As part of my undergraduate studies I decided to take Latin for fun since I had space in my course schedule. I took two semesters of Latin (taking me through the “beginner” level). I’m now currently working on completing a Master’s degree which is requiring me to take a proficiency exam before I am eligible to graduate; I’ve decided to go with Latin even though I took those two semesters years ago (it’s still way more recent than my French courses).
For the exam, I have to submit three Latin texts to the moderator of the exam. He will then select one page from one of these three texts and I will have two hours to translate the text to the best of my ability with only the use of a dictionary as an aid.
I won’t be taking my exam until the spring, but I’d like to have the three texts selected sooner rather than later so I have lots of time to make sure I’m adequately prepared. I’ve tried doing some research to make sure that the texts I submit would be sufficient to demonstrate an intermediate proficiency (ie not too difficult to the point that I set myself up for failure), and I’ve seen various sites suggesting Caesar and Cicero, with a few suggesting Apuleius, Ovid, Pliny, and Livy.
I would really appreciate any advice/recommendations/suggestions that anyone has. Thanks in advance!
Caesar would probably be easiest, followed by Livy. But you could select a speech by Cicero and have a reasonable chance of reading it from beginning to end before the exam. Could you choose a book of Livy, or does it have to be the whole thing (or what’s left of it)? Same with question with Caesar and Ovid–just a book, or the whole Gallic Wars (or Civil Wars)? And other authors, too.
You will have to do some serious refreshing if you took the Latin courses years ago. Don’t expect to translate at sight without a lot of preparation.
You’ll be able to get some help with difficult passages on this site.
I believe that I can submit a specific book/books from a text as my selection instead of the text as a whole.
I’ll admit I’m a little nervous about being prepared for the exam. I’ve been going through my old textbook already to refresh myself on the grammatical structure and vocabulary, as well as locating online resources to assist me. I’m looking at more of the “re-learn by immersion” approach and hoping that working my way through the texts I select will help.
It sounds like a very strange test where the examined can decide what is to be set. What length are the texts one book of Virgil or the whole Aeneid ? What is a text here. One catullus poem a book of Horace odes? Is it all to be prose? I see you mention Ovid so perhaps poetry is allowed.
This seems like trying to do three set books at once. I think you need to seek further clarification about what is expected or permitted. If there are no rules you could select the simplest possible texts. I studied Apuleius and thought that was very simple to read although it was so allusive it was difficult to understand. So that’s immediately a problem in deciding what’s an intermediate text.
I doubt Livy can be read by any kind of immersion method. I doubt any Latin can. Take Hylander’s advice you need a lot of preparation for this enterprise.
Three texts is easy to cram for – which is what you may have to do, depending on your current level of mastery. Read the texts in English until they are coming out of your ears, and review grammar + read the texts in Latin the same amount, going back to the English translation until you fit them together.
Don’t pick too literal a translation. Try to pick a good, readable translation. You may even find out that you recover or pick up a decent amount of Latin from the above process.
If I’m really stumped by a line looking at a translation may help, but usually it just confuses matters. Most published translations are not at all close to the original, the translator usually seems to be more interested in exercising their “creativity” than producing a crib for someone working with the original. The Loeb translations tend to hew somewhat closer to the originals, but not always. Jebb’s translations in his editions are a useful adjunct to his notes. But don’t expect any of the most famous published translations to help you in any way to understand the original (Fitzgerald, Fagles, etc).
But speaking of which: has anybody seen the new-ish Iliad translation done by Caroline Alexander (2015). Take a look “inside” at Amazon and see if you don’t agree that its the closest to the Greek you’ve ever seen.
Not quite sure what an “intermediate” Latin text would look like and not knowing the content of the two courses you took, I nevertheless suggest you take a look at Eutropius (Historiae Romanae Breviarium) and Valleius Paterculus (Historiae Romanae). I have read some but not all of both. I would go with Caesar as the third. I would be curious to find out what others think about Eutropius and Valleius Paterculus.
IMHO, Cicero is hardly intermediate, but as Hylander says, you could read and know one of his speeches, especially since some outside help (Steadman, for example) exists for some of the speeches.
Like Seneca2008, I doubt immersion will crack Livy.
I only took quick looks at them on a break but I’d probably advise against Eutropius if the degree of difficulty is taken into account at all. The beginning of Valleius Paterculus was impenetrable without knowledge of the mythology so I can’t comment much on that one.
ed: I looked at the Paterculus again, taking more time, and it’s not that abstruse at all given Wiktionary and spending a few more minutes on it than I had, though the mythology was still lost on me with the uxoris scelere, and there was one other tricky bit in the first section. It’s definitely more sophisticated than Eutropius but not as much as Livy; it’s more appropriate for a translation exam than Eutropius certainly.
Thanks in advance!