Thread by @FW_Medieval

BRUSH UP YOUR LATIN, a thread.
I've told this to a number of individuals, but I saw at least 3 mutuals thinking about these things recently, so I'll sum up.

these thoughts are derived from the excellent personal experiences I have had relatively recently (last 2.5 years) with @Paideiainstitut @GregoryStringer @IndwellingLang @SALVI_SITIS @magistrissima

summary: treat Latin like a language not like math

practically what this means is read MORE Latin, lots and lots of Latin, but Latin that you can understand. NOT Latin that you have to look up 50%+ of the words.

this is like second language acquisition 101 (which I learned about 15 years after starting Latin and 10 years into teaching Latin)

what you need is EASY Latin that you want to read. So that you reads lots of it. You read it for fun, and you read a little day.

Good news there is LOTS of Latin available just like this. Free on the internet. In my classes, I use Hans Orberg's Lingua Latina per se illustrata, which I would recommend to anyone interested in learning or improving their Latin at any level
hackettpublishing.com/lingua-latina-…

so 15 years into studying Latin and 10 years into teaching, I had a ball reading this all the way through. I learned things, I reinforced things & I got better at reading Latin

MOST IMPORTANTLY reading Latin like this got me over the Latin-anxiety I still had after 15 years of study. New Latin always felt like a brick wall to me. Forst step: get out a dictionary (No. Not any more--just start reading)

In addition to LLpsi, @HackettPub publishes a number of companion books; all Latin texts that only assume the vocab of LLpsi. I highly recommend Fabulae Syrae hackettpublishing.com/lingua-latina-…

also published ALL LATIN student editions of classical texts (Vergil, Ovid, &c) so you can read difficult texts without switching out of Latin or needing a dictionary
READ VERGIL LIKE BEDE DID

lookit! It is so much fun

But like I said, there are tons of materials freely available online: easy and intermediate Latin texts that can do just as well to get you reading. @IndwellingLang has a great collection of links here
indwellinglanguage.com/limen-a-latin-…

To reiterate: these are not my pedagogical insights. But they have changed me as a Latin reader so much in such a short amount of time! I cannot recommend them enough

I READ LATIN IN THE BATHTUB PEOPLE