Studying? Why is nothing sticking?

[Sniffy]

Im sure it cannot just be me who has a horrible time memorizing latin?

Antho, History, Poli Sci, I read, I make notes, It sticks.

I have been studying Ch 1-9 for the past 2 weeks, every day.
Latin to English
English to Latin

Review the next day and I go blank? errr something is wrong here.

Even with the Five Declensions, it isnt much to memorize, yet it does'nt want to stick...
Does anyone else have these problems? I have my first test coming up, and im helpless without the vocab in-front of me...

I guess I should note that this is my first second language, and I want to enjoy it, I want to be able to read Virgil...

Tips? Suggestions? Ive heard classmates muttering songs to themselves...
What works for you? Any help would greatly be appreciated.

Cheers,
Sniffy

[furrykef]

Have you tried using a program such as Anki?

[Latinstudy]

Sniffy,

I realize this may be too late to help you but our school begins teaching Latin in the 3rd grade and our 6th graders start in Wheelock's. If you are musical/rhythmic at all put as many things as you can to melodies, chants and rhythms. This helps solidify things in the mind.

Latinstudy

[gfross]

Try the Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata course materials by Hans H. Ørberg. They are what I am using, and everything sticks because of the method of presentation. You can use it without a teacher. But be sure to buy the Exercitia workbook, the Teacher's Materials (which is the Answer Key to everything), the Latine Disco Student Manual (which will explain what is presented in each lesson), and the Grammatica Latina booklet (which will give you paradigms and a summary of all the grammar). Also useful is an additional reader, Colloquia Personarum, which accompanies Part One (Familia Romana of the series (which has two parts -- you don't need to buy both of them at once). There are no translation exercises from Latin into English or English into Latin. Everything is geared to help you learn to read Latin.

If you don't want to buy it without knowing more about it, ask your local library to get at least the main textbook, LIngua Latina Per Se Illustrata: Familia Romana, for you through Interlibrary Loan so you can take a look at it.

By the way, I really dislike Wheelock' method of presenting isolated sententiae. Much prefer reading connected discourse, which is what Ørberg's book is all about. Each chapter has about 120 lines of a story that runs all the way through the book, with a side journey here and there. Very easy Latin. A very gentle approach. But you will need the booklets I mentioned to help you fix the grammar in mind and to explain things to you if you are using the course for self-study.

Bonam tibi fortunam!

[Bedell]

We learn different things in different ways. I'd give the Orberg suggestion given above a go. Maybe you need to hear Latin to make it stick for you. Give the Latinum podcasts for Adler's course a blast - http://latinum.mypodcast.com/200724_archive.html

There are also the video productions by Evan Millner as well here - http://www.youtube.com/user/evan1965

Hope some of it helps!

[gfross]

We learn different things in different ways. I'd give the Orberg suggestion given above a go. Maybe you need to hear Latin to make it stick for you. Give the Latinum podcasts for Adler's course a blast - http://latinum.mypodcast.com/200724_archive.html

There are also the video productions by Evan Millner as well here - http://www.youtube.com/user/evan1965

Hope some of it helps!

What an exhausting way to study Latin (Adler's course)! The method used by Commenius is way, way out of date. No modern linguist would ever author a course based on such a method. I much prefer Ørberg's method, especially since I doubt that I will ever communicate orally in Latin with anybody. No need to do so. If I want to chat, I'll use English. heh But I do want to read Latin, and Ørberg's course materials are excellent for that.

However, as you said, suum cuique -- to each his own.

[dlb]

...
Review the next day and I go blank? errr something is wrong here.
...

Just curious - have you attempted any of the suggested methods to help your retention or understanding? If so, does one work better than another?
Thanks,
dlb
.

[holidaybowl]

Sniffy,

I am working through Wheelock on my own and can share in your frustration. One thing that has helped me immensely, especially with nouns and verbs, is doing practice problems. I've used just about every resource I can get my hands on in order to apply the paradigms. Sure, I still slip up sometimes, but the more you practice as you progress through Wheelock, the more these paradigms will stick with you, even if you don't have them fully memorized by the end of the chapter in which they are presented.

I'm posting a blog as I progress through Wheelock with some notes and my experience. Please feel free to browse through it.

I share the opinion of others here, that Wheelock's treatment is very terse. I think that using the chapter alone, even with the self-tests in the back of the book is insufficient for lasting comprehension of the material. This is why I've used it in conjunction with other resources (many of them are available online for free). Practice makes perfect.

Best of luck to you,
Kris

http://polyglotte.tumblr.com/

Here is a recent post on my strategy for working through Wheelock:

http://polyglotte.tumblr.com/post/7111063699/wheelock-review-of-course-plan