Welcome to Latin I-1.

TEACHER: Lourdes Mejia (lou.e.mejia@gmail.com) 

DURATION: 20 classes

OVERVIEW

For many centuries Latin as been one of the main channels for the transmission of Western culture. Latin has been the official language of the Catholic Church since the earliest times, a sign of its unity, and it remains so today. Understanding Latin allows students to read important documents of the Church in their original language, and to read Sacred Scripture and writings of Fathers and doctors of the Church, to participate in the Liturgy, and to recite and sing traditional vocal prayers and songs that form part of the Church’s patrimony.

The study of Latin is divided into four levels. The goal is to enable students to understand and translate Latin texts, especially Christian texts, old and new. Grammatical study will be set in a framework of direct engagement with texts. This course, Latin I, introduces students to the foundations of Latin grammar and syntax and vocabulary, to enable them to pronounce and translate basic texts. 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Approach Latin texts without fear.
2. Be familiar with basic Latin vocabulary, grammar and syntax and be able to apply them to translate simple sentences.
3. Read aloud with fluency, using accurate Latin pronunciation.
4. Assess personal progress before and after the course.
5. Better understand English grammar and the Latin roots of English words.

 

PROGRAM

Lesson 1: Present tense of the verb sum. Present and imperfect forms of the indicative; future imperfect and the imperative. Active personal endings: -o/-m, -s, -t, -mus, -tis, -nt.

Lesson 2: The verb. Present tense. Root and vocal stem; endings: temporal and personal modes. The four conjugations in general. Present, imperfect and future imperfect forms of the indicative active. Present active imperative.

Lesson 3: The formation of the nominal inflections (root + endings). The cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative and ablative. The predicate. The first declension of the nouns.

Lesson 4: The second declension. Pronunciation: c, g, sc. Methodology of translation.

Lesson  5: The adjectives of the first and second declensions. The possessive adjectives: meus, tuus and suus. Pronunciation: the group ti followed by a vowel; z. The personal pronouns.

Lesson  6: The complete enunciation of the verbs (different verbal forms). STEM = root + characteristic of the present, perfect or supine tenses.

Lesson 7: The perfect tenses of the indicative active.

Lesson  8:The perfect indicative tenses of the verb sum.

Lesson 9: Nouns: the third declension.

Lesson 10:  Adjectives of the third declension. Adjectives used as nouns (especially neuter adjectives).

Lesson 11: The fourth declension.

Lesson 12: The fifth declension

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carroll Scanlon, C., Scanlon, C.L., Latin Grammar: Grammar Vocabularies, and Exercises in Preparation for the Reading of the Missal and Breviary, TAN, 2015.

Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, The Navarre Bible, Scepter.

You will also need a reliable Latin-English, English-Latin dictionary. An online dictionary is available here.  |  VIEW

 

Other Resources

Cambridge School Classics Project, Cambridge Latin Course 1 Student’s Book, Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Carroll Scanlon, C., Scanlon, C.L., Second Latin: Preparation for the Reading of Philosophy, Theology and Canon Law, TAN, 1876.

Comeau, P.T., LaFleur, R.A., Workbook for Wheelock’s Latin, Collins, 2000.

Gildersleeve, B.L., Latin Grammar, Macmillan & Co., 1963.

Groton, A.H., May, J.M., Thirty-Eight Latin Stories Designed to Accompany Wheelock’s Latin (Latin Edition), Bolchazy Carducci, 1998.

Keller, A., Russell, S., Learn to Read Latin Workbook, Pt 1, Yale University Press, 2006.

Kennedy, B.H., Kennedy’s Revised Latin Primer, Longman, 1962.

Kennedy, B.H., Shorter Latin Primer, Longman, 1973.

Kinchin Smith, F., Latin (Teach Yourself), Hodder Stoughton, 1976.

Lamberto, P., Michael Musculus et Regina Africae, European Language Institute, 1986.

Moreland, F.L., Fleischer, R.M., Latin: An Intensive Course, University of California Press, 1977.

Paterson, J., Macnaughton, E.G., Approach to Latin (Part I), Oliver and Boyd, 1964.

Paterson, J., Macnaughton, E.G., Approach to Latin (Part II), Oliver and Boyd, 1964.

Paterson, J., Macnaughton, E.G., Approach to Latin (Part III), Oliver and Boyd, 1967.

Prior, R.E., Wohlberg, J., 501 Latin Verbs, Barrons, 1995.

Wesley, A., Ecce Romani Language Activity Book, 1A, Addison Wesley, 1994.

Wheelock, F.M., LaFleur, R.A., Wheelock’s Latin (Wheelock’s Latin), Collins, 2005.

Wilson, A., Wilson, A., Teach Yourself Latin Dictionary, McGraw-Hill, 2004.