Latin?

Does anyone have any good ways of learning latin from home?
Any CDs, Books that you coud recommend?
As unfortunetly my school don't offer it but I am very keen to learn it
Thank you

Reply 1

sarcastic pratchett fan

Have you done basic latin as a gcse or do you need to start from scratch?

Edit:
Ok, I have since had a reply via pm, saying no experience of latin in the past.

In that case, I would recommend the Cambridge Latin Course, book 1 to 5. They are very simple to use, but you will proibably get tired of the characters in books 1 to 3 very quickly. These books are the staple of all gcse latin courses I know and are pretty good and self-explanatory. From memory, bk 1 is red, bk2 is blue, bk3 is green, bk4 is dark blue and bk5 is purple.

Reply 2

missmisanthropy

Thank you very much for your help.
I take it you enjoy Latin?
Do you learn any other langauges?

Reply 3

Ygraine

I notice that this is in the A levels section, and I really realy wouldn't advise taking Latin A level with no previous experience of the language. A lot of the set texts are quite tricky, even with a few years of learning an the benefit of a teacher. Unless you are one of those enviable people who effortlessly absorb languages I would recommend aiming a little lower at first.

That said, the Cambridge Latin course is definitely the way to go. I think everyone who learnt Latin at school did so with the help of Caecilius and friends.

Reply 4

missmisanthropy

My mistake
I'm not planning on taking A level Latin it's just as I am taking A levels, the A level section is where I automatically head.
I'm just hoping to get a good grounding to advance my understanding of the english langauge and it's etymological roots.
Any advice?

Reply 5

Ygraine

Aha, my mistake too :smile:

Latin is definitely useful when looking at English, and you might want to consider having a look at Anglo-Saxon as well. I recommend this book as a good introduction

Reply 6

Deipnosophist123

Tbh, as much as people might say otherwise, you can get 210/300 in Latin AS with no knowledge of Latin whatsoever. All you need to do is learn verbatim translations for two Literature sections, get a book to help you with analysis, and practice essay writing techniques.

If you can do passable translations, you might even be able to get an A with minimal work.

Thanks

Ygraine

That said, the Cambridge Latin course is definitely the way to go. I think everyone who learnt Latin at school did so with the help of Caecilius and friends.