How long should one work with Familia Romana?

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citizen
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How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by 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?

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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by 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
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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by 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.

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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by 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

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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by horus92 »

It took me about 8 or 9 months IIRC.

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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by 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

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ChrisM
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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by ChrisM »

For those that get on with LL methodology, what secondary texts have you found useful in conjunction?
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero

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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by Jandar »

To learn a language up to a reasonable level normally takes 300-400 hours of study. Latin/Familia Romana is no different. So expect to spend about 10 hours per chapter, including exercises, extra readings (Colloquia Personarum, Fabellae Latinae), listening to the mp3's, re-reading and re-reading (say 20 times)...
At schools 8-10 lessons per chapter is also quite normal.

You can speed it up if you like, and Familia Romana is quite forgiving if you do, but then, like many others, you'll probably end up complaining about part 2 Roma Aeterna being a stumbling block.

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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by RandyGibbons »

Chris, by secondary texts do you have in mind a supplementary grammar(s), or graded reading material tailored for beginners, or both?

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ChrisM
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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by ChrisM »

RandyGibbons wrote:Chris, by secondary texts do you have in mind a supplementary grammar(s), or graded reading material tailored for beginners, or both?
Hi Randy. I’ve just started reading Familia Romana and had previously started “ Gwynne’s Latin”. I prefer the FR intuitive methodology, but realise I need to also need to understand the grammar - at which, my formal levels of knowledge are poor. (I loathed the subject at school.) I do intend to set myself the challenge of working through Gwynne’s text though.

As a beginner to Latin - and given my profile per para. 1, any recommendations on supplemental texts to support FR are welcome - if indeed, there are any. Many thanks.
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero

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ChrisM
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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by ChrisM »

I also appreciate the comments above re reading aloud. I did that today, as part of the process of constantly re-reading paragraphs- something I don’t normally do.
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero

RandyGibbons
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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by RandyGibbons »

When you say you "also" need to learn the grammar, implying the need for a separate grammar textbook, technically of course you are or should be learning the grammar directly from FR. For example, in the "Grammatica Latina" at the end of chapter one, you (begin to) learn to distinguish plural from singular forms of nouns and adjectives.

But yes, I imagine most autodidacts using FR want to supplement it with a grammar, as you are doing with Gwynne. (I'm not familiar with Gwynne, but I used Wheelock.) The question, then, of course, is how you choose to use the two books in conjunction. Do you independently and simultaneously read through your grammar front to back, or do you look for the sections in your grammar that reinforce the given Grammatica Latina you're working through in FR? That's just a personal choice.

Another supplemental option would be to simultaneously listen to Evan Millner's recordings of Adler's grammar. You might want to listen to the first couple chapters just to see what they're like. When you might start to feel that a bunch of supplemental stuff is too distracting to the solid progress you're making in FR is just something you have to judge for yourself.

By the way, I don't think any "formal" knowledge of grammar is really necessary prior to undertaking Latin. As far as I can recall, the only language-independent formal study of grammar I ever had was parsing sentences in sixth grade, at a time when I was a lot more focused on the Chicago White Sox and on a girl named Christine. Where I became conscious that there was some structure to a language was high school Spanish.

I emphatically ditto the advice to read aloud (at the very least internally). I believe it goes a long way toward implanting the new language in your brain.

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ChrisM
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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by ChrisM »

That helps a lot. Thanks, Randy.
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero

Jandar
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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by Jandar »

If you want a running explanation of grammar points, parallel to the chapters of Familia Romana, you could use A Companion to Familia Romana https://www.amazon.com/Companion-Famili ... 158510809X. Personally I used it after I was finished with a FR chapter, to see if I had missed or misunderstood something. I often had... so then I read the FR chapter again to drive that point home.
Last edited by Jandar on Tue Jul 24, 2018 9:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by Jandar »

Somehow this forum has a problem displaying the link in the post above, probably due to the Ø in the link.

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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by newsalor »

Hello, new to the forum. I have almost no Latin exposure before tackling this book/course.

Initially I had a goal of one chapter per week. However, because I have other things taking up my time, Ive found that the going has been slower. I've been reading a chapter either out loud or while thinking about grammar and then doing an exercise. I'm also marking exercises I've done before and if I've made a mistake I'll reread the chapter and do the exercise again. I have the teachers materials and the companion. I've read the corresponding chapter from the companion after I've done the exercises for the first time.

I'm also reading Colloquia and Fabellae from time to time and writing out the declinations of the nominatives of chapters after I've done the exercises for the first time. I'll start spelling out the other paradigms from the beginning after I've learned more about those. This is an effort to at least try to learn them by heart even though it's far from the Dowling method. I'm also trying to score the mp3s from Amazon. It's just that I have to find a mule, because Amazon won't sell those to my country.

I'm averaging one chapter per two weeks. At this rate, it'll take me more than a year to finish the book, but I don't mind. I'm not interested in speeding through the book. Instead I want to milk it for all that it's worth.

After I'm done with this, I think I'll work through a book series written for in my native language. I have readers and grammar workbooks lined up too. Extensive reading is something that I definitely want to pursue along trying to hammer the grammar into my skull!

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Barry Hofstetter
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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

newsalor wrote:Hello, new to the forum. I have almost no Latin exposure before tackling this book/course.
Then welcome!

After I'm done with this, I think I'll work through a book series written for in my native language. I have readers and grammar workbooks lined up too. Extensive reading is something that I definitely want to pursue along trying to hammer the grammar into my skull!
Out of curiosity, what is your native language (your English appears to be excellent)? You have a plan and the dedication to follow that plan, and you will succeed, especially if "reading extensively" is part of it. Also feel free to post any questions you may have. There are people on this list who delight in answering questions... :D
N.E. Barry Hofstetter

Cuncta mortalia incerta...

newsalor
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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by newsalor »

Barry Hofstetter wrote:Out of curiosity, what is your native language (your English appears to be excellent)? You have a plan and the dedication to follow that plan, and you will succeed, especially if "reading extensively" is part of it. Also feel free to post any questions you may have. There are people on this list who delight in answering questions... :D
Thanks a bunch for the compliment! ^^ I'm a bona fide Finn, I am. We'll see how I'll do. I'm only two months in, but this is a nice change of pace from medicine.

Extensive reading and listening is definitely part of the plan. I've got a string of readers lined up. However, I think I'll start on those after I've mastered Familia Romana. (Carolus Raeticus seems to be a god among men. His ANKI decks seem nice too, but I think I'll hold on those for a while too.)

The videos that Magister Craft has made are awesome for my skill level or the lack thereof. I'm a long way from Nuntii Latini. Finding stuff to listen to seems to be more difficult than finding reading material.
Last edited by newsalor on Tue Sep 25, 2018 6:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by jeidsath »

You can buy the mp3s from Amazon by adding a U.S. address on Amazon and changing your country, for the purpose of digital purchases. And then you can change it back.

The other medical Finn on these boards generally hangs out on the Greek side.
“One might get one’s Greek from the very lips of Homer and Plato." "In which case they would certainly plough you for the Little-go. The German scholars have improved Greek so much.”

Joel Eidsath -- jeidsath@gmail.com

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ruusaan
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Re: How long should one work with Familia Romana?

Post by ruusaan »

It took me 203 days (just under 7 months) to finish Familia Romana studing every day (sine intervallo) for around an hour, although on days where I did the exercitia it could have been around 2 hours.

From start to finish there are 299 pages of material to read. When I started reading I made it a goal to read 30 lines from the book per day. Since there are 26 lines per page maximum, this is about 1.15 pages. At this rate it would take you 260 days, however, the illustrations and end of chapter grammatica reduce this figure.

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