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How To Study Latin
Here are a few tips for the best way to learn Latin and get the most out of your language lessons .
- Learn Latin in context. To encourage a deeper level of learning that gets beyond memorization, you’ll want to learn Latin words and concepts in context. …
- Immerse yourself in Latin. …
- Practice Latin daily. …
- Read in Latin.
Latin is a classical language that profoundly influenced many other languages in the Indo-European language family. While it is referred to as a “dead” language, Latin is far from extinct. Dead languages are defined as those that no longer represent the spoken language of a community, and while that’s definitely true of Latin, the language still enjoys robust usage throughout the world. Latin is taught in many educational institutions, and Ecclesiastical Latin remains the official language of the Holy See , or pope, of the Catholic Church.
While Latin has a limited reach as a spoken language, learning Latin can provide access to a wealth of classic literature. The language was widely used for several centuries as the lingua franca of theology, biology, science, medicine, and the law as well as the mother tongue of watershed works of literature like Ovid’s Metamorphoses and the musings of Cicero. Today spoken Latin is confined to Catholic churches or within the walls of Vatican City in Rome. The seeds of the Latin language, however, have taken root in Romance languages Like Italian, Portuguese, French, and Spanish.
While learning Latin can have a reputation as a challenging endeavor, Rosetta Stone has made the language approachable by focusing on offering bite-sized Latin lessons that scale gradually. Rather than memorizing long lists of Latin roots and vocabulary, you’ll be learning Latin words in context within an immersive environment rich with the audio and visual cues that stimulate more in-depth learning.
The Origins and History of Latin
Latin was just one of many Italic languages spoken in central Italy around the 5th century BC . Because the Latin alphabet is adapted from the Etruscan alphabet, which was also derived from the Greek alphabet, you’ll find many commonalities between the writing systems. Latin became the language of the Rome Empire in both law and administration, and because literacy was commonplace in Rome, Latin became the everyday language of the Roman people. As the Roman empire expanded, the reach of the Latin language also extended across a wide swath of Europe and even into areas of North Africa and the Middle East.
Across much of Europe and especially the Mediterranean, the influence of Latin competed with that of Greek, and much of the educated populace of Rome spoke both. The classical Latin that was used in literature differed from spoken Latin, referred to as vulgar Latin and eventually, the language evolved and was absorbed into what we know as the modern Romance languages of today. When the Roman empire collapsed, Latin survived as a literary language in medieval times and continued to be used by Irish and Anglo-Saxon writers. By the 15th century, the influence of spoken Latin was waning, and by the mid-20th century, it had fallen almost entirely out of use except by the Catholic church and academics.
Should I Use a Latin Dictionary?
You might assume that because Latin is no longer a spoken language, learning Latin isn’t a useful endeavor but when it comes to this classical language, you couldn’t be farther from the truth. While it might be tempting to rely on translations or a Latin dictionary to decipher meaning, you’d miss much of the nuance and importance of both the language and its history .
Latin has a significant sphere of influence in science, religion, philosophy, law, and literature. Latin roots often determine scientific terminology and species naming conventions. Catholic mass is still given in Latin, and official documents of the Vatican and the Holy See use the language. Many of those who are considered the fathers of philosophy, like Immanuel Kant, not only wrote in Latin but employed Latin vocabulary to name concepts. If you work in law, you won’t be able to escape the influence of Latin in legal terms from habeas corpus to amicus curiae.
Rosetta Stone believes learning Latin is about the language, not just the words. While you can leverage stand-alone features like a Phrasebook for many of the languages Rosetta Stone offers, your Latin lessons are shaped by a concept called Dynamic Immersion® . This method means Latin vocabulary is taught in context and you’re encouraged to learn the Latin language as it would be used in practical situations.
The Latin Alphabet and Latin Script
The Latin alphabet forms the basis of many writing systems around the world. Derived from the Etruscan alphabet used by the Greeks and influenced by the Phoenician alphabet, you’ll find Latin script looks quite familiar. It’s the basis of the largest number of writing systems in the world, used by about 70% of the world’s population .
1. The Latin or Roman Alphabet is the basis for many other alphabets
The Latin alphabet used by the Romans has quite an origin story. Derived from a version of the Greek alphabet, the Latin script has roots that can be traced back to the Phoenician alphabet which in turn was influenced by Egyptian hieroglyphics. Most widely used as the writing system of Ancient Rome, the Latin alphabet has become the basis of Germanic and Romance language writing systems. Some may be surprised to hear the Latin alphabet is also used in China and by some Baltic and Slavic states.
2. Latin isn’t just the language of literature
Because the Latin alphabet was used for writing many Romance languages, you’ll find remnants of it sprinkled throughout history in both the arts and sciences. As colonialism spread European culture throughout the world, the Latin script came with it and eventually influenced the writing system of the indigenous American, Australian, and African languages. Its broad reach and influence has resulted in the Latin alphabet being used to develop a standard alphabet for other languages across the world.
3. The Latin alphabet has evolved
When referencing the Latin alphabet , be aware that the term refers not only to the alphabet that is used for Latin but also for the many other alphabets derived from the Latin script. The group of Latin script alphabets have a core set of letters and then variations that drop some sounds or add other letters, such as the Norwegian alphabet. The evolution of the Latin script has taken different paths depending on the language.
Getting Beyond Latin Translation
Why should language learners choose to learn Latin ? Simply put, Latin is a gateway to other languages, and the applications are surprisingly wide given its reputation as a “dead” language. Understanding Latin is the key to unlocking many mysteries not just for scholars but for any learners eager to explore European history, literature, culture, and other languages.
Latin is the cornerstone of European civilization
Many consider the Roman empire as the cornerstone of European civilization. As such, the Latin language dominated the Middle Ages not only as the mother tongue of the Roman Catholic church but also as the language of scholarship, diplomacy, and philosophy in the Western world. Historians, art historians, archaeologists, and literary scholars will all find an intimate knowledge of the Latin language invaluable in their fields of interest.
Latin can help you learn other languages
As was stressed previously, Latin’s influence on the development of other languages, specifically Romance languages, can not be underestimated. While Latin grammar might be complicated, it also forces language learners to get a better understanding of the grammar of their own languages and a better grasp on writing and sentence structure. Once you’ve learned some of the language, you’ll find a complex web of vocabulary that previously escaped your understanding is now accessible through your knowledge of Latin roots .
Latin is the language of literature
Cicero. Catullus. Augustine. Ovid. All of these prominent figures in literature, science, and philosophy wrote primarily in Latin. You could certainly read a translation, but there is something to be said for being able to appreciate these works of literature in their original form with all the implied meanings and intricacies intact.
The Best Way to Learn Latin
As with any language, there are several different paths you can take in your language learning journey. While the success you’ll enjoy learning the language will mostly depend on the quality of your Latin lessons and the time you can commit to the challenge, there are a few things you can do to enrich your Latin practice. Here are a few tips for the best way to learn Latin and get the most out of your language lessons .
Learn Latin in context
To encourage a deeper level of learning that gets beyond memorization, you’ll want to learn Latin words and concepts in context. Immersive learning environments like the ones Rosetta Stone offers provide the kinds of audio and visual cues your brain needs to stimulate more advanced understanding.
Immerse yourself in Latin
Because the reach of Latin influence is so vast, it’s relatively easy to find ways to immerse yourself in the Latin language. For beginners, attending mass in Latin or listening to it on YouTube may be an interesting way to absorb the intonations of spoken Latin. For more advanced learners, hearing classic works as audiobooks in the original Latin can be a rewarding immersion experience.
Practice Latin daily
Your ability to learn Latin will be shaped by how much time you can spend reviewing lessons and practicing pronunciation. That’s why Rosetta Stone structures Latin lessons in bite-sized increments of ten minutes with progress that syncs across devices, letting you pick up your language learning exactly where you left off.
Read in Latin
You might be worried that reading in Latin involves delving into the complexities of philosophy or the complicated history of the ancient world. There are, however, several children’s books that have been translated into Latin , including Alice in Wonderland or Harry Potter, that you can cut your teeth on before moving onto more challenging literature.
learning latin for beginners
How to Speak Latin: A Beginner’s Guide to Living Latin
When I first started studying Latin, friends and family were skeptical. “What are you going to do with Latin?” they asked, “It’s a dead language,” they said. “Why don’t you study a language you can actually speak with people, like Spanish?”
Even later when I was studying Latin in Rome, Italians were amused and bewildered that I was learning Latin, especially when my Italian still needed so much work.
But to my mind, it was obvious why I should learn Latin. As someone interested in literature, history and art, everywhere I turned I would run into the influence of Latin literature and Roman culture. Let’s face it: until the 20th century, pretty much every major cultural figure in the West had an education centered around the study of the Latin classics. I wasn’t going to let myself be less cultured than them.
My Latin professors in high school and college didn’t do much to dispel the impression that Latin was a dead language. Although they exuded passion for the subject and knew the language backwards and forwards, they taught it as a puzzle to be deciphered or a specimen to be dissected. The usual approach was to take a text and “parse” it. This meant we would read a sentence, analyzing it grammatically down to the smallest detail to tease out all the nuances of Latin’s intricate grammar and word order. After this intense (and very dry) analysis, we would then attempt an awkward translation of the sentence into English.
After a few years of this, I could make sense of any Latin text put in front of me, but only in the most laborious of ways. I couldn’t read a text in Latin for pleasure the way you would read a novel in English.
I assumed this was just the way it had to be. Latin was too complicated, too alien, too ancient, too “dead”. There was no way I could gain the same intuitive feel for it that I had for English or the other modern languages I had studied.
It was then I discovered a community of Latinists that flipped all these assumptions on their head. Known as “Living Latin” (or Latinitas Viva in Latin), this worldwide network of Latin teachers, scholars, enthusiasts and eccentrics made the astonishing claim that it’s possible to become “fluent” in Latin. After my frustration with the traditional approach to Latin, I was ready to give “Living Latin” a try.
A note from the Fluent in 3 Months team before we get started: You can chat away with a native speaker for at least 15 minutes with the “Fluent in 3 Months” method. All it takes is 90 days. Tap this link to find out more.
What is Living Latin?
The “Living Latin” movement is an approach to Latin that recognizes that Latin is a natural human language like any other. The fact that it is ancient, “dead” or “classical” does not prevent us from using it as a living language, or even internalizing it to a level of fluency much like we might aspire to with any other foreign language.
In the words of Reginald Foster, one of the leading figures of the movement: “If even the dogs, prostitutes and bums in ancient Rome understood Latin, then maybe there’s some hope for us.”
He has a point. Although we may think of Latin as the language of Virgil and Cicero, the fact is Latin was spoken as a native language by people from every social class and level of education. Its intricacies are no more impossible to master than those of other languages that people somehow manage to speak, such as Russian or Turkish.
If we recognize that Latin is a natural language, then this has important consequences for how we teach and learn it.
First and foremost, this means that even if your goal is just to read texts in the language, an approach focused solely on reading is not the most efficient method for getting there. This goes back to the way that your brain processes language. To put it simply: as far as your brain is concerned, the real language is the spoken language. Your brain is designed to absorb and internalize language by hearing and speaking it – this is how you learned your native language, after all.
By contrast, reading and writing are an abstract, secondary representation of the spoken language. If your entire experience of a language is just as marks on a page, you will never develop the same immediate, intuitive “feel” for it that you have for your native language or other languages you’ve learned to fluency.
From this basic premise, the “Living Latin” movement involves many different attempts to lift Latin off of the page and bring it to life. If you want to practice your listening, there are podcasts, newscasts, songs, and recordings of classical texts. If you want to practice speaking, there are online classes and conversation groups that help you connect with other Latin speakers at your level. There is also an ever-multiplying number of Latin conventions and weekend getaways where participants speak Latin to one another.
What does Living Latin Sound Like?
Ok, so now you’re convinced that it’s possible to speak Latin. But this raises another crucial question. If Latin is a dead language with no native speakers to consult, how do we know what it’s supposed to sound like? How do we pronounce it when we speak it?
Currently, there are actually two common approaches:
The first is Restored Classical Pronunciation. This is basically an attempt to speak Latin with the same pronunciation used during the heyday of ancient Rome, the age of Cicero, Caesar, Virgil and Ovid. Thanks to the efforts of scholars dating back to the time of the Renaissance, we have a pretty good idea of what Latin sounded like in classical times, and this pronunciation is what has normally been taught in schools even outside of a Living Latin context. If you had some Latin in high school or college, this is probably the pronunciation you learned.
If your main goal with Latin is to read texts written by Roman authors, then this is probably the pronunciation you would want to use, since it lets you hear Cicero’s orations and Virgil’s hexameters the way they were meant to sound, the way they were heard by their original audience.
The second approach is known as Ecclesiastical Pronunciation, because it reflects the pronunciation used in the Catholic Church over the past millennium. Some of the consonants and diphthongs have shifted away from their pronunciation in Roman times, and now they bear a striking resemblance to the pronunciation of modern Italian. One of the most prominent examples is the pronunciation of “c” and “g,” which in Classical Latin were always hard consonants, but which in Ecclesiastical Latin are pronounced like English “ch” before “e” and “i” as in Italian. For example, “Cicero” would be pronounced as [Kikero] in Classical Latin, but as [Chichero] in Ecclesiastical Pronunciation.
As its name suggests, this pronunciation is primarily used in religious circles and institutions, but it also has some popularity among Medievalists as well, since this was the pronunciation followed by medieval authors writing in Latin.
Restored Classical pronunciation is by far the most popular choice, but whichever pronunciation you choose, you can rest assured that you will be able to understand and be understood by users of the other pronunciation. Most Living Latin gatherings include a mix of both approaches, and with a little practice, your ear can follow both without difficulty.