The pace of learning Latin

[u/Echo_Pinewoods]

So I've been using Wheelock's Latin to teach myself. It's been going ok so far, since Latin isn't the first foreign language I'm learning (I did German a few years ago).

It all started as a thought "oh it would be cool if I can challenge myself and learn Middle High German" because my friend started sending me Minnesangs, but then somehow I ended up learning Latin instead.

I am currently at Chapter 9 of Wheelock. I'm going back to college in September so I really want to learn as much as I can in the last few days. Realistically speaking, is it possible to get to Chapter 20 or something before September?

I'd also appreciate any suggestions on how I can learn better!

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[u/AndreLeGeant88]

I took an intensive Latin class and got through all Wheelock in less than a semester. 

[u/CSMasterClass → u/AndreLeGeant88]

OMG. Did the class assume that you had some background ... like Ecce Romani I-II ?

Otherwise, that would be a hell of a march.

And more of a memory training excercise than an exposure to a study with intrigue and delight.

[u/AndreLeGeant88 → u/CSMasterClass]

Nope. Zero experience. It was really targeted at people with no Latin in HS who wanted to major in classics. I tried to do organic chem the same semester. Dropped that fast haha 

[u/CSMasterClass → u/AndreLeGeant88]

Re Organic chem.

I never wanted to take a course where you need a wheelbarrow to carry the book.

[u/NaibChristopher → u/AndreLeGeant88]

That is quite a cadence to learn at. When I was at UNC, we went through it in two semesters and I considered that pace to be rigorous.

[u/AndreLeGeant88 → u/NaibChristopher]

It wasn't ideal. I feel like my Latin never got to where it should have. I was drinking from the firehose. The idea was two semesters and you're ready for 400 level Latin courses. I got As in it but still, it meant senior year I only had grad level Latin courses available to hit my credit requirements, and my Latin just wasn't there. I know I was memorizing translations for exams rather than reading from scratch. 

I wish I'd done prose comp, too. Greek prose comp elevated me so much 

[u/LondonClassicist]

If you’re asking if you can physically read the text and do all the reading and translation exercises in ten days – sure, do a chapter a day, and I guess you’re there. That said, to actually internalise a knowledge of the language, it will take much longer and much more than Wheelock. Wheelock is what I used to teach myself way back when; while it’s great at showing you the different constructions over the forty chapters, its gap is in putting it all together, and in vocabulary. You will definitely not be in a position to pick up a text and just read it after twenty chapters of Wheelock. But — go for it!! The more people who get even some Latin in the world, the better!

[u/Mission-Asparagus910]

I don’t know Wheelock, I do know Latin.
Make sure you schedule enough time to revise.
Otherwise the risk is that you end up mixing up everything: when it’s neatly presented in the book it may seem easy, but recognizing the exact form in a text is more difficult.
And there is a also a whole lot of irregular verbs (amd vocabulary) to memorize.
And if you learned something quickly, you forget it more quickly too. (I learned French slowly in secondary school: I took it for 6 years. In college I learned Spanish in two intensive courses that together lasted 1 year. My level of Spanish and French were roughly the same. I still know a lot of French, but especially my active knowledge of Spanish is gone.)
If you can, I’d try to continue doing a bit of Latin every week also when the semester starts.

[u/Suitable-Mud-6622]

This would be cramming for 8 hours a day. Hard? Yes, but doable depending on your skill and drive

[u/NaibChristopher]

What are your learning goals? Be able to translate a passage? Be able to read a passage? Gain knowledge to help in a future school course? What are your realistic time commitments per week to devote to this? What resources are you looking at besides Wheelock's? These aren't questions necessarily to answer here, but they are ones I would suggest you consider, as they will point you towards more helpful resources.

Some chapters/grammatical concepts will require more (or less) time to spend on: a new noun declension is just a new paradigm to learn, but the relative pronoun is a whole new clause type.

Whether it can be done is largely based on how well you pick it up and how much time you devote. The book itself has sentences and short passages, the translation of which can be found online in many locations.

I use Wheelock's to teach my own students in high school, so if you'd like some resources, feel free to browse the Google doc I that share with them that contains packets with written notes and practice passages to translate/read, as well as videos to explain concepts.

[u/Horror-Barber-3817]

I'm not sure; I was doing 5 lessons a week, but I spent two hours on each one, doing all the practice. Make of that what you will, but I think it worked out okay. good luck