Latin course for the Virtual School of Languages
About this site:
Latest news
Introduction
How to study
How to support this site
Course material:
"Conversational" Latin phrases
Latin riddle (for complete beginners)
Pronunciation guide
Available lessons (non-original texts with grammar and vocabulary explanations)
Intermediate reading material
Original texts in medieval Latin
Explanations & techniques for the study of Latin:
How to dramatically increase your vocabulary (intermediate)
Perfect and PPP forms
Explanation of grammar terms
Explanation of translation technique
How to study languages
For further study:
Book recommendations (all stages of learning)
Roman numerals
Exercises in translating Latin inscriptions
Original Latin books online
Learning other languages online and for free
Dictionary of Mythology
Misc resources:
Latin e-cards
Course discussion board (Unilang VSL)
Guest map
Additional material
News - News - News - News - News - News
1. IMPORTANT! This site has now moved to http://www.learnlangs.com/latin . Please
replace your bookmark if you still have www.learnlatin.tk or the prohosting address in
it. Only the new page will be updated from now on.
I'm very happy with my new host as they offer a lot of webspace, bandwidth, script and
mySQL support and charge very little. As a student of Latin, you are eligible for a $20
student discount on any of their packages. In order to receive the discount, just enter
"Student20" as promo code when signing up here.
2. A new Biblical Latin course is now available! If your goal in learning Latin is to read the
Latin Vulgate Bible rather than Roman texts, this course is for you. Click here.
If you like the course, please send your feedback to iuturna@googlemail.com.
3. Please check out my general language-learning advice on my blog!
Introduction
This course is vaguely based on the German Latin course "Cursus Novus Compactus", adapted
by Judith Meyer (alias Junesun) for the Unilang project "Virtual School of Languages". Since my native
language is German, not English, I apologise in advance for mistakes in my English, however, thanks to 9
years of learning, they should be few enough not to be an obstacle to your learning.
The course consists of many units, some of which still need to be brought into a computer-acceptable format,
which contain text(s), vocabulary, grammar, exercises and information on aspects of life in Ancient Rome.
The course starts with lessons for people who know no Latin at all and will enable you to read original texts,
for example Caesar's De Bello Gallico or Catull's poems.
In addition to the course, I'll post material for intermediate readers, who know the basic rules of Latin and
want to practise a bit.
Learn more...
How to study
Please take your time to study the lessons one by one. The steps I suggest are:
1) Read the text and try to get the gist of it (probably not possible in Lesson 1, however in the others).
2) Learn the vocabulary (except the words listed as "Reading vocabulary"), because these words will not
be explained in the following lessons anymore. The words in the third column are modern words deriving
from the Latin ones and may help you learn the Latin words more easily - or improve your vocabulary of
modern words. I suggest you use this program in order to learn the vocabulary. You can get a vocabulary
file with all the vocabulary from the lessons here.
3) Study the grammar. If you don't know a term, check the page with term explanations.
4) Translate the text thoroughly. There shouldn't be anything you need to guess. If you have trouble putting
the words together to form a sentence, see this page on translation technique.
5) Do the exercises, write down your answers and check them with the correct ones, which you'll find at the
bottom of the page.
If you have questions about the grammar, the text, the exercises or anything else concerning Latin, please
send them to sprachprofi@gmx.net or post them at the Virtual School of Languages forum.
How to support this site
If you want to encourage me to keep developing this site, there are several things you could do:
Translate the course or the vocabulary to your native language
Find texts on Roman culture that can be added to the lessons
Put a link to this site on your website or a relevant linklist
Tell your friends about this site. Buy your books or learning material through links from this site. For example, see this extensive list of
recommended Latin books. You can even help by buying non-related things through the links to Amazon.com
Make a donation through Paypal's secure servers. I suggest at least 3$ for every test you send in, but of
course you're welcome to donate as much as you want.
Available lessons:
Lektioner på svenska
Lessons in Polish 
In the Colosseum
Lesson 1: Marcus has to wait
Lesson 2: Acquaintances everywhere
Lesson 3: The gladiators arrive
Lesson 4: The fight
Test I
Reward: Latin wordsearch puzzle
Of young women and men
Lesson 5: Different interests
Lesson 6: A foolish prejudice
Lesson 7: Good friends?
Test II
Reward: Latin wordsearch puzzle
Sights in Rome
Lesson 8: Marcus as tourist guide
Lesson 9: On the Capitol
Lesson 10: Sacrifices and festivals
Reward: Latin crossword
Gods of Greeks and Romans
Lesson 11: "Just to the Gods"
Test III
Reward: Latin wordsearch puzzle
Lesson 12: Gods on stage
Reward: Latin crossword
Fear of foreigners
Lesson 13: An unfriendly inn
Lesson 14: Always trouble with the Greeks
Lesson 15: Silence is golden
Reward: Latin crossword
Lesson 16: The situation becomes critical
Test IV
Reward: Latin wordsearch puzzle
From Greek history I
Lesson 17: The good old days
Extra reading: Greeks and Persians - arch enemies
Lesson 18: Damocles' sword
Reward: Latin wordsearch puzzle
A slave fights his way through
Lesson 19: Roaming Davus
Lesson 20: Davus lies
Test V
Reward: Latin wordsearch puzzle
From Greek history II
Lesson 21: Tyrants, enemies, foreign rulers
Extra reading: Mucius Scaevola, a hero I
Humans as goods
Lesson 22: Poor Delia
Extra reading: Mucius Scaevola, a hero II
Lesson 23: How to become a slave
Lesson 24: Some hope remained
Test VI
Ceterum censeo...
Lesson 25: Beaten winners
Extra reading: Etruscans and Romans
Lesson 26: Against the arch-enemy
Lesson 27: Maintain, don't annihilate
Test VII
Aeneas
Lesson 28: Dido and Aeneas
Extra reading: The theft of Sabinian women I
Lesson 29: Dido's curse
Extra reading: The theft of Sabinian women II
Lesson 30: A second Odysseus
Test VIII
Stories about cunning Odysseus
Lesson 31: Something has to be done!
Lesson 32: In the giant's cave
Extra reading: The magician Circe
Lesson 33: The siren's song
Scipio's life
Lesson 34: Scipio's triumph
Extra reading: Manliana Imperia I
Lesson 35: "Don't bury me in Rome!"
Extra reading: Manliana Imperia II
Test IX
Famous Greek-Roman myths
Lesson 36: The Flood
Lesson 37: Hercules
Lesson 38: Orpheus I
Extra reading: Icarus I
Lesson 39: Orpheus II
Extra reading: Icarus II
Lesson 40: Bias
Test X
Extra vocabulary revision & tips
More Greek-Roman myths and stories
Lesson 41: The Lycian farmers
Lesson 42: Superstitious slaves
Lesson 43: Tantalus
Lesson 44: Polycrates...
Lesson 45: ...and his ring
Test XI
Lesson 46: Justice or vengeance?
Lesson 47: Spring in Rome
Lesson 48: Ovid in Exile
Intermediate material:
In this section you'll find texts made for intermediate readers, that means learners of
Latin who know the basic grammar rules and want to practise them by reading texts
that are easier (and some would also say more interesting) than Caesar's "De bello
gallico" for example.
I'm uploading Historia Apollonii regis Tyri, one of the rare Roman prose novels found.
You might also want to try out Asterix comics in Latin. Unfortunately I'm not allowed
to post these comics here, but here's a sample. Harry Potter in Latin should be
interesting reading, too.
Here's a growing collection of additional texts:
A day in the life of a Roman pupil
Alexander and the pirate
An anecdote about Bias
Anecdotes about Diogenes
Augustus and the ravens
Camillus and the children of Falerii
Hannibal's end
Vae victis
Original texts in medieval Latin:
Medieval Latin texts may have some misspellings, shortenings and differences in
vocabulary, but in exchange they usually don't use the complex structures known
from classical Roman authors. You will find them rather easy to read, once you're
accustomed to them. I'm posting some authentic texts here that are part of the
chronicles of a German monastery near Düsseldorf. The texts were written between
1470 and the beginning of the 17th century and the earliest mentioned event in the
chronicles is the founding of the monastery in 1123. In order to keep this interesting
for you, I'll skip past the "... became the new abbot" entries and the like and just
post historically interesting entries.
News from the Middle Ages 1
Additional material:
Online resources for learning:
Latin vocabulary trainer
Latin grammar
Latin verb conjugator
Identify Latin forms
Original Latin texts (site completely in Latin)
Latin quiz
Simple Latin-English-Latin online dictionary
Latin online dictionary for advanced learners
See this list of recommended materials that can enhance your learning!
Recommendations for reference works, but also intermediate reading
material and Latin classics.
Fun / Misc resources:
Popular songs translated to Latin
Latin Christmas Carols
Latin e-cards
Tongue twisters in Latin
Learn how to curse in Latin