Oral practice in the study of Latin

[LisaNY]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share what I feel is important with regards to Latin study. My dd is currently working through Henle, because it was a better "fit" for her than Lingua Latina. Lately, we have gotten away from some of the oral Latin practice we used to do each day.

To remedy this, I've begun setting aside time for oral practice with Henle. I read sentences from the text, in Latin, and then have my dd orally translate. I also do the same thing in English, asking her to translate in Latin. I will then ask questions about readings in Henle, and in our reader (either Cambridge or Lingua Latina), in Latin, and she has to answer, in Latin. It really forces her to think in Latin, and it is more of a challenge than just writing down the answer.

Just thought I'd share that! Maybe some of you are already making use of that with your dc, but for those who may not be - well, here ya go! - FWIW :001_smile:

[Mama Lynx]

I have to second this! Asking questions of my son *in Latin* not only helps him a great deal, but it helps me, too.

We do half of our Latin work orally. I think it is of great benefit.

[Leah]

Yes! :iagree: Thanks for taking the time to post this. I am also reminded often that this is something we can't give up...

[Beth in Central TX]

Lately, we have gotten away from some of the oral Latin practice we used to do each day.

To remedy this, I've begun setting aside time for oral practice with Henle. I read sentences from the text, in Latin, and then have my dd orally translate. I also do the same thing in English, asking her to translate in Latin. I will then ask questions about readings in Henle, and in our reader (either Cambridge or Lingua Latina), in Latin, and she has to answer, in Latin.

So are you doing this on a daily basis still? I've tried to do oral LL one day a week, but isn't working very well. Oral Latin 5 days hasn't happened yet either though. I know the answer is somewhere in between, but I haven't found a good balance yet. We have more time at the end of the week, but by the time we get there, I'm tired and let things slide...

[LisaNY]

I do this daily. I pick out sentences and phrases straight from the text, and ask for L to E and E to L translation. Then, I pick out passages that we've read either in Cambridge, LL, or Henle, and ask questions, in Latin, and my dd has to answer them, in Latin.

If you use LL, you can use the comprehension questions straight from the Exercitia booklet. In Cambridge, I pick out parts of the story, and ask questions in Latin about them, and my dd has to answer in Latin. It helps to show me that she understands the story, and can use appropriate grammar.

Here is a sampling of questions I asked from the Henle text:
Quis est Pater Christi?
Cuius Filius est Christus?
Ubi est Christus?
Qui sunt amici Dei?
Ubi sunt Galli?
Quid est praemium Christianorum?
Quem Christiani laudant?
(My dd. knows the interrogative pronouns via her work in LL - yet another reason to combine it w/Henle!)

Does that help? :001_smile:

[MichelleWI]

Thank you for this post. We are about to embark upon learning Latin in our household and for the first time Momma is nervous about her ability to teach the subject matter! I am grasping for any tips I can find. :bigear:

[Beth in Central TX]

Yes, that does help. I just need to buckle down and do it everyday. Oral Latin makes our work more enjoyable when we do it. I also feel more accomplished...like we are actually learning something. Thanks for the sample questions; we'll definitely need to work on interrogative pronouns as we move forward.

[Susan in SoCal]

Thanks, Lisa :-)
We always do the Latin-English parts out loud (to facilitate a quicker, more natural "reading" flow ... and because, y'know, my son's a BOY who hates to write ... [wry grin]). But I hadn't even thought about the benefits of doing some of the English-Latin stuff out loud.

Thanks for sharing this idea!!

[Colleen in NS]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share what I feel is important with regards to Latin study. My dd is currently working through Henle, because it was a better "fit" for her than Lingua Latina. Lately, we have gotten away from some of the oral Latin practice we used to do each day.

To remedy this, I've begun setting aside time for oral practice with Henle. I read sentences from the text, in Latin, and then have my dd orally translate. I also do the same thing in English, asking her to translate in Latin. I will then ask questions about readings in Henle, and in our reader (either Cambridge or Lingua Latina), in Latin, and she has to answer, in Latin. It really forces her to think in Latin, and it is more of a challenge than just writing down the answer.

Just thought I'd share that! Maybe some of you are already making use of that with your dc, but for those who may not be - well, here ya go! - FWIW :001_smile:

Thanks for sharing this!