Retaining new English vocabulary is challenging, whether you’re learning English for the first time or studying for standardized tests like the SAT or GRE. The challenge arises, in part, from the sheer volume of words in English. English’s massive lexicon comes from words in several other languages, and learning some of these words—more often fragments of words—can give you a learning advantage.
Read MoreBeginning at the End: Strategies for (Calmly) Translating Latin
Posted by Keating M. on 9/10/20 9:00 AM
Many of us have been there. Learning a new, unfamiliar language, but feeling confident in our progress—until confronted with a solid block of text on a homework assignment or course assessment. Several things then tend to occur: first, icy terror, followed hard by an urge to start writing, leading ultimately to a wild race through the text and the attempted definition of every single word on the page. Because, of course, if the words are not all defined in the first thirty seconds of an exam, their meanings will be forgotten…
Read MoreTags: study skills, Latin
Source: Asterix the Gladiator, book 4
Excellent reasons for studying Latin have been given elsewhere on this blog: knowledge of the ancient language can boost your standardized test scores, enrich your understanding of European culture, and make you stand out in college admissions. As a long time Latin tutor in Boston, I’d like to add to these reasons two of my own.
Reason #1: Latin will make any language easier to learn
You’ve probably heard that Latin helps you acquire its modern descendents, the Romance languages. In fact, by enriching your understanding of grammar, Latin will help you learn any foreign language, not just those of the Romance family. Let me explain.It’s only reasonable that teachers give scant attention to Latin as a spoken language (although doing so can be fun and instructive), and instead, their assignments explicitly focus on Latin grammatical structures, or on translation. Latin students have no choice but to become well acquainted with hairy grammar topics like
contrary to fact conditions, participial phrases, tense sequence, and the subjunctive mood.
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Tags: language learning, Latin