September Newsletter

Welcome to the Polyglossos September newsletter. Every month, I will talk about things happening in my life that are related to Classics learning and some advice for beginners, along with some extra snippets that didn't fit on my Instagram posts this month.

What I'm up to.

This is my 6th year learning Latin, and I am currently in AP Latin. The main difference between AP and previous Latin levels is the speed that the curriculum requires you to get through all the material. The Latin isn't necessarily harder since you already know all of the grammar and construction, it just goes much faster.

Advice for Beginners.

Starting Latin is difficult, and if you are reading this, I'm glad that you made the choice. There are two things that I believe is very important and should be known to you on the first day that you decide to learn this language. First, Latin was never meant to be spoken, meaning that the literature and the reading is much more important than the speaking; it just so happened that Romans decided to not make up a variation of the language. Therefore, do not be surprised if vocabulary words look weird or hard to pronounce. Second, grammar is more important than vocabulary. This doesn't mean you shouldn't learn vocabulary, but rather understanding grammar well will make your reading and translation speeds faster, as it is easier to look up words in a dictionary than understanding all of the forms (e.g. case, tense, voice, etc.) from a dictionary. In fact, many online dictionaries don't have detailed grammar information that is easy to understand.

Updates on the Book.

Illustrations are still in progress but soon to be finished. Currently working on some final edits now. DM @polyglossos_ on Instagram if you are interested in contributing.

Latin Short Stories: Myth and History for Beginning Latin Students

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Do you know?

The lyrics for "Gaudeamus igitur" were already made in the 1200s, but it became popular much later. The song is named "De Brevitae Vitae", or "About the short life". However, it is more popularly known as "Gaudeamus Igitur" because this is the first line of the lyrics. The song is often played during university graduation ceremonies in Europe.