Language of the Catholic Church and Western Civilization
Don't groan--this is a highly-powered mega-vitamin for your Latin skills! There is no better way I know to feel like Latin is a spoken language than having a repertoire of pieces in your mind that you can hear with your "mind's ear." You've learned some Latin words with your textbook--very good. But you probably didn't... Continue Reading →
Learning Latin often feels like swimming in a strange sea of grammar. It's tricky, but persist, persist! Soon you will surf the waves of that ocean with joy, I promise, just keep at it! In the meantime, to help make it easier, here's a diagram for you. This picture illustrates things the forms/endings of a... 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 →
From Easy Latin for Sight Reading for Secondary Schools by Benjamin D'Ooge (1897) COMMON LATIN IDIOMS. The following idioms occur so frequently that it will be of much subsequent advantage and a great saving of time for the student to memorize them thoroughly early in his course. ad unum, to a man. aequo animo, contentedly,... Continue Reading →
Catholics have accepted some of the worst distortions of their Faith in the order of music, art, and literature without a shiver of discontent because they never really heard the "Tantum Ergo" or the "Ave Maris Stella" --not for lack of faith, but because there had never been ordinary music in the home to have... Continue Reading →
Everybody thinks of Latin as hard to learn. And it is-all languages are. But what sets Latin apart for its difficulty in our minds is not the what--it's the how.
Carpe diem! Now is the time…get ready to remember more, do better at your practice sentences, and even like your Latin studies.
How? With clever use of strategies and tools, of course!
Flashcards: the most over-used but under-utilized study aid. Latin students, I'm sure you've already been making use of them. But read through this list of ways to make sure they really work for you! Flashcards: Tips & Tricks Make the cards go twice as far. I got this great idea from a language-learning book: take the... Continue Reading →
Pronouncing Church Latin is very different from pronouncing American English, and on the whole, much simpler. The most important thing to remember about Ecclesiastical Latin is the vowels, which are described immediately below. (Spanish-speakers rejoice!) Vowels A = ahh E = eh I = eee O = oh U = ooo Y = eee Vowel... Continue Reading →
I've found this wonderful piece (poetry? prose? something else?) in a couple places and just love it: AT FIRST I did not know PRIMO and ALMOST despaired of PAENE; BUT I knew SED; and WHILE I was studying DUM, I SUDDENLY recognized SUBITO and IMMEDIATELY STATIM became familiar. AT THAT TIME TUM seemed hard and... Continue Reading →
Learn Church Latin 