Sunday, May 19, 2024

19.05.24: Level 1; Ora Maritima - introduction

I’m going to be doing quite a few Level 1 posts on this text: Ora Maritima by Edward Sonnenschein. Sonnenschein was the Professor of Classics at the University of Birmingham. The book was written at a time when the teaching of Latin was being seriously reviewed i.e. moving away purely from the rote learning of tables to reading the language in context. The book was targeted at British schoolkids, but the language is far from being kids’ stuff.

It was also very carefully written to focus on what you really need to know as the foundations of the language.

Everything you need is in the book itself: the texts, the vocabulary (chapter by chapter) and the grammar notes – step-by-step. I’ll be posting some review material based on the book but I won’t be saying much about the vocabulary and grammar because it’s all in there and everything has also been covered here in the group.

And please use the group to ask questions.

The whole book is on file here in the group:

https://www.facebook.com/.../permalink/445400638071210/

The book is also available for download at:

https://archive.org/.../cu31924031202850/page/n27/mode/2up

Online versions with text only:

https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Ora_Maritima/Text

https://fergusjpwalsh.github.io/sonnens.../ora_maritima.html

David Amster mentioned that he likes this book, and I’m sure others who have studied Classics know it and like it too.

I like it not just because of the language; it was written in a ‘gentler’ age where life was slower, and where people didn’t want the “answer” at the press of a button. Learning a language as challenging as Latin takes time, determination and patience.

Yes, the book is a bit "old fashioned" but it works. 







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