It’s probably been a decade now since I’ve posted here. I see Joel and mwh are still here, but an entire generation of posters has probably come and gone since I’ve been here. I hope Hylander is well.
In brief, where I’ve been and where I’m going:
I’m coming off an eight-year hiatus from reading Latin with a new method. I worked through Wheelock 's in 2013 then read through Wheelock 's Latin Reader followed by monolingual student editions with commentary and dictionary, with the Latin Library translation to compare to.
At some point I read through Ørberg, parts one and two, until the thought of picking up a book was so distasteful that I slowed reading to an altogether stop in 2018, vowing to return to Latin study someday.
I’m grounded enough in the basics of grammar, vocabulary, and Roman culture and history to say I know Latin. What gives me trouble in reading is, beyond a question of knowing what the words and their grammatical elements mean, how things are said. I’m working through Livy I right now (Servius Tullius just took the throne) and this particular Loeb is a non-literal translation so fitting the Latin to the English is sometimes a challenge in itself. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I failed in my first attempt first, out of burnout after five years of self-study and, second, because I was trying to become an expert by reading the Bryn Mawr Pro Caelio flawlessly, without needing translation. Only then could I move to reading Latin unassisted.
After a recent move the mood struck me to unpack my boxes of books and put them on the shelves. This being a half-day’s work in itself, I put it off for a couple of months before biting the bullet and unboxing, among other things, my Greek and Latin materials. I had thought of working through a textbook to get really grounded before starting up again, but I said what the hell and started reading Livy.
My theory this time is that I’m past the point of needing a commentary just to learn what the Latin is saying. So I’ve established a new method, under the theory that I was reading too little Latin too slowly. Accordingly, to really learn I need to read as much Latin as possible. So for instance, in a chapter in Livy I
- Read it in English;
- Read it in English, following along with the Latin;
- Read it in Latin, following along with the English, and
- Read it in Latin.
One chapter is a good half-hour 's effort. I’ll let you all know how my progress goes. Oddly I’ve found that I’ve retained for all intents and purposes everything with no erosion in skills.
Alas, I can’t say the same for my Greek. I went through Mastronatde and read a few works with heavy recourse to a commentary, lexicon, and translation, but to say I’m rusty is an understatement. I have a copy of Chase & Phillips ready to go when I decide to dive back in. It’s about the right pace for a (serious) refresher.