Gesta Romanorum

If you've ever wondered about a good place to wander into unadapted Latin, here it is. The Gesta Romanorum are a collection of moral tales from the 12th Century. I've dressed this one up a little bit. If you've studied Latin to the point that you know what a subjunctive is, you should be able to handle this.

For those of you who don't know what a subjunctive is, this is what is waiting for you. It's huge fun. This is a document I prepared for my students in kind of a one-off situation.

Gesta Romanorum 129 – De amicitiae verae probatione

Deponent verbs, part 1

For those of you in the beginning of your study, you're in for a treat when you get to these.

Latin has a fleet of verbs that look passive but have active meanings. The usual order of presentation is passive voice well before deponent verbs. This is a shame since deponent verbs are some of the most common verbs in Latin.

The first give away is going to be in the dictionary entry. A typical transitive verb will look something like this:

faciō, facere, fēcī, factum, to make or do
putō, putāre, putāvī, putātum, to think

More or less. Deponent verbs are going to have an entry that looks more like this:

arbitror, arbitrārī, arbitrātus sum, to think
proficīscor, proficīscī, profectus sum, to set out

A few differences should come screaming out. First, the plain ol' vanilla transitive verbs have four principal parts. Four. The deponents have three. The part corresponding with fēcī is missing from the deponent entries—after all, the Latin passive system doesn't use it.

Another difference should come in the last part. The deponents have an odd final part. Profectus sum. See how it indicates the 1st person singular perfect tense? Very unusual until you get used to is.

The other thing to notice is the first principal part. Compare faciō and arbitror. Do you see it? Yeah, arbitror doesn't end with -ō. It's got an -or there. This is going to be your big tip off in the dictionary.

The problem, of course, is that Latin words only rarely hang out in dictionaries. Net up: recognizing deponents in reading.

Free book offer stil good

Well, it's still not perfectly free.

Here's the story. I've got this book I published, Abecedarium Latinum. It's an ABC book for the youngest Latin students. Now, naturally I'd like for you to buy it. Preferably lots of copies so I can go on vacation with my family in Bora Bora—or somewhere else equally ridiculous. No actually, the money would go to more mundane stuff like groceries. I digress.

I've got 8 copies. One of them is free for you if you meet two of the four the following criteria:
   • Teach Latin to young kids (or have done so)
   • Homeschool
   • Have an active blog that gets more than 300 hits per month
   • Will write a review of the book (and link to the Amazon page)

If this is you, and you want a free book—drop me an e-mail. Or, if you want, check out the free eBook version I keep at my website. 

Beginning Latin Study, part 3

So you've read up on part-to-whole and whole-to-part and need more help? Great. Here goes.

Another consideration when figuring out how to start studying Latin (or setting students down that path) is your age. And it is what it is—until tomorrow. I'm not going to suggest anything scientific here. Rather I'll be talking in broad terms that leave plenty of room for overlap.

Pre-schoolers
There are not very many Latin resources for students this age. Some, but not many. Unless you've got a decent command of spoken Latin, I'd not even bother.

Early grades
Again, not much here, but there is getting to be more. As students become better readers, the availability improves a lot. Latin for Children from Classical Academic Press is a good example of a part-to-whole curriculum aimed at 3rd to 6th graders. Minimus from Cambridge Press is an example of whole-to-part for younger students. Shameless plug: I'm closing in on finishing a book for students in this age group that is whole-to-part, and it's working well for the school I work for.

Middle grades
Students in middle school are in a tough place. Some are ready for a more academic approach to their studies. In that case, skip to the next session. If not, consider searching out stuff that isn't so academic.

The strategy I've seen here seems to be speed up materials for younger students or slow down materials for older students. I'll let you draw your own conclusions. If this is you as a student, you're stuck. You probably don't have a whole lot of your own money for Artes Latinae, but at the same time Wheelock's Latin looks like a bit more to handle than you'd like. I feel for you. Stay curious and don't get turned off.

High-school
This is really where the bulk of material is. Ecce Romani, Cambridge Latin, Latin for the New Millennium. These are just the first three that come to mind. It's almost embarrassing how much is available. The bad news is that a lot of it is expensive, because schools are the intended customers. In other words, they aren't spending their own money. Who cares how much it costs?

College
You're at the mercy of your prof. Here's hoping she's picked something good.

Independent adult learners
Lucky you. No teacher to tell you what you have to use. If you're not too proud, you can pick whatever you want. Why not Minimus? It starts easy and uses lots of pictures. It won't get you far, but it will give you a taste and won't tax your brain after work. If you prefer something a bit more adult, Peter Jones has written a book: Learn Latin. He's got a dry wit.

Alternately, you can go in for what passes as mass-market books to learn Latin. Teach Yourself has a pretty decent entry into the category (actually two, but I don't know what the difference is). Wheelock's Latin is an old standby. Or you can go off the edge and go full immersion with Lingua Latina per se Illustrata. 

Conclusion
This is a great time to start studying Latin. There has never been more material of good quality for all ages available. Ever.