnie Ille Pu, Alicia In Terra Mirabili, and many, many more, most of which are free on Archive and/or can be bought as physical copies.

However, this will be much more rewarding once you've built up some vocabulary and grammar, and might be frustrating or discouraging if you try the long ones too early, especially since they sometimes use words irregularly to convey modern meanings.

There are also a handful of recently-written stories in Latin targeted at students who like this kind of practice more. The German Netflix series Barbarians has all the Roman characters speaking in real Latin, and listening to it with subtitles can help build your ear for what sounds right.

Those are my recs for where to start! If you're stuck on something and can't find a good explanation, you can also send me an ask about it and I'm always happy to lay out how I think about it (even if my response times are irregular).

Latin: "Carpe Diem" - Seize the day. Italian: "Cogli l'attimo" - Catch the moment.

Latin: "Veni, Vidi, Vici" - I came, I saw, I conquered. Italian: "Venni, Vidi, Vinsi" - I came, I saw, I won.

Latin: "In vino veritas" - In wine, there is truth. Italian: "Nel vino c'è la verità" - In wine, there is truth.

Latin: "Aqua vitae" - Water of life. Italian: "Acqua della vita" - Water of life.

Latin: "Caveat Emptor" - Let the buyer beware. Italian: "Acquirente, attento" - Buyer, be careful.

Latin: "Homo Sapiens" - Wise man. Italian: "Uomo sapiente" - Wise man.

Latin: "Ad Astra" - To the stars. Italian: "Verso le stelle" - Towards the stars.

Latin: "Ars longa, vita brevis" - Art is long, life is short. Italian: "L'arte è lunga, la vita è breve" - Art is long, life is short.

Latin: "Tempus fugit" - Time flies. Italian: "Il tempo vola" - Time flies.

Latin: "Amor Vincit Omnia" - Love conquers all. Italian: "L'amore vince tutto" - Love wins everything.

Latin: "Memento Mori" - Remember that you must die. Italian: "Ricorda che devi morire" - Remember that you have to die.

Latin: "Alea iacta est" - The die is cast. Italian: "Il dado è tratto" - The die is cast.

Latin: "Verbatim" - Word for word. Italian: "Parola per parola" - Word for word.

Latin: "Vox Populi" - Voice of the people. Italian: "Voce del popolo" - Voice of the people.

Latin: "Mea Culpa" - My fault. Italian: "Colpa mia" - My fault.

Latin: "Tabula Rasa" - Clean slate. Italian: "Tavola rasata" - Clean slate.

Latin: "Non sequitur" - It does not follow. Italian: "Non segue" - It doesn't follow.

Latin: "Per se" - By itself. Italian: "Di per sé" - By itself.

Latin: "Status Quo" - The existing state. Italian: "Stato Quo" - The existing state.

Extra post cause I'm learning Latin and I'm obsessed with translation at the moment. Languages are a big interest of mine, and as I'm planning on studying ancient religion for my postgraduate degree, Latin seemed like a great choice.

(For anyone interested, the text comes from 'Reading Latin: Text and Vocabulary' by Jones and Sidwell. Highly recommend if you need translation practice and want to build your vocabulary, but would need a grammar accompliment if you're a beginner or don't have a basic grasp of Latin sentence structure, cases and basic vocab).

Hi everyone!! In response to a recent comment (and from being asked this question irl multiple times) I have begun to compile a list of Latin learning resourceful that I have tried and would personally recommend for beginners and intermediate learners.

Here is the google doc link if you're interested.