How long should one work with Familia Romana?

[citizen]

So I've slowly started reading Lingua Latina: Familia Romana, but I wonder, how long should I expect it to take to complete the book? Of course you only move to the next chapter when you feel you've grasped all the words and grammar of the previous, but I actually think that sometimes it might be even better to just move on to the next chapter, even if you still have some questions regarding some thing, just to see the words and grammar used in a slightly different way. Anyway, the answer will also vary from person to person, depending on language skills, so maybe I should ask this instead: How long did it take you to complete Familia Romana?

[Rindu]

Well, I did not learn Latin with Lingua Latina, but I have been reading it at the rate of a chapter a day as a refresher. I'm on the penultimate chapter of Pars I today. It hasn't given me many problems. Anyway, if you are learning Latin for the first time right now, by reading the book, then I'd suggest that you take it slow and make sure you understand everything before moving on. And not simply comprehend the text, but grasp the underlying grammar as well.

However, if you were reading this in conjunction with a deductive textbook like Wheelock's, then by all means push through.

[celebrimbor]

My strategy with Lingua Latina thus far has been:

1) Read the chapter aloud slowly, demanding complete comprehension but not necessarily complete grammatical analysis.

2) I continue, skipping the exercises, until my comprehension drops off or I feel saturated.

3) I then put the book down for the day. If I want to study more Latin, I go to my secondary textbook.

4) Next day, I do some exercises from previous chapters for review and then repeat step #1 with the current chapter.

For me, this works out to a rate of 1 chapter per week, with ~3hrs/wk of study time.

[ivanus]

Based on my experience, I think a chapter a week is pretty good. If you are able to keep that pace working on your own you are probably doing well.

It's good to have a separate reference and, of course, a good grammar and dictionary to help make sense of things. I'm not able to get everything by induction from LL. I've needed other resources, though I continue to work with it as a reader and I continue to learn from it.

Thanks for sharing your study method, as well. I like reading aloud as well. For me, however, my first exposure to Latin was in choir, so I'm perfectly happy to pronounce Latin without bothering about what it means. I'm sure that helps, but probably not as much I would hope.

Cheers,

Jack

[horus92]

It took me about 8 or 9 months IIRC.

[juli]

I've previously worked with an older edition (just called Vol 1 back then) of that I got at the thrift store using the read until you aren't getting anything new, work the exercises method and wasn't really getting very far. I just bought the book and the extra exercises book (and I have a copy of the answers coming my way soon.)

The exercises book is set up with exercises per section (ie chapter 1 has 3 sections of text, plus the grammer section). Reading the whole chapter for gist then reading a section for understanding and then doing the exercises, then the next section, etc followed by the chapter exercises in the book itself seems to be a much better educational experience for me. I learn well particularly well from reading in context and then writing, and the exercises book gives me smaller chunks and more exercises. Of course the real test is am I still learning in a fairly natural manner when I get several chapters in.

Juli