Father Suitbert H. Siedl's Latin Course?

[jmr_1985]

I’ve been searching for a home study Latin course to learn to pray in Latin. It doesn’t seem like there are a lot of options to learn Ecclesiastical Latin? I stumbled upon this course:

COURSE ON THE LIVING LATIN LANGUAGE, Second Edition, Emended and Enlarged, by Father Suitbert H. Siedl, of St. John of the Cross, O.C.D. One volume with twenty-six compact discs. This course is the fruit of a nearly lifetime-long experience in teaching and using Latin as a spoken language. It is entirely different from other available instructional materials in method and approach to the language; you learn from the very beginning to think in Latin and to avoid the usual method of “deciphering and decoding” by grammatical analysis and by constructing “translations.” Moreover, this course is based on the obvious assumption that language is an acoustic phenomenon and has to enter into our mind through the ears and not through the eyes, and that our memory has to keep the sound of the words and not the image of a printed text; therefore the compact discs which go with the Cursus are an essential part of this method.

Here is the link: hieronymus.us.com/Venalia/IndEngl.htm

Has anyone used this course? Thanks.

JMR

 

[DaveBj]

As Data (ST-TNG) would say, “Intriguing.” That looks similar to the Pimsleur method, which I’ve tried in Modern Hebrew and found quite useful.

This course is the kind of think about which I would say, let me try it, and if it is what you say it is, I’ll pay the $100. I will be interested to read what is said by anyone who has used it.

 

[glendab]

Hello! The BEST course hands down better than none is Wheelock’s Latin, 7th Ed. It is great. I’ve been through two others that weren’t so good who I won’t mention here, but got much better results with Wheelock’s. The It is the one they use most in schools today and I highly suggest you go to a place like Amazon and buy the used copy. The actual title is this: Wheelock’s Latin 7th Edition, by Frederic M. Wheelock and Richard A. LaFleur. I have the workbook too which is most helpful. I couldn’t find the Teacher’s guide with the answers for the tests and stuff but it is out there somewhere. I stopped looking.

I good Latin/English dictionary is a must too. Buying used makes it a cheaper thing and if you’re lucky someone’s already done the high-liting for you. Another item that is reeeeeeally helpful and a MUST is the SPARK’S CHART for Latin Grammar. It is a two-sided laminated folding chart that show ALL the possible conjugations and declensions plus some other useful handy stuff. Otherwise you get to make your own charts for the Conjugations, etc.

I’m still learning my Latin, but it is fun and meaningful. I like praying in Latin and do so at home.

I sincerely hope you continue trying and am glad I could help here.

Glenda

 

[DaveBj]

Like I said, I can’t speak about the CD course that the OP was questioning, but Wheelock’s (classical Latin) and Collins’ A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin are both highly regarded.

 

[Chatter163]

This is an excellent course. I have heard much about it from people who took it. It has been around for twenty-plus years with the St. Jerome family.

 

[tee_eff_em]

I’ve been searching for a home study Latin course to learn to pray in Latin. It doesn’t seem like there are a lot of options to learn Ecclesiastical Latin? I stumbled upon this course:

Here is the link: hieronymus.us.com/Venalia/IndEngl.htm

Has anyone used this course? Thanks.

JMR

I acquired this course a number of years ago*, as my initial attempt to recover my “lost” high school Latin. I confess it was not the *best *tool I found for that purpose, but I did eventually come to value it, even if it did take a few false starts before I was able to work through the entire course.

One of the best side effects was my tendency to imitate Fr Siedl’s baritone while practicing pronunciation.

I did pay a somewhat lesser price, perhaps equivalent adjusted for inflation, who knows ? The price above does not seem out of line when compared with similar materials, eg Rosetta Stone or Bolchazy-Carducci’s Artes Latinae.

(* So long ago it was not CDs but *cassette tapes *-- Who remembers cassette tapes? )

tee

 

[DaveBj]

snip

(* So long ago it was not CDs but *cassette tapes *-- Who remembers cassette tapes? )

tee

Heck, I remember wax cylinders

 

[ProVobis]

(* So long ago it was not CDs but *cassette tapes *-- Who remembers cassette tapes? )

tee

I have some that came with the 2-volume “The New Missal Latin,” which appears to be a reprint of something that came out in 1941 by Mount St. John Press. It even has an imprimatur on it, by Archbishop John T. McNicholas, Aug 5, 1941.