The Best way to learn Ecclesiastical Latin?

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So I’ve been going to the Extraordinary form of the Mass for quite some time now, about a year, and the immersion in and of itself has taught me a few key phrases. However there’s still a lot to learn and I’d like to not have to look over at the English side of my missal most of the time. And I’d LOVE to actually be able to understand the Mass without having to read the whole time. I mean I could attend and pretty much know what’s going on but I’d like to be able to understand more.

So recently someone refereed me to “A Primer on Ecclesiastical Latin” by John F. Collins. It seems to have some drills and stuff which I don’t know how effective they will be as I’m only teaching myself. I’m gonna give it a shot though. Are there any other books to easily teach yourself Latin?

Also as far as Latin-English/English-Latin Dictionaries go; I think I heard Cassell’s is a good one (there’s one from 1977 and another from 1987 on amazon). There’s also the Bantam, the Oxford and others. What would you all recommend?

(I know most likely there are similar threads here, I apologize in advance.)
 
Tonaw said:
So I’ve been going to the Extraordinary form of the Mass for quite some time now, about a year, and the immersion in and of itself has taught me a few key phrases. However there’s still a lot to learn and I’d like to not have to look over at the English side of my missal most of the time. And I’d LOVE to actually be able to understand the Mass without having to read the whole time. I mean I could attend and pretty much know what’s going on but I’d like to be able to understand more.

So recently someone refereed me to “A Primer on Ecclesiastical Latin” by John F. Collins. It seems to have some drills and stuff which I don’t know how effective they will be as I’m only teaching myself. I’m gonna give it a shot though. Are there any other books to easily teach yourself Latin?

Also as far as Latin-English/English-Latin Dictionaries go; I think I heard Cassell’s is a good one (there’s one from 1977 and another from 1987 on amazon). There’s also the Bantam, the Oxford and others. What would you all recommend?

(I know most likely there are similar threads here, I apologize in advance.)
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Collins is the only textbook I know specifically on Ecclesiastical Latin. I have taught from it. I don’t know how it would be to teach yourself, but I’d think you’d be able to do so. The question is whether it would be better to use a classical textbook like Wheelock. The disadvantage is that the vocabulary prepares you mostly to read about Roman soldiers, but ecclesiastical Latin builds on classical Latin and is not a fundamentally different language–there are some differences grammatically in some of the medieval texts but I’m not even sure Collins addresses those. In other words, if you study classical Latin you will need to learn some specialized vocabulary when you move to religious texts, but that won’t be hard. And I don’t really like how Collins introduces grammatical concepts. I don’t remember the details, but I remember have some problem with teaching from the text. Wheelock is a time-tested method and you probably might as well just start there.

Edwin
 
Tonaw said:
(I know most likely there are similar threads here, I apologize in advance.)
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[thread=121562]LATIN: Language Study Resources[/thread]

also some here:

[post=2538217]Latin resources[/post]

tee
 
tee_eff_em said:
[thread=121562]LATIN: Language Study Resources[/thread]

also some here:

[post=2538217]Latin resources[/post]

tee
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Whoa! That is thorough! I’ll be searching through this for awhile. lol. Thanks!
Oh hey, do you know of any source for Latin names? Like I know a few but I couldn’t find a good source. My name is reeeally Catholic so I figured it would be easy to find out. ( Anthony Christopher, confirmation name is Patrick)
 
Tonaw said:
Are there any other books to easily teach yourself Latin?
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If you want easy and fun, I’d recommend the Lingua Latina series: focusbookstore.com/lingualatina.aspx.

Here is a link to a description of the first textbook in the series: focusbookstore.com/04208.aspx

What’s neat about Lingua Latina is its method of instruction: it’s a basic Latin course that’s** entirely in the target language. **All of the various Latin grammatical concepts and vocabulary words are acquired by the student simply by reading Latin sentences, without ever relying on anything at all written in English. (Not only is this quite possible, it’s a lot less hard work than other methods. You learn something in practice first, and then later, if you wish, focus on why it works that way from a theoretical perspective. Most language courses will teach the theory, and then focus on how to make it practical. In a sense, it’s like children who first learn a language simply by interacting with it, and then learn all the formal stuff in school. This is why this method is called “natural,” although obviously, it’s only a rough comparison.)

To quote from the above links:
Students first learn grammar and vocabulary intuitively through extended contextual reading and an innovative system of marginal notes. It is the only textbook currently available that gives students the opportunity to learn Latin without resorting to translation, but allows them to think in the language.
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Again, I would highly recommend this series; and in fact, completing Pars I would be a perfect primer to THEN go and approach a textbook like the Collins one you mention, or maybe something like Wheelock’s.

But I can’t emphasize enough, that Orberg’s method in *Lingua Latina *is absolutely without parallel in any other language learning method I’ve ever seen. Simply by reading text and reflecting on it, after a year’s time you should have very solid Latin reading skills, and you should have a great capacity to think in the language at a basic level.

It’s also far more light-hearted and enjoyable than more traditional methods, which frankly are designed for and best utilized by students in a classroom setting.
 
ProVobis said:
I usually go in the handmissal to the feast day of that saint, if there is any. The name should be in the collect of the Mass. On March 17, for example, the Latin name is Patricium (this would be in the accusative case).

And don’t overlook the flashcards.

quizlet.com/subject/collins-ecclesiastical-latin/
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Ooh, thanks for that link!

To the OP, bear in mind that language acquisition and maintenance is a very time-intensive project, especially if you’re expecting to reach a level of proficiency that would allow you to understand the EF Mass.
 
ProVobis said:
I usually go in the handmissal to the feast day of that saint, if there is any. The name should be in the collect of the Mass. On March 17, for example, the Latin name is Patricium (this would be in the accusative case).

And don’t overlook the flashcards.

quizlet.com/subject/collins-ecclesiastical-latin/
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link, Pro Vobis:thumbsup:

Are there any CD’s & or DVD’s to help out with the pronounciation? Thanks:D

+PAX
 
Latin can be difficult to learn compared to languages like Spanish or French because Latin is highly inflected.

Whereas in languages like Spanish and French, only the verbs change their form; in Latin both verbs and nouns change.

Because of this, most learning methods involve more reading. Getting a descent textbook (Wheelock’s Latin is popular) and working through it would be good, and then you can polish your ecclesial accent.
 
Megan7 said:
Thanks for the link, Pro Vobis:thumbsup:

Are there any CD’s & or DVD’s to help out with the pronounciation? Thanks:D

+PAX
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Bolchazy-Carducci’s *Artes Latine *says it teaches Ecclesiastical pronunciation, in addition to restored Classical. (I have no direct experience of it)

I do have experience of, and recommend, products from the Familia Sancti Hieronymi

tee
 
Cool, thank you all for the sources. Now one more thing, is there a source online, like some sort of comprehensive list that contains many Catholic Latin phrases and others for common use sayings? Like for example “God Bless” etc.
 
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