I’m a 38-year-old woman from France and I’ve always been keen on learning languages. I’ve taken an interest into Latin a few years ago and I’m studying it in my free time… more or less regularly, depending on what’s happening around me! I’ve been using different kind of materials, and I’m now trying to practice Latin in a more “immersive” way : watching videos, reading colloquial texts, etc. I would like to use the language more actively, to have discussions in Latin and feel more confident about it. I’m glad I found this forum which has a section in Latin, although I’m still feeling a bit shy about trying to write in Latin myself… for now. I have to say I’m very impressed by all the knowledge shared on this forum…!
I’m also interested in Ancient Greek and have studied it a little. My goal for the next months is to get back to studying Ancient Greek too. I’m very glad that there is an Ancient Greek section, and I’m looking forward to reading those posts as well.
Thank you for your post.
It’s actually not that simple to answer your question because my learning had pauses and I crossed several methods over time.
When I first started to think about learning Latin, I just looked for some simple method in the nearest library. I found something like “Learn Latin in 30 days” (from French). At that time, I just wanted to see what the language sounded like, so that was OK, I could have a first glance and was happy about it. After that, I didn’t know how to keep studying, so I stopped for a bit, got busy with life, but the idea was still in my mind. Then, I found a 1-week Summer school not too far from home and decided to give it a try. We didn’t receive any particular material, we worked with original texts and discussed the grammar while translating them. That was an interesting experience for me. After that, I started looking for more Latin resources on the internet and I came across the LLPSI series, which I ordered. I can’t say that I really followed the method though, because I already had an “intermediate+” level when I started with the books. Plus, I’m not very comfortable with methods that give few grammar explanations (I’m not criticizing it at all, in fact, I often recommended the method around me, and I can see how it works with some people, but I guess it doesn’t fit my own way of learning… I’ve been learning languages for a long time (like a hobby) and I know I really like (and need) to study the grammatical rules, that’s what works for me, and that’s what makes me have fun learning… I’m a bit of an overthinker I guess , and without grammar explanations I feel absolutely lost… Maybe that’s the point of the method, but I want to keep having fun learning, not feel anxious ). So, I used the LLPSI texts to refresh my knowledge, read more colloquial texts, etc. Along with that, I also enrolled into a distance learning course with a university during a year, so I received texts (classics) to study with the teachers’ grammar notes, and I could ask questions and receive feedbacks to some exercises. At present, I mainly read bilingual classics (and check in a grammar when I need) and follow several channels about spoken Latin on the internet.
As for Ancient Greek, I’ve been following a French textbook that is used in some universities, but it’s a bit light so I’ve been completing it with a grammar book for better understanding (and more tables to learn - because I like it ). Then, I’ve heard of Athenaze and JACT, which I ordered (and received), but I’ve not been using them much yet. I’ve been very busy 1 and a half year ago, had to stop learning for a while. I could come back to Latin quite easily, but I’m really struggling with getting back to Ancient Greek. It’s like starting from where I left is difficult, but starting over from the beginning is a bit boring… I need to find my motivation back !
NB: I know newcomers can’t promote anything, I hope it’s not breaking the rules to mention some methods, I assumed it would be OK as they already are well-known Latin/Greek teaching methods and I’ve seen them mentioned elsewhere on the forum…
I completely understand where you are coming from in terms of requiring detailed explanations of grammar so all good here . I am the same and the sets of texts I am using are both excellent in terms of their explanations. Do you find being a French speaker helps with the Latin? I am learning Italian and French now and I do find they all reinforce each other. I did French for 5 years at school and only came back to it this year on Duolingo which is very light on grammatical explanations so I read up other sources and make my own notes for the grammar as I go.
I am using JACT for Greek and finding it quite hard also. Perhaps we can motivate each other as we go and you can correct my French! . Reach out when you re-commence the Greek as it would be fun to have someone to do it with as I am doing both Latin and Greek on my own. Same for Latin of course as it’s fun to be able to chat to other like minded people.
I just joined the forum today, and I’m reading new members’ introductions. I happen to be using JACT’s Reading Greek, too; currently in section 10. I’ve been studying Ancient Greek using that series and other resources for a year. Let me know if you’d like to start a group discussing JACT.
Sorry for the delay, I intended to answer earlier but I just moved to another city and got very exhausted, then I had some issues with the network (it’s still not very stable but it seems to be working… I should have a stronger network in a few weeks).
To be honest, when I started learning Latin, I didn’t find being a French speaker very helpful… I guess we don’t reflect that much about the eymology when we speak, and the meaning often has shifted a lot, so even when a word sounds familiar, there is nothing obvious about it. I even found it very confusing actually. The syntax is quite different too, as well as the way Latin uses verb moods and tenses… So, as a beginner, it actually became easier to progress in Latin when I stopped comparing with French. As for the case system, having learnt some languages with cases (even if they’re not of Latin origin) has been more helpful than focusing on my French knowledge. Nevertheless, after I reached an intermediate level in Latin, I could see way better the connexion with French, and from that point, being a French speaker did become helpful. It’s now very interesting because it sometimes happens that I’m casually talking/thinking in Frencg and I end up suddenly thinking of a connexion with the Latin origin.
I use Duolingo too (mainly for fun, it’s an easy way to keep practicing languages from time to time). Did you try Latin on Duolingo ? I completed the Latin tree (which is very short and sticks to simple syntax) but I’ve been wondering about the English they use in that course : some sentences sound very strange/unnatural to me… I don’t know if they actually are a bit weird or if it’s just a kind of English I’m not used to. It doesn’t feel that way with the other languages that I study from English on Duolingo, hence the wondering. Good luck with the French learning !
I’ve not been back to JACT yet but I’m planning to (plus the owl on the cover is so cute… makes me want to study with the book ). What section are you studying now ?
Hello Enoshyc ! Okay you’ve reached section 10 already… Great, that already gives me some motivation to catch up !
It’s nice to hear from you and welcome. I’m pretty new here like yourself and Polla. I’d be pleased to be in a group discussing JACT. I find Greek more of a slog than I do Latin as I am a lot more familiar with Latin having studied it and French before. I did tend to get put off because of the alphabet but I’ve learnt it now so it’s a matter of slowly reading it out and getting through the exercises.
I am only up to Section 1 although I am right at the end (at 1G) so if that’s not too far back count me in. I’d like to hear about some tips to conquer my Greek reading and vocab as I do find both challenging.
I was so interested in hearing what you had to say about being a native French speaker with Latin . I came to both languages in high school so saw similarities immediately and enjoyed them both immensely. The syntax is different but if you look at basic verb conjugations ( Je suis = sum etc) such as the conjugation for " I am" and verbs like J’espere, J’ecris as well as vocabulary such as pont, l’ours etc you can see their Latin roots. I had a feeling you would eventually get the connection and it would be helpful to your Latin
I did do one of the Latin courses on Duo but didn’t think it was very good. I’ve told my son who starts Latin next year not to do it ( he does German on it) as it would confuse him. No it’s not that they are using English you are not used to, it’s more a case of the translations being a bit off so it’s not you it’s them . Duo is meant to be good for Spanish, French and German and it is fun but to my mind way too light on any kind of decent explanations of rules or syntax. Luckily there are plenty of good online resources for this.
I am up to the end of Section 1 (1G) in JACT. I’d love to be in some group for it as a motivator which you can see in my response to Enoshyc so let’s see what we see.
I’m excited about the possibility of forming a JACT group. In the past year, I’ve received so much help from the global community of classical language learners online, I’m both surprised and humbled by the passion and goodwill out there. I’d be more than happy to help get you on track, and it’d be great for me to review the materials, too.
I should also mention that I’ve recently embarked on my journey with Latin, using the LLPSI series and having completed Cap. I. So, if you don’t mind, I would gladly accept any help you could offer in my learning of Latin, too. I’m taking it slowly with Latin, making sure that I’m not slowing down my pursuit of Greek. (I’ve always wanted to learn both classical languages but I thought I should focus on one to begin with last year, so I chose what seemed to be the more challenging one.)
I’m based on the west coast of Canada (Pacific Standard Time GMT-8). I’m not sure how easy it’d be for us to meet through conference calls, since we seem to be in 3 different time zones. Maybe we can open a messaging group somewhere specifically for discussing JACT, and we can start from there? Let me know what you prefer.
I am not sure how to go about setting up a JACT Group here but if we ask the Admin people for the site perhaps they can advise? I’ve been attempting Greek on my own and as said I am finding it quite a slog so I do it in fits and starts unlike the Latin which just flows for me. I am using Jones and Sidwell’s Reading Latin series which I used the old version of at Uni a long time ago. I am not familiar with LLPSI but that should not be an issue. I too wanted to learn both classical languages but went with Latin due to learning French so the two complemented each other very well . And also because Latin meant not learning another alphabet . More than happy to assist and help with anything I can in Latin. My son is starting next year so I am brushing up to help him as well.
I’m on the east coast of Australia time wise so we in the southern hemisphere always have challenges with northern hemisphere time zones! Are you in the LA time zone? What kind of messaging group were you thinking of for JACT? We can see what Polla thinks also when she catches up with this trail of messages!
I am doing Greek noun declensions in 1G now and had a specific question about the declension of ( sorry no Greek keyboard) “kakwv” and emeteros (ours).
Feel free to ask your questions here until we figure out a way to create a group specifically made for JACT users. I wonder if admins could create one on Textkit. All I’ve found so far are threads that are by nature temporary. I don’t even think I can send private messages yet. It’d be helpful, I think, to have a group in which members are all using the same resource or are very familiar with it so they could make references more easily. I’ve been in multiple Facebook and Whatsapp groups, and I meet with two different groups on Zoom and Google Meet every week to read Euripides’ Medea and Plato’s Symposium respectively. So, I’m open to any options; but we’re not allowed to share links yet, so we’ll see. And yes, I’m in the same time zone as LA.
Thank you for your offer to help me in my journey of Latin! I’ve been spending half an hour on it every day, mainly watching the ScorpioMartianus videos made for the LLPSI series on YouTube. I wonder if you know about his videos.
Thanks for sharing your impressions about the Latin in Duolingo. I actually find it difficult to seriously learn a language with Duo, but I like to play with this app because it’s in easy way to keep practising a little bit even when I don’t have time to study seriously…
I can understand that, I feel quite the same but in the opposite way, as I’m trying not slowing down my pursuit of Latin.
I’m trying to catch up.
Actually I don’t know, your idea was to set up some real-time meetings ? Maybe it would be easier to start with some kind of chatroom app , like Messenger ? (I have a few other names in mind, but I don’t know if we’re allowed to share them here).
As for me, I don’t have a fixed schedule yet as I just moved into a new city, and I am still struggling with a bad connexion network (this should be resolved in 2 weeks though).
My time zone is CET, which is also UTC+1. I usually stay up quite late (1am, sometimes 2am) because that’s when I can find quiet time to read or study, but I guess I could arrange some free time somewhere in the day too, when I’m not busy with work or with my daughter, who is currently homeschooled and needs some supervision.
Hi guys, I am here on Enosh’s invitation. My main language is Latin and now i hope to learn some greek on the side. Oh my name is Jun, or Junus for sake of conjugations in Latin.
I have to say I’m very impressed by all the knowledge shared on this forum…!
I’ve been learning languages for a long time (like a hobby) and I know I really like (and need) to study the grammatical rules, that’s what works for me, and that’s what makes me have fun learning… 
I’m a bit of an overthinker I guess 
, and without grammar explanations I feel absolutely lost… Maybe that’s the point of the method, but I want to keep having fun learning, not feel anxious 
. I am the same and the sets of texts I am using are both excellent in terms of their explanations. Do you find being a French speaker helps with the Latin? I am learning Italian and French now and I do find they all reinforce each other. I did French for 5 years at school and only came back to it this year on Duolingo which is very light on grammatical explanations so I read up other sources and make my own notes for the grammar as I go.