The Latin argument in the last couple of years has become very, very furious — as often happens with arguments about slightly obscure subjects. DISCONTINUED VIEWS. Come on, it wouldn’t be in your top 5000! This interview is also available as a podcast. He didn’t think—or didn’t give the impression—that there were countless irregularities and so never any point learning the rules, which is the sensation I had a bit when I was younger. Now, less about my suggestions, and on to your next book. I wonder whether the revenue from Amo, Amas, Amat, has bought you a villa on Lake Geneva? They don’t want their children to have a particularly enjoyable time, they want them to know stuff. Contemporary culture on Rome is a fertile seam, isn’t it? The Romance languages (less commonly Latin languages, or Neo-Latin languages) are the modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin between the third and eighth centuries. I would like to give an example of what you’re describing in action, Harry. It’s a more obscure book called Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin. Harry, let’s move on to—I don’t know what you call it—but what I certainly know as the Bible. There’s a very precise—perhaps limited—reason, which is that it is extremely beautiful, in and of itself, to read some of the greatest works of western European literature in the original language. Read. Again, extremely important, the creation of the EU and all the rest of it. It’s actually very short. No one. It’s funny, I was asked the other day by a middle-aged person, ‘What’s a good book for English grammar?’ I replied that I’d never been taught English grammar, I did Latin and Greek. This reader has a great mixture of difficult and easy passages, and it’s got Greek as well. It is an easy-to-use source book that bridges the gap between the standard Latin dictionary and the college desk dictionary, with its smattering of Latin … I used this book when I was in middle school because I arbitrary decided that learning Latin would be a fun thing to do. I could probably have bought, not a villa, but a very, very small flat on the outskirts of London on the proceeds. I see you’ve brought it along tonight, Katie, shamefully. One reason Reginaldus was so helpful for me in Latin is that he created boundaries. It’s incredibly popular. It’s also the one time—I don’t know about you, but when I was a small boy, I did things dutifully—when if you’re asked to learn 100 pages of vocab, you go and do it. Five Books participates in the Amazon Associate program and earns money from qualifying purchases. And a lot of fun. This is really your textbook for learning isn’t it, the Oulton? An example I give in my book is the Latin word ‘candidus,’ the adjective meaning white, pure, unvarnished. It’s very consoling to anyone who does Latin and finds it a bit difficult that Romans got it wrong too. One thing I like to do with children—which is a bit along the lines of Asterix—is if they look really tired and the parents have gone out, I switch on Gladiator. Before we go on, I’d like to talk about the omission of one book. When I read books that teach Latin, they always try and comfort the pupils, right at the beginning of the first lesson, saying, Latin is so like English — look at the word ‘ambulo,’ I walk, it’s just like ‘perambulator,’ a pram. You can go from zero Latin knowledge to being able to read the great Latin texts fluently much faster than you think.. There’s a whole school of thought that because Latin is difficult to teach, you should therefore give up and teach a dumbed-down version. 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Latin (latīnum, [laˈtiːnʊ̃] or lingua latīna, [ˈlɪŋɡʷa laˈtiːna]) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages.Latin was originally spoken in the area around Rome, known as Latium. The sudden change to a slower gear also left more room to reflect on the state of the world and our place as humans in it. I have here Kennedy’s Shorter Latin Primer though I imagine you recommend the full-length version? Mary Beard won, but they were both brilliant and the audience was largely under 30. 4 Five Books aims to keep its book recommendations and interviews up to date. It seems to me that the difference between the Cambridge Latin Course and books like Oulton’s are that the Cambridge Latin Course tries to teach Latin like a babe in arms might pick up English intuitively, whereas Oulton appreciates that you’ve got to learn it as though you were decoding something. It’s so economical. So buy Oulton, but it’s maybe also worth considering—if I’m allowed to suggest something, I know this is a bit unorthodox—English Grammar for Students of Latin, the 3rd edition, by Norma W Goldman. It’s extremely close, and like any language that’s spoken regularly, it’s spoken more quickly, and the more difficult bits were dropped. So the best books on learning Greek for our next interview! Sophie Roell, editor of Five Books, takes us through her personal choice of the best nonfiction books of 2020. It makes it very easy to read, because they’re just little excerpts. The same applies to Roman or Greek history. 3 It’s the Latin version of Asterix the Gaul, Asterix Gallus. But I feel it strongly. Oulton is in the middle. You naturally think about the journey of the language, the history, the culture, the politics, the architecture, all the rest of it. by Nicholas Ostler But, the increase in the informal study of Latin—which I’m all for, any Latin is better than no Latin—over the last 15 years has been enormous. The rules are there and they’re set in stone. It was completely packed out, 1000 people, voting one way or the other. Shop Latin language books at Alibris. It’s not surprising that an awful lot of the code breakers at Bletchley Park—I don’t advocate this, it might be a bit like showing off—apparently, in their tea breaks, used to speak in Greek to each other. Getting Started with Latin: Beginning Latin for Homeschoolers and Self-Taught Students of Any Age (… I really was a lot worse than Harry at Latin at school. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language … Kennedy is very concise, but it has the answer to every problem in Latin in it. Well, they’re not exactly about learning Latin, they’re the best books if you would like to learn Latin. You have already had considerable practice in translating simple Latin… In the latest and narrowest philological model its use spanned the Golden Age of Latin literature – broadly the 1st century BC and the early 1st century AD – possibly extending to the Silver Age – broadly the 1st and 2nd centuries. But, by learning the earliest incarnation of all these languages, you naturally start to think about the journey from its original form—in, say, 300 BC—all the way till now. “Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language… They are a subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language family.The five most widely spoken Romance languages … This book does a wonderful job at breaking Latin … So, again, you have this idea of a universal key into European culture. Download a free audio book … And the graffiti at Pompeii is fantastically obscene, a lot of it. That speaks for itself. Only Latin and Greek were treated in this way — I think because of the associations with elitism and public school. Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books. So You Really Want to Learn Latin It’s called So You Really Want to Learn Latin and it’s by NRR Oulton. I disagree with the premise of your question. Greek is, if anything, even more sophisticated, with thousands more word endings. 2 Learn Latin with Latinitium's videos on subjects ranging from literature and history to particular expressions. There are only 2 or 3. Parents bloody love it. Moving beyond that, Latin is the basis of all Romance languages in Europe. What do you reckon about the satisfaction of studying Latin? Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin The only one that sold at all well was this one. But also, because it was studied so intensely, it was constantly referred to, imitated, mocked, satirized in art, in literature, right up until the 1950s and 60s. Like all cartoons, there’s only one or two sentences in each speech bubble. The book I’m referring to is a particular, single book, called A Loeb Classical Library Reader. It gives you this universal key to these other languages. There’s no two ways about it, it’s quite boring, but the pleasure that comes from having learnt all this is enormous. I’m all for learning about World War II—it’s extremely important—but imagine if you only studied World War II. But they are really nice, easygoing ways for grown ups, as well as children, to do their first translations. You can either have the old-fashioned serious books of the 19th century, the 1920s, 30s which are a little dull and dry. Which helps learning by the ear. Harry Mount is the Editor of the Oldie, and an author and journalist who regularly contributes to a range of national newspapers, including the Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Guardian and the Spectator. I think the books are a really good introduction into Rome, the Roman Empire, Roman Gaul, and also Roman Britain. James Loeb was an extremely interesting figure, an American. One more question before we get to the first book—a bit of a spoiler alert here—but those of you that know Latin won’t be surprised to hear that it’s Kennedy’s Latin Primer. Education shouldn’t always be fun. Read I think there are three Oulton books, and there are some answer books as well. So that’s what you’re talking about, the dropping of the ‘m’, the consonant, at the end of the word. By the way, readers, just so you know that Harry isn’t a pretentious wanker, I should say that if you read Amo, Amas, Amat, you will also learn what the tattoos mean on Angelina Jolie’s belly and David Beckham’s body. Read Harry Mount (and Katie Walker) recommend the best books for learning Latin—the language of a small, central Italian tribe that managed to conquer most of Europe. VIEWS — About the New Statistics Total Views 2. Kennedy was, I think, a Latin master in Liverpool. I am not going to say you become an expert on all those things, but it’s the perfect introduction to 2000 years of western European history. By all means break them for fun, but they are completely inviolable and it’s extremely enjoyable and useful to learn them. He very much frontloads a child’s learning of Latin with grammar. I can understand that. For the full set, there are some inexpensive options, but some are as much as $10,000. It also has, in very concise form, practically all the rules of grammar and syntax. You can do it by being an amusing, good teacher. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by Project Gutenberg. I suppose the reason the Cambridge Latin Course was introduced in the first place is because if you learn code, it’s very dull, so you risk turning a lot of children off. None of these books you’ve chosen really concentrate on English grammar. Latin is very useful to me now. Explore our list of Latin Language Reference Books at Barnes & Noble®. There are two aspects to that. But isn’t that incredibly pleasurable, to think about the journey? First of all, he recommended that if your really want to get to the heart of Latin, you should learn passages off by heart pretty regularly. So once you’ve got your Oulton and your Kennedy by your side, perhaps buy Asterix Gallus and Asterix the Gaul alongside each other. Latin language. He was a late 19th century member who didn’t take to banking. In chapter one or two, there’s an example of something that’s written on the threshold of a house belonging to a merchant in Pompeii. About. People don’t expect, when you’re teaching maths and learning long division — no one’s suggesting that that should be fun. If you like it, it is a great pleasure going from one to the other. Yes, he has ‘Ut amem et foveam,’ which is a tricky use of the subjunctive, meaning ‘in order that I might love and cherish,’ which I think is on his left forearm. He thinks of himself as an agnostic, I think, but he says that there is a hunger for seriousness in all of us. It’s a very thin volume, because there’s no excess verbiage at all. I didn’t find it particularly entertaining learning 100 words of vocab every night when I was 10 or 11. There’s also brilliant stuff on how Latin mutated into Italian. It’s extremely funny in English and actually the English version has some very, very good Latin jokes in it. It’s amazing. They became, very early on, standard books, because they were beautifully worked out to be extremely efficient in the delivery of information. I wouldn’t do it now, but as a little boy I would. And extraordinary to be able to read these things in the original language! And you’ve always got the English on the other side if you’re finding it a bit difficult. With all this book… Because it’s been treated as this grand language, we have this crazy idea that the Romans were always talking in very high-minded ways, but of course they used Latin to swear, to say how much they loved their girlfriends, or to bet on Ben Hur in the 3.30 at Circus Maximus. Who learns Oscan now at school? Listeners who’ve seen the Life of Brian will remember the extremely funny scene with John Cleese and Graham Chapman and the badly spelt graffiti. Like you, I was lucky enough to have a Westminster School and Oxbridge classical education, but someone that helped with my Latin language immensely was Reginaldus Foster, who was the Pope’s Latin secretary. You’re not going to find any jokes in it, but absolutely everything is there. 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