6 ms·

As an aside, I'd like to recommend to people the Cambridge Latin Course (https://www.cambridgescp.com/ https://www.cambridgescp.com/) This was the course I fol

by jbarrs 6y ago

As an aside, I'd like to recommend to people the Cambridge Latin Course (https://www.cambridgescp.com/ https://www.cambridgescp.com/) This was the course I followed learning Latin in school. Whilst it may be tailored more towards a school audience, much of the content of their books is available for free online, which includes lots of translation and vocabulary practice. The books and stories are all very light-hearted and fun and teach a lot about Roman history as you learn the language. This could make good supplementary learning material for anyone trying to teach themselves Latin for free.

jthnews 6y ago
Thanks for the link to a great resource. I don't mean to detract in any way from any of the other terrific resources available online - free or otherwise. I created selfstudyclassics.com to scratch a very particular itch. When I started to re-learn Latin after many years, I was looking for something which was focused on examples and featured a lot of practice with instant feedback - something like Khan Academy, which I love. My hope is that it is helpful to others with a similar itch.
- jbarrs 6y ago
  Yes I totally understand, and I don't think you've detracted from the others at all. The more resources are available, and the more accessible they are for different learners and different styles of learning, the better.
gadders 6y ago
Caecilius est in horto.
- dbuder 6y ago
  Caecilius est in Matella.
  - wfreeborn 6y ago
    Grumio est in Metella.
- exdsq 6y ago
  Caecilius in hortō sedet
- _joel 6y ago
  I can almost feel and smell the textbook.
abhisuri97 6y ago
Ecce Romani gets no love despite the exciting saga of the main characters being stuck in a ditch for half a book.
- oliverobscure 6y ago
  I have many fond memories of learning Latin with Ecce Romani. Raeda in fossa est, whatever will they do?
- ChefboyOG 6y ago
  Who could forget the spiritual predecessor to the oregon trail, the via appia?
throw0101a 6y ago
I believe the other popular suggestion is Ørberg's Lingua Latīna: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_%C3%98rberg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_%C3%98rberg
- jthnews 6y ago
  Yes, several other commenters have made that suggestion, and I agree it is a good one. This tool is aimed at those interested in a public domain text, or people who using other tools who are looking for additional practice in the form of interactive exercises with explanations.
- billfruit 6y ago
  I thought the common suggestion for a modern Latin textbook is Wheelock. https://www.amazon.com/Wheelocks-Latin-7th/dp/0061997226# https://www.amazon.com/Wheelocks-Latin-7th/dp/0061997226#
  - HuShifang 6y ago
    From my own casual investigations, Wheelock is considered a perfectly good textbook (particularly for people with lots of experience learning languages, e.g. grad students in the humanities), but also a bit "traditional," focusing more on learning grammatical rules and less on developing an intuition for the language. Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata is at the other, "immersion"-oriented end of the spectrum.
    - voldacar 6y ago
      My latin teacher used both wheelock and lingua latina. They complement each other really well.
  - throw0101a 6y ago
    It is common, but that does not mean it's good, especially with all the research that's been done in learning over the past few decades. As someone remarked, Wheelock: > It teaches about Latin, teaching you the Latin language is not the goal of this book […] * https://old.reddit.com/r/latin/comments/8rp222/ https://old.reddit.com/r/latin/comments/8rp222/ Wheelock can be used as a technical reference if you want to know the exact structure. But it's like trying to read the C++ ISO spec if you want to program. The consensus seems to be either Ørberg and/or Cambridge if you want dead-tree materials.
timthorn 6y ago
Also new this year for Lockdown, the Oak National Academy produced an intro course: https://classroom.thenational.academy/subjects-by-key-stage/key-stage-3/subjects/latin https://classroom.thenational.academy/subjects-by-key-stage/...
- jthnews 6y ago
  Wow, this is great. Thanks for the link. I hope to take Selfstudyclassics a little farther than this one goes over time, but this would be a great place for anyone to start.
  - timthorn 6y ago
    The other resource you might be interested in is Minimus, designed to introduce Primary school children to Latin, and to allow non-Latin speaking teachers to lead a course. None of the interactive elements you offer, though there are CDs :) http://www.minimus.com/ http://www.minimus.com/
tragomaskhalos 6y ago
It's really important that these texts have this lightness of mood to engage kids - and the way that so many adults remember Caecilius and family is a testament to how effective it is. Timeless too - I was amazed and delighted when my daughter used the exact same texts. In similar vein, for Greek we used Thrasymachus, which follows a plucky kid on his adventures encountering various characters from mythology.

by jbarrs 6y ago

jthnews 6y ago

Thanks for the link to a great resource. I don't mean to detract in any way from any of the other terrific resources available online - free or otherwise. I created selfstudyclassics.com to scratch a very particular itch. When I started to re-learn Latin after many years, I was looking for something which was focused on examples and featured a lot of practice with instant feedback - something like Khan Academy, which I love. My hope is that it is helpful to others with a similar itch.

jbarrs 6y ago
Yes I totally understand, and I don't think you've detracted from the others at all. The more resources are available, and the more accessible they are for different learners and different styles of learning, the better.

gadders 6y ago

Caecilius est in horto.

dbuder 6y ago
Caecilius est in Matella.
- wfreeborn 6y ago
  Grumio est in Metella.
exdsq 6y ago
Caecilius in hortō sedet
_joel 6y ago
I can almost feel and smell the textbook.

abhisuri97 6y ago

Ecce Romani gets no love despite the exciting saga of the main characters being stuck in a ditch for half a book.

oliverobscure 6y ago
I have many fond memories of learning Latin with Ecce Romani. Raeda in fossa est, whatever will they do?
ChefboyOG 6y ago
Who could forget the spiritual predecessor to the oregon trail, the via appia?

throw0101a 6y ago

I believe the other popular suggestion is Ørberg's Lingua Latīna: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_%C3%98rberg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_%C3%98rberg

jthnews 6y ago
Yes, several other commenters have made that suggestion, and I agree it is a good one. This tool is aimed at those interested in a public domain text, or people who using other tools who are looking for additional practice in the form of interactive exercises with explanations.
billfruit 6y ago
I thought the common suggestion for a modern Latin textbook is Wheelock. https://www.amazon.com/Wheelocks-Latin-7th/dp/0061997226# https://www.amazon.com/Wheelocks-Latin-7th/dp/0061997226#
- HuShifang 6y ago
  From my own casual investigations, Wheelock is considered a perfectly good textbook (particularly for people with lots of experience learning languages, e.g. grad students in the humanities), but also a bit "traditional," focusing more on learning grammatical rules and less on developing an intuition for the language. Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata is at the other, "immersion"-oriented end of the spectrum.
  - voldacar 6y ago
    My latin teacher used both wheelock and lingua latina. They complement each other really well.
- throw0101a 6y ago
  It is common, but that does not mean it's good, especially with all the research that's been done in learning over the past few decades. As someone remarked, Wheelock: > It teaches about Latin, teaching you the Latin language is not the goal of this book […] * https://old.reddit.com/r/latin/comments/8rp222/ https://old.reddit.com/r/latin/comments/8rp222/ Wheelock can be used as a technical reference if you want to know the exact structure. But it's like trying to read the C++ ISO spec if you want to program. The consensus seems to be either Ørberg and/or Cambridge if you want dead-tree materials.

timthorn 6y ago

Also new this year for Lockdown, the Oak National Academy produced an intro course: https://classroom.thenational.academy/subjects-by-key-stage/key-stage-3/subjects/latin https://classroom.thenational.academy/subjects-by-key-stage/...

jthnews 6y ago
Wow, this is great. Thanks for the link. I hope to take Selfstudyclassics a little farther than this one goes over time, but this would be a great place for anyone to start.
- timthorn 6y ago
  The other resource you might be interested in is Minimus, designed to introduce Primary school children to Latin, and to allow non-Latin speaking teachers to lead a course. None of the interactive elements you offer, though there are CDs :) http://www.minimus.com/ http://www.minimus.com/

tragomaskhalos 6y ago

It's really important that these texts have this lightness of mood to engage kids - and the way that so many adults remember Caecilius and family is a testament to how effective it is. Timeless too - I was amazed and delighted when my daughter used the exact same texts. In similar vein, for Greek we used Thrasymachus, which follows a plucky kid on his adventures encountering various characters from mythology.