Yes, the Duolingo course is great if you are interested in conversational Latin. This tool is focused more on reading ancient Roman authors. No reason you can't do both, though!
Unfortunately I have not been able to find a way to learn Latin that doesn't involve some amount of memorization pain. I find that focused exercises, as opposed to flashcards or other rote approaches, mitigate the pain somewhat. But I'm not sure it can be eliminated completely.
Wow, this is great. Thanks for the link. I hope to take Selfstudyclassics a little farther than this one goes over time, but this would be a great place for anyone to start.
Yes, several other commenters have made that suggestion, and I agree it is a good one. This tool is aimed at those interested in a public domain text, or people who using other tools who are looking for additional practice in the form of interactive exercises with explanations.
Agreed! That is unquestionably a great text for those who have access to it. Selfstudyclassics is aimed at those who might not have access to it, or who are looking for additional practice in the form of interactive exercises with explanations.
Congrats on beginning your Latin studies! Duolingo is a great place to start, and will get you off and running with conversational Latin. Selfstudyclassics is geared more towards vocabulary and constructions you might find in reading, say, Caesar. I agree that they complement each other nicely.
Thanks for the link to a great resource. I don't mean to detract in any way from any of the other terrific resources available online - free or otherwise. I created selfstudyclassics.com to scratch a very particular itch. When I started to re-learn Latin after many years, I was looking for something which was focused on examples and featured a lot of practice with instant feedback - something like Khan Academy, which I love. My hope is that it is helpful to others with a similar itch.
You might be surprised at the size of the community of Latin speakers (outside the Vatican). It gets some attention from time to time on HN. For this community a shared pronunciation is crucial to being mutually intelligible. And I suppose it makes sense to use the one with the most support from the experts, even if it will always remain somewhat speculative. I take your point - it is possible to study and ready Latin without much regard for pronunciation. But I also feel that if you approach it this way you miss out on the fun of trying to recreate the speech of an ancient culture.
Yes, I think that was the original intention. I changed the option to - Nautae in "Nautae fābulam dominīs nārrat quia dominae fābulās amant." - for the time being, so at least it isnt't flat out wrong while I think of something better.
Thanks for your interest! I agree about the pronunciation. The first of the videos is on that very topic. Also I second your suggestion of Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata. That is a great text. My goal is not to replace any of the existing tools, but rather to supplement them. There is no such thing as too much practice. Also, this presents a free alternative for those that might need one.
Great project! At first glance it looks like the differences in approach are substantial, but I'll think about it some more and see if there are ways I might be able to contribute.
Looking at your second example...that's just a mistake, sorry. I figured a couple of those were bound to slip in. I'll get it fixed. And again, I really appreciate your taking a look at the site.
Thanks for the feedback! As you noticed, the drills are more about syntax than reading comprehension, and your understanding of syntax is solid. It might be challenging to come up with multiple correct translations of each Latin exercise, but I will give some thought to how it might be done.