Learning Latin

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Just found this thread, so my apologies for replying so late.

I have been a Latin tutor and translator for about twenty years. I just want to offer my help to anyone interested in learning Latin. My primary area of study is medieval history, so I read a lot of Latin from that era. I have also taught Classical Latin. Recently I translated/interpreted the papal funeral and installation Masses for one of the major networks.

If you have any questions about Latin, please pm or post. I think Latin is very important for Catholics, and is a handy language to know.
 
I just received the book: LATIN GRAMMAR by Cora C. Scanlon from amazon.com yesterday and I am very pleased with it.

I only had two years of Latin in the 7th & 8th grade, plus what I learned from traditional Tridentine Masses, so I needed to brush up, and this book is excellent so far! Direct and to the point, aimed at the Latin found in Missals and Masses. 👍
 
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severinus:
Just found this thread, so my apologies for replying so late.

I have been a Latin tutor and translator for about twenty years. I just want to offer my help to anyone interested in learning Latin. My primary area of study is medieval history, so I read a lot of Latin from that era. I have also taught Classical Latin. Recently I translated/interpreted the papal funeral and installation Masses for one of the major networks.

If you have any questions about Latin, please pm or post. I think Latin is very important for Catholics, and is a handy language to know.
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Well thank you very much. Those of us learning will remember that!
 
I’m working through Collins at the mo and finding it a great text for self-teaching for me. A big caveat that should apply to it, though, is that it assumes you already know a lot of stylistics / grammar terms, often unnecessarily (like, why use the adjective “pronominal” which will confuse many people rather than re-phrasing your sentence to say “pronoun” which many people understand!).

I find “inductive” texts very annoying and patronising, so the fact that this is definately not one was a boon for me, but possibly a stumbling block for others. I learnt NT Greek from Dobson and found his inductive style infuriating. (Yeah, I know that’s an odd way round to learn the two languages).
 
For anyone who may be interested in Latin, and particularly Ecclesiastical Latin:

A collaborative self-study group is preparing to work through John F Collins’s *Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin. *More information about the course can be found at Collins2006 Ecclesiastical Latin Study Group. More information about similar collaborative self-study groups can be found at The LatinStudy List.

This course will only happen if there are sufficient participants (hence the ~2 month lead-time of this announcment). If you think you might be interested, I strongly encourage you to check it out.

tee
 
I use Latina Christiana DVD’s for the kids. Yes, everyone tells me the accent is horrible (the teacher is from the south) but we don’t care. The kids are learning a lot more than they would from me!
 
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Lux_et_veritas:
I can’t help but think that for those of us who were raised in the post-Vatican 2 era to want to learn Latin, it must be the work of the Holy Spirit. It makes no sense whatsoever for this desire or calling to learn the language, unless this thirst comes from God wanting it preserved.

I stuffed the desire into a closet some 30 years ago because I thought I had to. Not any more!
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I am only 28 and I love Latin (the reason I chose my parish was because it celebrates mass almost entirely in Latin even though it is a bit of a drive). Since I am a recent convert, I have only been going to mass since the new year and already I have the Kyrie, the Pater Noster, and most of the Credo memorized (and I know what the Latin words mean, it is not rote memorization). And following along with the missal is easy too when you have the English and Latin on facing pages.

Next I think I will try to tackle the Rosary.
 
I had the great good fortune to be in high school and then college pre-V2. I had four years of Latin in HS (by choice) and only had to take one more in college when I was doing my premed. I had the most wonderful nun who taught Latin and she was also the English Lit teacher. The year we read Julius Caesar in Latin, we were also reading it in English Lit. Sister made the characters come alive. We also had to memorize the first paragraphs of the Canterbury Tales in Old English.

My old Sunday Missal has the Latin Mass in one column on the page and the English on the other. Made it very easy to keep up. I must admit I miss the Latin Mass. There is one twice a month but it is 60 miles away. One of these Sundays I am going to go.
 
I notice Collins has been mentioned quite a few times. I just wanted to let people know that if they are interested in that resource they can purchase it through the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, thus helping out an apostolate dedicated to Latin Liturgy while buying a book they were going to get anyway.

fssp.com/main/publications.html#Latin
 
I_A_:
Kyrie Eleison is greek for “Lord have mercy.”
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I know these are silly questions, but…

How would one say “Lord have mercy” in Latin?

Before the Council, when the Latin Mass was celebrated in Greece (Latin Rite Catholic Church), was the Kyrie said in Greek? Or in Latin?
 
Dr. Bombay:
How would one say “Lord have mercy” in Latin?
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Domine miserere nostri (Lord have mercy on us). From the Vulgate.

I would assume that Domine miserere would be Lord have mercy.
 
If you want something for absolute beginners, that will teach you basic grammar, noun, verb and adjective declensions (uuurrrggghhh… they’re horrible), etc, use what i use:
Latin for Dummies.

The title suits me as well. Will it suit you, that is the question…
 
Hey my friend…one thing I can tell you for sure is that Ecclesiastical Latin differs from Classical Latin…courses in Classical Latin may still leave you lacking knowledge in Ecclesiastical Latin…I would recommend trying to learn both…some great books to start for learning Ecclesiastical Latin would be:

“A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin” by Collins
and
“Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin” by Stelten

God Bless and Good Luck
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Lux_et_veritas:
I’ve been attending Latin Mass and for whatever reason, I like it. I’m 42 and have wanted to learn Latin since I was 16 and tried to self-teach myself (but the book wasnn’t written for self learning). And I was born at the time of Vatican 2 and never heard Latin, per se.

I want to know if anyone has knowledge of a good self-teaching Latin book. It’s one thing to pray in Latin. It’s even better to understand what you’re praying. It’s funny how much I do understand just by association with the prayers in English. But I want to go further.

Go figure :whacky: - Why would I be interested in Latin?
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tee_eff_em:
For anyone who may be interested in Latin, and particularly Ecclesiastical Latin:

A collaborative self-study group is preparing to work through John F Collins’s *Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin. *More information about the course can be found at Collins2006 Ecclesiastical Latin Study Group. More information about similar collaborative self-study groups can be found at The LatinStudy List.

This course will only happen if there are sufficient participants (hence the ~2 month lead-time of this announcment). If you think you might be interested, I strongly encourage you to check it out.
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The gentleman who will be coordinating this course through the *Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin *has announced that there appears to be sufficient interest and the course will go on as scheduled, beginning in March. (Which means there is plenty of time for stragglers to get the book and join in as well 😉 )

I shall try to post at least one more reminder about this resource before this course begins. But I might forget – If you think you may be interested, do something today to commit to it; don’t wait for me to remind you later.

tee
 
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tee_eff_em:
The gentleman who will be coordinating this course through the *Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin *has announced that there appears to be sufficient interest and the course will go on as scheduled, beginning in March. (Which means there is plenty of time for stragglers to get the book and join in as well 😉 )

I shall try to post at least one more reminder about this resource before this course begins. But I might forget – If you think you may be interested, do something today to commit to it; don’t wait for me to remind you later.
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This seems as good a time as any to make good on my threat and post a reminder that an Ecclesiastical Latin study group is about to begin on the LatinStudy mailing list.

tee
 
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tee_eff_em:
This seems as good a time as any to make good on my threat and post a reminder that an Ecclesiastical Latin study group is about to begin on the LatinStudy mailing list.

tee
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I joined that group when he announced it in January. I have already gotten started on the lessons and it’s going pretty well. I like the Latin Study groups because there is no pressure and everyone there is very helpful.
 
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