How fluent are you in Latin?

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EphelDuath

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I’ve been studying Latin on-and-off for several years now, and I can very barely read some of the Gallican Psalter (I still need to consult with the dictionary for a lot of the vocabulary that I have yet to devote to memory, but for the most part I feel like I have the grammar down). I’d really like to be able to just pick up a Breviarium Monasticum or maybe some complex text by St. Augustine and read through it fluently, but I’m barely above novice-level.

It’s frustrating that I feel like I’ve put so much effort into Latin and yet and I’m nowhere near my goals. And – It really blows my mind to think that every Latin-rite priest prior to Vatican II had to be fluent enough in Latin to pray all eight canonical hours and celebrate Mass in Latin every day.

So, CAFers, would you like to share what your skill level in Latin is, and how long it took you to get there? 🙂

God bless!
 
I can speak a little bit of Latin. I don’t know much vocabulary. I also have a few prayers memorized. I can pronounce the words correctly. Sometimes, I pray the Liturgy of the Hours in Latin. 👍 I’m not sure if I should vote “Barely a word,” or “Fairly low.” :o
 
bben15 said:
I can speak a little bit of Latin. I don’t know much vocabulary. I also have a few prayers memorized. I can pronounce the words correctly. Sometimes, I pray the Liturgy of the Hours in Latin. 👍 I’m not sure if I should vote “Barely a word,” or “Fairly low.” :o
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I think I’ll vote “Barely a word.” 👍
 
My family occasionally recites one or two decades of the rosary in Latin (and I also know the Tantum Ergo and some Mass responses), but not any other prayers.
 
I took three years of formal classical Latin at school and I feel that I can read it pretty well but I do stumble through some of the writings that I am not as familiar with. I can like sit down and read a few pages of Latin but I still have to look up a few words along the way.

God bless!
 
Medium. I could manage with a dictionary and a grammar. Currently, I’ve only learnt 1st and 2nd Declension, and simple present tense for 1st and 2nd Conjugations.
 
I put “barely a word”, although I understand Latin roots in English words, as well as knowing pronunciation/prayers.
 
Took it all four years of high school, and can honestly say I truly regret having wasted my time on something utterly useless. 😦 Moreover, I remember virtually nothing of it.

The other language options were German, Spanish, and French. Four years of any one of those would have enriched my life.
 
Let’s just say if I got lost in Rome in about 20 B.C., I wouldn’t be able to find my way back to the hotel! :eek:
 
My pronunciation is okay (I can’t do the trilled R)
My reading speed I’d okay
Comprehension is good
My vocabulary is pathetic
I can’t come up with an original sentence in less than 2 minutes.
My grammar is pathetic (Declanations! Declanations everywhere!)

All in all, I have a long way to go before being able to even think about carrying on a conversation, even in a forum like set up.
 
Schatzl said:
All in all, I have a long way to go before being able to even think about carrying on a conversation, even in a forum like set up.
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For me, it’s always like that. I’ve learned parts of three languages, and I’ve never been very good at listening. In comparison to being able to read German without translating it into English in my head.
 
I can pray most of the Rosary in Latin. And can ““read”” latin. Meaning i know the pronunciation, but not what the words mean. So i voted “barely a word:”
 
In Italy we studied Latin in middle school and high school, so I have an unfair advantage 😛
 
I have just completed my first year of taking Latin. So here’s a basic rundown of what I’ve learned in my Ecclesiastical Latin Course:

-Got the first three declensions down completely and memorized (4th and 5th are manageable, but I might need a dictionary to help me on those like conatus and dies)
-Got all 4 conjugations down, along with present, imperfect, perfect, future active and passive as well for all of those(I could understand the pluperfect, future perfect and subjunctive and all those other great stuff albeit with some help from the trusty dictionary)
-Got a fair size vocabulary down, for the most part I can get the gender and lexical form for most of those.
-I can read Latin quite well, but doesn’t mean I understand it off the bat. Most Latin texts for me are incomprehensible (I can make out words but not the meaning of the whole sentence) at first, but after a while of rereading, I can usually get the gist of what it’s trying to say. The Vulgate is surprisingly one of the easier texts to understand, and for the most part is all comprehensible. I have many prayers memorized, and I can understand them completely e.g. Rosary, Memorare, Actiones Nostras, many responses to the Latin NO Mass.
-Reciting the Latin Office is not at all to difficult, but it’s not as smooth and mellow as it could be. I wouldn’t have too much trouble serving a Tridentine Mass after a lot a practice.
-I cannot have a straight conversation with someone in Latin. That’s too much!
 
I was introduced to latin at 12 and I could easily translate prayers from latin ro english but for non religious texts I do need the dictionary for meanings but I can pronounce it comfortably. Haha then again I am a total nerd
 
Catholic1954 said:
Let’s just say if I got lost in Rome in about 20 B.C., I wouldn’t be able to find my way back to the hotel! :eek:
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You would eventually. No one in 20 B.C. was born knowing Latin.

Unlike the Anglophones who have known English since birth. 😃
 
EphelDuath said:
I’ve been studying Latin on-and-off for several years now, and I can very barely read some of the Gallican Psalter (I still need to consult with the dictionary for a lot of the vocabulary that I have yet to devote to memory, but for the most part I feel like I have the grammar down). I’d really like to be able to just pick up a Breviarium Monasticum or maybe some complex text by St. Augustine and read through it fluently, but I’m barely above novice-level.

It’s frustrating that I feel like I’ve put so much effort into Latin and yet and I’m nowhere near my goals. And --** It really blows my mind to think that every** Latin-rite priest prior to Vatican II had to be fluent enough in Latin to pray all eight canonical hours and celebrate Mass in Latin every day.

So, CAFers, would you like to share what your skill level in Latin is, and how long it took you to get there? 🙂

God bless!
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But I question whether this was the case. My understanding is that in some (many? most?) instances it was a matter of simply reciting Latin words and phrases with varying degrees of understanding depending on the familiarity of the prayer or passage.

.
 
on_the_hill said:
Took it all four years of high school, and can honestly say I truly regret having wasted my time on something utterly useless. 😦 Moreover, I remember virtually nothing of it.

The other language options were German, Spanish, and French. Four years of any one of those would have enriched my life.
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Useless? I would have loved to take Latin throughout High School

I love Latin and love studying it.

At the same time I am discerning religious life and will need it specially if I join the FSSP.
 
felsguy said:
But I question whether this was the case. My understanding is that in some (many? most?) instances it was a matter of simply reciting Latin words and phrases with varying degrees of understanding depending on the familiarity of the prayer or passage.

.
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That’s a good point.

And one can understand everything relating to Cicero or Virgil but not understand any of the meanings behind the Latin Mass, Latin prayers, or the Latin Vulgate. Or vice versa.
 
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