Learning Latin

This is it! This is the beginning of my new undertaking – online Latin lessons.

I decided to move away from blogging about my own classroom and teaching career for a variety of reasons – from knowing others who do so much more and so much better to actually leaving the classroom at the end of this year – and onto something I’ve desperately wanted to do, but never actually had the motivation to follow through on. Now, is the time! Now, is the place!

Before you begin this language learning adventure with me, here are some tips I have:

• Take your time on the lessons. Study the words as you see them. What do you think each word might mean? Use English cognates – Latin words that look similar to English words to aid your guess.
• With each further use of a word, does your guessed meaning continue to make sense or do you need to adjust the meaning?
• Keep a running list of words as you see them. Periodically throughout the lessons, I will present the most recent words with their meanings as a check-in.
• Notice the endings of the words. Latin is an enclitic language, which means that the ends of words will change based on a variety of factors we will learn about.
• Use the pictures provided to help you form an understanding of the Latin.
• Re-read the lessons. You will notice different things each time.
• When asked to create some Latin of your own, don’t worry about being 100% correct. Making an effort is the most important part. Writing after reading helps set the Latin you are learning in your brain. Small mistakes are expected.
• Use the Answer Keys to check your work. (I am still figuring out how to create anchor links, until then you’ll have to scroll – sorry!) Once you’ve checked your answers, go back to the lesson and note where mistakes happened.
• Try to make language learning a daily thing. Apps like Duolingo aren’t perfect, but they are great at getting a daily dose of Latin language.

May you find as much joy in these lessons as I’ve had thinking about them and writing them.

Good luck!