Language of the Catholic Church and Western Civilization
Links are tucked away in the dozens and dozen of posts on this blog. And since sometimes I update old posts months later with related new finds, even if you have read every post here from the beginning, you may find something you hadn't seen in the below new list!
"Church Latin" is the informal, snappier-sounding term for the more scholarly phrase Ecclesiastical Latin, or the occasionally-used Medieval Latin. All of these terms are used to denote something different from "Classical Latin"--the Latin used by, say, Julius Caesar. Church Latin was (and is!) the Latin used by the Catholic Church for two thousand years--thus, where... Continue Reading →
A dash of verb + a pinch of adjective = a participle. (After declining thoroughly, sprinkle liberally over your sentences.) Participles: Latin has three kinds. These verbal adjectives do everything: sometimes are the main verb of a clause, sometimes serve as the subject of a sentence (and do other noun jobs, when they are substantives),... Continue Reading →
Although I'm currently a small-town American who has never been outside of the USA, I'm lucky enough to have this website which gets views from all over the world. Speakers of many languages are intersted in Church Latin, hurrah! Inspired by this, I am starting a collection of Latin resources for many languages here. Feel... Continue Reading →
I've learned from my students two things that make Latin study tough, which I would like to share with all of you!
Salvete, Omnes! For those of you starting out on the grand old road of Latin study with Fr. William Most and his excellent Latin by the Natural Method as your guide, I present recordings of the Latin texts in the first four chapters of the textbook. (Eventually I hope to have the whole book recorded,... Continue Reading →
Q: What is meant by "case"? (Any why doesn't it matter which way words are arranged in a Latin sentence?)
Here are some places to find Latin words for new things you may need to talk about, such as best-sellers and mountain bikes.
Courtesy of the Teacher's Manual to Latin by the Natural Method, I learned a mnemonic for remembering the gender of many of the Latin nouns in 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th declensions. (3rd has many of each gender, so those are a different story!) I have made a PDF of the "Hand Rule" to illustrate... Continue Reading →
Sometimes it’s just painful. As an autodidact, you have taken responsibility for learning Latin by your own disciplined efforts. The first two days, it was fantastic, wasn't it? Full of exuberance and excitement, you put in the time eagerly. And then...reality hit. After a short time, you met a wall. And that is when you... Continue Reading →
These are wide enough to be useful in a big textbook--if you're using Scanlon...well, hopefully you'll still find them nice!
I recently wrote these stories for the students in my Latin I class. They should be enjoyed after a student has worked through the lessons marked.
Learn Church Latin 