Latin is a classic language you’ve probably been hearing about since middle school. At some point, one of your teachers probably called it a “dead” language and told you that it has no practical applications. That teacher was wrong and because of your interest in Latin I am going to share with you some very valuable resources that maybe even your Latin teacher didn’t know about.
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Learning Latin
The debate about the use of learning an antique language such as ancient Greek or Latin has been revived in the last couple of years, due to many secondary schools offering Latin classes again to its pupils.
On the other hand, after the emergence of Latin-based European languages such as French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian, some would feel that this dead language would only become a showcase of elitism and would demonstrate the social hierarchies among students.
For others, Latin is not a dead language and show be considered as a living language because it has birthed so many sister languages (French, Spanish, Italian) that have over one billion speakers on earth today. They also strongly believe that these languages have incorporated into their daily speak a large number of Latin expressions and sayings.
Therefore, it would be fundamental, if they wish, for secondary school and college students alike to become Latinists through the study of Latin and its grammatic structure such as: the Latin declensions and the six cases (nominative, vocative, accusative, dative, genitive and ablative), in order to greatly favour the future memorization of grammar and the learning of European languages.
learn ecclesiastical latin app
Learning Latin conversation is what makes the Duolingo course different from more traditional means of studying the ancient language, he said, explaining that they chose to focus the course on conversation over grammar with a goal of helping learners “acquire a basic vehicular fluency.”
Most traditional Latin teachers, instead, focus on the translation of Latin texts, according to Romani. Duolingo teaches “simple conversational phrases which gradually help learners internalize the most important linguistic structures they need to improve their Latin.”
Romani pointed to the audio features of the course as one way this is accomplished. Audio is embedded throughout, allowing learners to listen to any Latin sentence they are working on, he said.
The course uses classical Latin pronunciation, however, which differs from the ecclesiastical pronunciation that most Catholics will be used to hearing at Mass or in other Church contexts.
But spoken Latin provides “a good foundation” for further study of the language, Romani said. The course teaches “simple conversational phrases which gradually help learners internalize the most important linguistic structures they need to improve their Latin.”
Benefits to learning Latin? There are many, he said, but one is that about 65% of English vocabulary comes from Latin, “and that figure rises if you look at polysyllabic words or at the vocabulary of technical and scientific disciplines.”
“Studying Latin boosts your mastery of your own language,” he stressed.
Latin can also “transcend national boundaries,” he said and gives you access “to the immense body of literature written in Latin from antiquity up to the modern age.”
“You can gain a better appreciation of authors like Augustine, Bonaventure, and Thomas Aquinas – which I think is important to Catholics and non-Catholics alike,” he said.
And it is not just professors and specialists who are passionate about Latin, Vatican Radio journalist Alessandro De Carolis told CNA.
De Carolis edits Hebdomada Papae, a new weekly Latin language news bulletin on Vatican Radio.
The program, which airs every Saturday, gives a five-minute weekly recap of papal and Vatican news, completely in Latin.
Launched in June, it is produced with help from the pope’s Latin Letters office, which is part of the Secretariat of State and is the office responsible for writing and translating Church documents into Latin.
Conclusion
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Check out other publications to gain access to more digital resources if you are just starting out with Flux Resource.
Also contact us today to optimize your business(s)/Brand(s) for Search Engines