Thrusting a scrawled-on scrap of paper in my face, Brian, the video game clerk who gushes over my 13-year-old son almost as much as I do, asked, "What does this verb mean?"
Trying to be polite I answered, "I don't translate for free, but since you've got it there [and since you like my son so much]...it's not a Latin verb."
Brian had been trying to teach himself Latin, and while I believe in giving the benefit of the doubt, I don't think his efforts were working.
Yesterday, John, a coffee shop barista, confessed he'd tried to learn Latin fifteen years ago, but had given up. It was too hard doing it alone.
In a gesture aimed at the Brians and Johns of the world, in this feature I will address some of the benefits and means of using the Internet to teach yourself Latin.
- Companionship
- Convenience
- Cost control
- Companionship
A Wheelock discussion list could be a pleasant, low-cost way to study Latin. You communicate regularly with others similarly interested in learning Latin, sharing frustrations and solutions to exercises.
Posting to Bulletin Boards or Chat Groups allows you to request the kind of tailor-made help you want: for instance, on the Ancient/Classical History Bulletin Board, someone desirous of praticing his Latin, posted a request for Latin penpals.
Convenience
- As with everything else on the Internet,
- You're not limited to normal business hours.
- You can work at your own speed.
- Whenever it fits your schedule.
It's hard to say exactly how much you'll need to spend if you learn Latin over the Internet. At one extreme, you could do it at a cost of nothing more than your monthly Internet access charge. At the other extreme, you could buy every Latin textbook/CD ROM available through online booksellers and register for the online tutorials.
- Textbooks
- Courses through the Internet
- Other Internet Resources
I didn't teach myself Latin, so I can't speak from experience as to how helpful these mostly standard classroom textbooks will be. See: Latin Textbook Top Picks.
Online Courses
- Wheelock
These keep changing, but Kirk Lougheed's list of Wheelock based study groups should help.
"Latin for the 21st Century"
Edited by Richard A. LaFleur, "Latin for the 21st Century" is a series of articles by different writers in and about the field of Latin instruction.
One chapter that might be of particular relevance here is Cathy Daugherty's "Latin Distance Learning and the Electronic Classroom."
Latin Pronunciation
Latin Grammar
Nouns and Pronouns
Latin Textbooks
Also see these Ancient/Classical History series:
