How much do you study?

[mariek]

Just wondering how much you study Latin on a daily/weekly basis.

[klewlis]

i'm a slacker... i don't get into the books every day. however, i am hoping to change that as of this week, since i'm adjusting work schedules and stuff... we'll see how it goes. life is crazy.<br /><br />with that said, in my first year of greek i did 1-2 hours per day, and i think those kinds of numbers are much more effective, especially in the beginning stages of a language.

[benissimus]

I hardly ever study when I'm not in school... like right now. When I do have my Latin class I end up doing about 1-2 hours a day just for it, until I run out and get sad and mopey for the rest of the week :'(

[klewlis]

run out of homework? i'm sure there must be extra stuff you could do if you REALLY want to. <br /><br />in college i managed to get a pulp mill job for the summer, which means that i basically sat around for long shifts. i would take my greek and study... it kept me awake all night. in a 12 hour shift i could learn a lot!<br /><br />now i'm not a student and my work leaves me drained, so i don't do a lot...

[bingley]

I just do odd bits in quiet spells at work. And sometimes on the way to and from. Does looking through TEXTKIT posts count? ;D

[mariek]

[quote author=bingley link=board=3;threadid=358;start=0#2645 date=1059968622]<br />I just do odd bits in quiet spells at work. And sometimes on the way to and from. Does looking through TEXTKIT posts count? ;D<br />[/quote]<br />How freaky! That would be my answer as well. I sneak it in during work (shh! don't tell my boss ) and also on my way to/from work. I also try to do some in the evening but I'm usually too tired, as you can see from some of my late night posts. And I also find myself spending so much time reading through stuff here on Textkit that it takes away from actual study time! What should I do?? Need more time...

[mariek]

[quote author=benissimus link=board=3;threadid=358;start=0#2641 date=1059966165]<br />I hardly ever study when I'm not in school... like right now.[/quote]<br /><br />Ah, what luxury it must be to have the summer off. But given your love of Latin, why not do a Hermione Granger and get a jump start on next year's Latin course?<br /><br />

[Ptolemaios]

Less than half an hour at the moment (but at other times more than four hours a day) & that's reading Harrius Potter. Then again, I'm more a hellenist. I'll try to start the same poll on the Greek side of the forum.<br /><br />Vale.<br /><br />Ptolemaios

[Odysseus]

About 2.5 hours a day including my hour of University. I'd really love to do more, but I don't seem to get much time in the evenings since other languages and music seem to get in the way.

[vinobrien]

Greek on the train to and from work and a bit of Harrius Potter in the evening. Weekends: mostly Plato's Symposium in a deckchair by the pool.

[Nihil]

I study about 2.5 hours, but on the weekend, I get into this "zone" or mindset where I become obsessed and reach about 5-6 hours.

[Episcopus]

1/2 our to 1 hour per day (sometimes 10-20 mins per day) usually at about 2am. I am a child; a slacker; I procrastinate semper.

[Carola]

[quote author=Odysseus link=board=3;threadid=358;start=0#2673 date=1059988021]<br />About 2.5 hours a day including my hour of University. I'd really love to do more, but I don't seem to get much time in the evenings since other languages and music seem to get in the way. <br />[/quote]<br />Yes, music takes up a lot of my time so I have to be very strict with the available hours. I often study reading in bed at night or while I have breakfast as partner is NOT a morning person! When the music activity goes up (ie when I play in shows etc and need lots of rehearsal) then it all gets very tiring. At the moment I am trying to do arrangements for about 20 tunes so domestic stuff goes completely (ironing? what's that?). At least it beats watching soaps on TV!

[Alundis]

I picked 1-1.5 hours. It varies a lot, but I always spend at least half an hour.

[Milito]

[quote author=benissimus link=board=3;threadid=358;start=0#2641 date=1059966165]<br />I hardly ever study when I'm not in school... like right now. When I do have my Latin class I end up doing about 1-2 hours a day just for it, until I run out and get sad and mopey for the rest of the week :'(<br />[/quote]<br /><br />Sounds very familiar..... When I was going to school full time, I had to put off doing my Old English homework to last so that I'd have a prayer of getting anything else done..... Now I am sort of in "prep" and "I don't want to lose this" mode, so am plowing through a book in Latin, which has helped so much that I was actually able to curl up with a second book in Latin, and read a few lines of it without the help of a dictionary! Kewl! Bedtime reading in Latin! <br /><br />Kilmeny

[Episcopus]

<br /><br />You do old English? Anglo Saxon stuff?

[benissimus]

I was almost going to learn Old English, I decided to put it off though.

[Milito]

[quote author=Episcopus link=board=3;threadid=358;start=15#2807 date=1060097337]<br /> <br /><br />You do old English? Anglo Saxon stuff? <br />[/quote]<br /><br />I haven't for years.... Like, since 1988...... But I find that studying Latin provides very much the same enjoyment, so I can get totally lost in the language, thus ignoring other things that I probably should be doing.... Like dishes, laundry, sleeping......... Which means that the amount of study time I spend on the Latin varies wildly, but tends to increase when I'd rather not acknowledge a "real world" out there....<br /><br />Kilmeny

[Episcopus]

That is quite awesome! With all those (excuse the lack of knowledge) queer letters such as the o thing with a spike curling off it! Is that 'th'? And that strange p thing ???

[benissimus]

þ and ð aren't hard to remember! They just mean "th."

[Episcopus]

[quote author=benissimus link=board=3;threadid=358;start=15#2850 date=1060110104]<br />þ and ð aren't hard to remember! They just mean "th."<br />[/quote]<br /><br />Well I've never bothered to remember any Old English it's just a vague memory...

[Keesa]

I've been proud of myself...I've studied one to five lessons each of four different languages every day since I discovered Textkit (adding Latin and Classical Greek to French and my native language, English.) On top of my other studies and work, it's quite an achievement for me. I would say I do between half an hour and two hours per language per day. <br /><br />Keesa

[mariek]

[quote author=Keesa link=board=3;threadid=358;start=15#2879 date=1060125257]<br />I've studied one to five lessons each of four different languages every day since I discovered Textkit (adding Latin and Classical Greek to French and my native language, English.) ... I would say I do between half an hour and two hours per language per day. [/quote]<br /><br />Where in the world do you find the time? Do share your secret!! <br />

[Carola]

The secret (as I am sure Keesa could tell you) is to turn off that box thingy in the corner (called television I seem to remember..). Suddenly you "gain" about 3 hours per day and can amaze everyone with the amount of stuff you fit into your life. However I must admit I still watch some of those great history series they sometimes have on cable & public access TV! (and anything with dinosaurs, don't ask me why but I just love all those Jurassic Park movies - perhaps I was a T Rex in a former life)

[mariek]

[quote author=Carola link=board=3;threadid=358;start=15#2900 date=1060141645]<br />The secret (as I am sure Keesa could tell you) is to turn off that box thingy in the corner (called television I seem to remember..). Suddenly you "gain" about 3 hours per day and can amaze everyone with the amount of stuff you fit into your life. [/quote]<br /><br />Sigh... yes, that is an evil device! But so is the internet, as I've discovered in recent years. What I really should do is trade in the TV for a desk, the sofa for an Aeron chair, and Tivo for a good desk lamp... imagine how much I'd accomplish! (I refuse to give up the computer and internet connection! We all need our vices )<br /><br />Holler if you discover any Latin programming on TV. I doubt there'll be any, but who knows... they show all sorts of things on cable TV, even news in Farsi!<br /><br />

[Episcopus]

[quote author=mariek link=board=3;threadid=358;start=15#2904 date=1060142747]<br /> even news in Farsi!<br /><br />[/quote]<br /><br />Farsi is a widely spoken language - my father even speaks it

[vinobrien]

I did a year's Anglo-Saxon at university. It's not that difficult if you take a little time and read through some of Sweet's Primer first (is that Textkitable yet?) before dipping into the texts. Beowulf is not for the fainthearted, though.<br /><br />Wyrd boed ful arad, as they say (how do you type ashes and thorns, O Benissisme?).

[benissimus]

ð - alt+0240<br />Þ - alt+0222<br />þ - alt+0254<br /><br />...or just copy another person's

[mariek]

[quote author=Milito link=board=3;threadid=358;start=0#2785 date=1060090885]<br />Now I am sort of in "prep" and "I don't want to lose this" mode, so am plowing through a book in Latin, which has helped so much that I was actually able to curl up with a second book in Latin, and read a few lines of it without the help of a dictionary! Kewl! Bedtime reading in Latin! [/quote]<br /><br />Do you mean studying Latin during the day, and then curling up with a Latin "reader" at bedtime?<br /><br />I saw Aeneas to Augustus: A Beginning Latin Reader for College Students at the bookstore today. It looks really good, but it's way too advanced for me right now. I noticed that it had A LOT of notes explaining phrases/vocabulary of the passage. A passage would be very short, and the notes section could take up 10 times the space of the passage. It looks like a really good book.<br />

[Keesa]

[quote author=mariek link=board=3;threadid=358;start=15#2904 date=1060142747]<br />[quote author=Carola link=board=3;threadid=358;start=15#2900 date=1060141645]<br />The secret (as I am sure Keesa could tell you) is to turn off that box thingy in the corner (called television I seem to remember..). Suddenly you "gain" about 3 hours per day and can amaze everyone with the amount of stuff you fit into your life. [/quote]<br /><br />Sigh... yes, that is an evil device! But so is the internet, as I've discovered in recent years. What I really should do is trade in the TV for a desk, the sofa for an Aeron chair, and Tivo for a good desk lamp... imagine how much I'd accomplish! (I refuse to give up the computer and internet connection! We all need our vices )<br /><br /><br /><br />[/quote]<br /><br />You don't have to give up the Internet. Just learn to use it as a tool. ;D I never would have started Latin (beyond one phrase I picked up in a book and liked, "Mens sana in corpore sano") if not for Textkit. <br /><br />As for television-well, what can I say? I watch the PBS news for an hour five days a week (and, since I'm homeschooled, that's "social studies"-so it doesn't count, right? ) two half-hour shows on Saturday, in the evening, for another hour, nothing on Sundays, and one home video (usually 1-2 hours) sometimes during the week. Beyond that, nothing. We only get one channel, PBS, with a rabbit-ears antenna, and I never intend to change that. You wouldn't believe how much time for reading and studying that leaves, even with eight full hours of sleep a night (and who gets that anymore? ;D) and housework. Nope, I couldn't do it with a television. <br /><br />Keesa

[Milito]

[quote author=mariek link=board=3;threadid=358;start=15#3020 date=1060241134]<br /><br />Do you mean studying Latin during the day, and then curling up with a Latin "reader" at bedtime?<br />[/quote]<br />No, nor should I give the impression that I do this a lot.... I study Latin during the day (and whenever else I can or have to work it in.... the "have to" depends on whether or not I've got a course on the go) and I'd just picked up this new (well, new to me....) "Odes and Epodes of Horace" and couldn't just leave it alone and go to sleep.... so I picked it up and started working through the first page. With the help of the notes -which are terrific! - I got through the first 8 or so lines more or less really reading it. Which was very much pleasing....<br /><br />Now, though, I'm trying to get a jump on the next course by working through some of what I'll be required to work through during the fall, and am discovering that Horace's style of Latin is very different from Cicero, Caesar or Vergil.... but that's another topic.<br /><br />[quote author=mariek link=board=3;threadid=358;start=15#3020 date=1060241134]<br /><br /><br />I saw Aeneas to Augustus: A Beginning Latin Reader for College Students at the bookstore today. It looks really good, but it's way too advanced for me right now. I noticed that it had A LOT of notes explaining phrases/vocabulary of the passage. A passage would be very short, and the notes section could take up 10 times the space of the passage. It looks like a really good book.<br /><br />[/quote]<br /><br />It does sound like a good book! And I rather suspect that you'll find it not as difficult as you may think. Furthermore, bitter experience tells me that if I see something in a bookstore that "might" be interesting later, when "later" comes, the book isn't there..... This results in a lot of my paycheque staying in the bookstore, but I'm rarely short of reading material..........<br /><br />And actually, most of my studying has become working through reading. Earlier this year, when I started with the Cicero (and the Vergil course) I hadn't done any Latin for almost 10 years. I was exceedingly rusty, though I still remembered some basic forms of 1st and 2nd declension nouns and 1st and 2nd conjugation (indicative and hazily passive) verbs. The reading went very slowly at first, with many cross-references to grammars, plus some paradigm drills, but has picked up a lot. And there is something very satisfying about hammering a "real" sentence into shape - even if one sentence is all you get through. (Maybe I should say, "one line".... some of those sentences can go on for PAGES...!) Reading is also a bit of a change of pace from straight grammar, and allows you to put the grammar into contex more. All of which is a long way of suggesting you think about reconsidering that reader.... <br /><br />Actually, I find that if I'm making headway on whatever I'm working on, my study time goes up because I'd rather not stop....... I think that's another symptom of the problem that Benissimus mentioned way back.....<br /><br />Kilmeny<br />

[benissimus]

Ah yes, my favorite problem <br /><br /><br /><br />Always a pleasure to make dazzling cameos in other people's posts

[mariek]

<br />We're starting to stray off topic, so I've replied to your message here :<br /><br />Latin Readers (was: How much do you study?)<br />http://www.textkit.com/greek-latin-forum/viewtopic . php?t=394<br /><br />

[Magistra]

Hmmmm....<br /><br />Studying or reading? This sounds like two different threads. <br /><br />To me "studying" implies working on getting vocab, paradigms, and representations into the brain so that one may easily "read" for understanding. <br /><br />They are skills that go hand-in-hand but require a different "brain-set".<br /><br />Often one assimilates the vocab, paradigms & representations from reading; but I don't consider that to be studying, just enlightenment, epiphany & pure fun!<br /><br />Magistra<br /><br />

[Keesa]

[quote author=Magistra link=board=3;threadid=358;start=30#3290 date=1060491035]<br />Hmmmm....<br /><br />Studying or reading? This sounds like two different threads. <br /><br />To me "studying" implies working on getting vocab, paradigms, and representations into the brain so that one may easily "read" for understanding. <br /><br />They are skills that go hand-in-hand but require a different "brain-set".<br /><br />Often one assimilates the vocab, paradigms & representations from reading; but I don't consider that to be studying, just enlightenment, epiphany & pure fun!<br /><br />Magistra<br /><br /><br />[/quote]<br /><br />I would disagree with that. I find that I learn best by just grabbing a book in the language of my choice, getting a really good *Language*/English dictionary, and jumping in feet first. Actually, I am working through my Latin grammars before trying to read any Latin, since so much of the reading is dependent on the word endings. <br /><br />Of course, the problem here is with word choices-when I'm reading, unless I'm a complete beginner in the language and looking up nineteen words out of twenty in the dictionary, I can't really say I'm "studying"-"learning" is a better word. <br /><br />And of course I still use the grammars, regardless of the language! It's just that for the most part, they're more of a supplement than anything else. (With the exception of Latin, as stated above.) <br /><br />Keesa<br /><br />P.S. Is this post too off-topic? Should I start over again in the Academy?

[Puella Parva]

I'm trying to study about an hour a day, but It will probably end up like my school(homeschooled)and music. I'll practice a ton when I'm bored, and let it slack a little when I'm really busy. :-[ Maybe I can keep an hour up though. I'll certainly try!!