Salvete Omnes! Thought I’d make a latin masterpost as I wasn’t sure how many resources there were on tumblr for latin…? Just some tips and resources for ppl starting out! Any questions, feel free to ask me!
THIS IS A POST for ppl starting out, currently learning click here (once i get round to it eep sorry EDIT : I’m sorry but I don’t think I will be able to get round to it any time soon :( ! If you have any questions though as a current learner, send me an ask like ‘yo i’m learning latin, any tips’ and i’ll pop down a few pointers! I just don’t have much time to make a proper master post sorry <3
Some tips and resources for you lovelies
Cambridge Latin course (the main textbooks I used in my five years of Latin) have some free online resources here that complement their course but might be worth checking out as a taster! Stories and such for translation! (all words have a translation so that saves time for ppl just starting though I don’t recommend relying on it if you want to build up your vocab)
You don’t have to learn how to speak it [no speaking exams i think if you wanna take it for a qualification] but general tips: C is said like a K eg. cepit (he/she/it threw) is not said sepit , it’s said kepit (this is actually really annoying because julius caesar = see-zerr in my mind yet technically it should be more like kaiser i know weird)
Harry Potter cool stuff! Like ‘Expecto Patronum’ = I wait for/expect a patron/protector and it’s v. cool because patronus is the normal form and patronum is the accusative form as the ‘waiting’ is being done to it. Languages are cool. [Sibyls were oracles so Sibyll Trelawny makes sense!] [Also there’s a latin version of HP so.]
No capital letters expect for names!! So that makes them easy to recognise!! :)
Tenses and declensions are v. important in latin!! Word order doesn’t make a great difference in terms of translation (though verb tends to go at end of a sentence) so you gotta know and learn your tenses and declensions.
[O S T MUS TIS NT] reciting tenses out loud is very useful for remembering! We had to recite the present, imperfect, perfect tenses at the start of each lesson
Declensions are these cool things that sort things into families (bit like french but easier tbh) - you can recognise which declension from the ending of the word most times (gen rules : 1st declension female, 2nd male, 3rd the whatever they want pot)
Derivations are your friend! e.g. canis = dog aka canine, hortus = garden aka horticulture! Helpful for remembering vocab! Make links in your brain and the meaning will follow!
A website that I found that seems legit and a good starting point for ppl who have need some structure as to where to start ALSO THEIR REFERENCE CHARTS!!! IMPORTANT!!!
If you know a romance language, like spanish + french, then you might see links between the languages! like the verb être in french has a similar pattern to esse (to be) in latin. Useful for reinforcing both languages (and latin is the root of these languages so… :D)
As with any language, practice practice!!!
Another website that links some good resources [not all of them work as bit outdated – with this though as long as links work, the stuff won’t be ‘incorrect’ because it’s old… like latin is v. old language lol don’t worry]
Handouts on grammar, vocab etc that I wish I had had… the exercises (scroll down!!!!) may be interesting for self learners!!
Also, don’t worry about ë / ē (dots and lines over words) they’re mainly to help with speaking and you don’t need to consider them when trying to learn to read latin
ALSO WRITING LATIN IS RATHER COMPLICATED (easy sentences are manageable, just don’t try to write essays XD) STICK TO TRANSLATING TEXTS FIRST to build up your vocab and get your grammar good!!
Latin wiktionary This is in latin and kind of intimidating but you can always just bathe in the beauty that is the latin language.
Here is a vocab tester [and also gives free rice for every correct answer what’s not to like]
A very neat website (linked to main page because it also has also ancient languages resources if you are interested) that has resource lists [way better than any i could make and also gives a description of the resource ] that you should check out!! [again where WAS THIS when i was learning latin…? obviously didn’t use all the resources i could have had access to *grrrr*]
Okay this post is getting long! I’ll make a post for ppl currently learning and link it here (I might repeat some info/resources listed on this post but there will be a different focus)























