Monday, 18 January 2016

Do you want to learn Latin?

Do you want to learn Latin? 

I mean, really learn Latin? 


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If you do, you have landed in the right place.

"Longum iter est per praecepta, breve et efficax per exempla."

With Latinum, you will not need a classroom, or a teacher. If you follow the course I am selling here, you will come to master this language, both as a speaker, and a reader.  You will learn to think in Latin, and be able to write in Latin.

Where to begin?
The central pillar of the course on offer here, uses Adler's Magnum Opus, "A Practical Grammar of the Latin Language". Evan der Millner has turned this into a thorough Audio Course - which contains much more material than in the book. The audio is not just an accompaniment to the book - it can be used as a stand-alone. (Someone who is partially sighted or blind could successfully use these materials to learn Latin) .
The audio materials don't only teach; they also have extensive review materials for consolidation.

 Adler will teach you detailed formal grammar, with vast quantities of practical conversational examples, and examples from the classical texts, using restored classical pronunciation. You will learn through example. As Seneca said , "Longum iter est per 

praecepta, breve et efficax per exempla."  The road is long,  if you learn only using rules. 

It is short and efficient if you learn by way of example.
Adler's Audio Course course should take you from one to five years to complete, (Rome wasn't built in a day!) with some daily application; perhaps it will take you longer if you only work at it intermittently. This is an audio course. You can learn in the gym , in a car, or out walking.
Adler's course is suitable for beginners, but even a more advanced student, unaccustomed to spoken idiomatic Latin, will gain a vast amount from it, as it covers far more ground than any other Latin course currently available. My Adler course has been used successfully by both complete beginners and advanced PhD students of Latin. (Testimonials)
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Following on from Adler, you will need to do two a few more things: -
1. Expand your repertoire of conversational and textual examples, and
2. Build your vocabulary.

 I have developed a series of materials that will help you do this, and over the next few years, 
you are advised to work your way through the audio materials presented here, perhaps 
selecting three or so items a year. 

A recommended starting point is Comenius  , which can be started at the same time as Adler.
The Comenius Vestibulum and the Comenius Orbis Sensualium Pictus do not teach 
grammar explicitly, they are 'easy readers' that focus on building a foundational vocabulary.

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Once you are more advanced, you can start to listen regularly to the Latin-only materials. The importance of using audio cannot be stressed too much -it forces you to approach Latin as a language, reading in the natural word order. Most Latin students become masters as decoding, and re-assembly. My course is not a translation course. All the materials here have one goal - to get you thinking in Latin, and reading and understanding Latin, with Latin in your head.
LATINUM'S LATIN LANGUAGE SOCIAL NETWORK - THE FOEDUS LATINUM
In 2008, Evan der Millner created the Foedus Latinum which is now the largest and most active dedicated network of Latin language social networks in the world. If you want to use your Latin actively, and contact other people who are learning Latin, in a friendly community, check out the FOEDUS.

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