Language of the Catholic Church and Western Civilization
This good old book is definitely geared toward the parsing-for-Caesar's-wars crowd, but it's still fun for those studying Ecclesiastical Latin. I assign these to my students sometimes. (Shhh--don't tell them these answers are here!)
These are the very first steps to sentence diagramming. Of course there's way more to know--but these are the very basics that will get you started. Keep this mental tool handy when you really want to get inside the grammar of a sentence!
There is no better way I know of to feel like Latin is a spoken language than having a repertoire of pieces that you can hear with your "mind's ear".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yN6QueLslM I love hymns and carols, and currently this one is playing in my head--mostly because I am getting ready for Advent. (What, you don't know many songs for Advent? Better learn this, stat!) This song sounds like a Christmas carol, but it is all about the Annunciation, so it's absolutely delightful to sing while... Continue Reading →
Latin is useful. You can use it to make a gift for your Aunt. Qui me amat, amet et canem meam. --St. Bernard of Clairvaux Real medieval Latin here. I'll leave it up to your Latin skills (or maybe search engine skills) to provide the translation. It's mid-November, and definitely time to start work on... Continue Reading →
Sentence diagramming: it's grammar, visualized. Have you ever heard of this extremely useful tool? Using various kinds of lines throughout, you can see the internal grammatical structure of a sentence and its parts. Today you will see how it can help you understand principles of Latin grammar. Let's start with the simplest of examples. The... Continue Reading →
Ecclesiastical Latin can be used in your daily speech. For centuries upon centuries it was used for conversation, all over Europe! Students at universities used it, besides the clergy and religious. Laypeople knew a lot of Latin, as even popular songs were partly or all in Latin during the Age of Faith. So know that... Continue Reading →
(Latina pro Parvulis--Latin for Kids, pt. II) I like to get students working to read real Latin as soon as possible. Thanks to an ancient book called the Disticha Catonis, this is really possible after only a few Latin concepts have been introduced. Here's a project I've done with a roomful of 40 fifth-graders, and... Continue Reading →
Learn Church Latin 