Latin For Beginners

[zurcminister]

I had the Latin as a subject during college and it started by passion for learning other languages forme. I think the importance of which was it was the starting point of my admiration for latin as the mother of most languages in the world and would be recommended to be learned before venturing into other languages.

[zurcminister]

Latin masses are being celebrated in the Vatican where the seat of Christianity is located and would therefore be solemn and the celebration would be very special for would be visitors there. I would like to experience that one time and I really would have to understand Latin at the very least to be able to appreciate it.

[Chris_A]

I only hear about the Latin language being used in church mostly on the songs and that depends on the liturgical calendar of the Catholics. I am curious to know if Latin is still being used on a day to day conversation.

I do not think Latin is used day to day anywhere in world anymore, but I think it would be really cool to learn and master this language and then having a conversation with someone of the same skill level on the street. I think it would definitely be a had turner.

[lushlala]

@Chris_A...I can believe that, because there aren't many people known to speak the language. I only know of one person, a lawyer, who's know to speak it relatively well here. I guess they have to take it as part of their training.

[Chris_A]

@Chris_A...I can believe that, because there aren't many people known to speak the language. I only know of one person, a lawyer, who's know to speak it relatively well here. I guess they have to take it as part of their training.

I think so too. Lawyers usually have to learn a bit of latin as part of their education, but it is really cool that the person you know actually knows how to speak it. I think some latin teachers from high school know how to speak it as well. But there are very few people all in all, which makes it a really cool language in my opinion.

[lushlala]

I think so too. Lawyers usually have to learn a bit of latin as part of their education, but it is really cool that the person you know actually knows how to speak it. I think some latin teachers from high school know how to speak it as well. But there are very few people all in all, which makes it a really cool language in my opinion.

I agree it's such a cool language; so ancient yet still relevant in some professions. It's a great shame that it doesn't seem very popular, which makes me wonder if it's in part due to its complexity. I used to work for one of the biggest exams board in the UK, and its schools offered a wide array of 'modern foreign languages' among them Latin (I know, but that's what they called them!) Latin wasn't very popular among high school students. The most popular ones were French, Spanish, German, Italian, Hindi and Urdu (no particular order). The real surprise for me was both Mandarin and Cantonese, which seemed to grow in popularity year on year!

[Chris_A]

 

I agree it's such a cool language; so ancient yet still relevant in some professions. It's a great shame that it doesn't seem very popular, which makes me wonder if it's in part due to its complexity. I used to work for one of the biggest exams board in the UK, and its schools offered a wide array of 'modern foreign languages' among them Latin (I know, but that's what they called them!) Latin wasn't very popular among high school students. The most popular ones were French, Spanish, German, Italian, Hindi and Urdu (no particular order). The real surprise for me was both Mandarin and Cantonese, which seemed to grow in popularity year on year!

I can definitely understand why Latin wasn`t popular in schools. It is a very complex language and very hard to learn. Especially for people, whose mother tongue is Germanic based, or has nothing to do with Latin languages in general. I know Romanian, and my language is very related to Latin, and I still had problems learning the language in school. So I can only imagine how hard it would be for a Norwegian, for example, to learn it. As for Mandarin and Cantonese being popular, well, I would love to learn those languages as well. I just love Chinese culture in general.

[zurcminister]

I want to learn Latin too because it is one of the mothers of a lot of our languages these days and learning would definitely be an achievement. It is also used in the Vatican and other Latin speaking countries. I want to hear such in the future and would like to visit Rome and Vatican for this particular reason. I am now hoping to learn the basics so that I will be able to understand what is gonna said in the mass that I will be attending over there in the future.

[lushlala]

I can definitely understand why Latin wasn`t popular in schools. It is a very complex language and very hard to learn. Especially for people, whose mother tongue is Germanic based, or has nothing to do with Latin languages in general. I know Romanian, and my language is very related to Latin, and I still had problems learning the language in school. So I can only imagine how hard it would be for a Norwegian, for example, to learn it. As for Mandarin and Cantonese being popular, well, I would love to learn those languages as well. I just love Chinese culture in general.

it is very complex, isn't it?! which is why I have massive respect for those who seem to take to it like a duck to water! It must just be people with a natural aptitude for languages. I mean take the guy from my country for instance, whose language is as far removed from Latin based languages as you can possibly imagine, for instance! It's totally crazy, but equally as impressive. how I wish I had that ability LOL

I hope you do realise your dream of learning Mandarin and Cantonese some day, and get to learn something of their culture too  Good luck with that, I think you have the ability to do so!

 

[Honest_Abe]

I've always wanted to learn Latin, as it was the language of the Intellectuals in Europe long after it began to decline as a conversational language. I always wondered if studying Latin would make the other Romance languages (and English) make more sense, or if it would be better to study Latin after having mastered French and Spanish (both languages I have moderate understanding in).

[kmars]

Thank you so much for making yourself available to teach us. You are correct when you say that we need someone beside us to help us to stay on the focused path. There is this saying that 2 is better than one. I do the Biblical studies and one of the main languages of my studies is Latin.

[kmars]

I want to learn Latin too because it is one of the mothers of a lot of our languages these days and learning would definitely be an achievement. It is also used in the Vatican and other Latin speaking countries. I want to hear such in the future and would like to visit Rome and Vatican for this particular reason. I am now hoping to learn the basics so that I will be able to understand what is gonna said in the mass that I will be attending over there in the future.

Indeed Rome is the destination to go. You know with all these modern technologies and means of communication, it's not very hard to learn a language at all. Last year I spent 6 months dealing with customers of a different language than my native one, and in no time I was speaking like them. All it takes is a trip to or a contact with a different language culture.

[jesolis]

Latin is super interesting! I took a few Latin courses in high school but I didn't really learn anything. My sister though has been studying Latin for a long time and she is able to speak fluently. Are there any courses online that you would recommend to learn Latin? I am interested in courses where you learn at your own pace and have your own schedule. Please let me know, thanks!

[lushlala]

Wow your sister can speak fluent Latin!? Kudos to her! Maybe she could start you off with the basics, on which you can then build more skills. Sadly, I don't know of any online resources through which you can learn, not that I've ever looked. Maybe you could do a quick Google search to see what's out there. Good luck

[mooray]

I have always been interested in learning Latin especially because I am doing a course that comes with a lot of Latin origin words. Matter fact, it is not just law but also English has a lot of Latin derived words. I think it about time that I make time.

[jesolis]

Hello everyone, hope all of you are doing well! I have always been hesitant to learn Latin because many people believe that it is not as useful as other languages. I still think Latin is quite awesome. What are your thought on this? Do you think learning Latin is worth the time and effort? Please leave your comments down below!

[KimmyMarkks]

I took Latin in high school for 4 years.  I still am unable to speak the language.  I think the most beneficial part of taking Latin classes was how it helped me understand how the Spanish and Italian derives from it.  I also have to say I believe it helped me on the word comp section of the SATs.  

[KimmyMarkks]

I took Latin for 4 years.  One of the best parts of the class was learning about the culture of those who spoke it.  My class was fortunate enough to go to Italy and visit the ruins of Pompeii.  While I can't speak Latin very well I do remember a lot of the culture I learned and the class gave me opportunities to visit places I would never have been able to.

[Heda]

At my high school, it was obligatory to take Latin for three years! :))

[xTinx]

I had to learn a bit of latin for my law subjects back in college. Nowadays, learning Latin isn't so useful to me. My work, the environment I'm in and the people surrounding me are all for English. You catch a wift of latin once in a blue moon but such occasions are rare. Many of those who commented here mentioned the Catholic Church and how it's still using latin to hear masses. That's a point in contention, though, because majority of Catholic churches hear mass in both English and the native language or dialect. Latin is used by basilicas, the Vatican and traditional church organizations whenever they celebrate an important event in the liturgical year. But that's basically about it.

[harpy]

Wow! I heard Latin is not that easy to learn. I would like to know how to speak in Latin but I don't know where to start.

 

[NATASHA]

I think that Latin is a beautiful language to learn and it would be fantastic to have this. I went to a mass in Latin once and the nuns used to speak in Latin but it is an old language used in historical times and I WOULD love to learn it

[XLS]

This is really cool, it is awesome that so many languages are being used. I'm not too familiar with the Latin language but am always open to learning.  What language would you say it is most comparable to?  

[Alex_F]

Amazing! I'm so glad there's an outlet here for Latin learning. If you don't think it's a useful language, you don't have to look too far to realize you are mistaken. It has helped me greatly in my understanding of English. It also helped me in my physiology degree because so many scientific words are rooted in Latin. Thanks for doing this!

[aleshc]

I always found Latin to be an interesting language, since one of my native languages (Italian) is directly related to it. It's too bad that it's a dead language and you can't really actively use it with someone, unless that person teaches Latin or something. I know it's used in Law, the human anatomy and church..but that's about it. I used an app on my android phone that translated English phrases into Latin and sometimes I could understand a couple of words, since Italian derives from it.