DD wants to learn latin

[LittleAndSmall]

She has tried Duolingo and has a couple of kids books on Latin such as first 1000 words of latin. They don't offer latin last school but she will learn Spanish in year 8.

Is it possible for a child to teach themselves Latin and if yes, how?

My DD has the same ambition. I’ve bought her Latin to GCSE by ?John Cullen.

Outschool an online platform offer Latin classes. Based in the us but have students from all over the world

Google Cambridge Latin ... my DS did GCSE online with a really good tutor there.

When I was at school, a small group of us tried to teach ourselves Latin, but it soon foundered. One got a teacher and continued.
DD and a couple of friends do Latin privately after school, which has worked very well. It might be worth asking around and seeing if (a) any of her friends are also interested and (b) anyone knows a teacher.

Duolingo have a Latin course too

Obviously not the same as learning academically but a good starting point

It is possible, yes, but it’s more effective and enjoyable to learn with someone else. So, either a friend at the same level or, better, another keen student maybe a year or two ahead.

Could you find a sixth former from another school, who is learning Latin formally, who could spend even half an hour a week with her? It really helps to have someone else to check your mistakes and explain why you made them, to test your vocabulary and, frankly, to add an element of fun.

There's Minimus the Mouse which is fun, based on life at the Roman fort of Vindolanda www.minimuslatin.co.uk/

It's linked to the Primary Latin Project www.primarylatinproject.org/

Good luck!

The Cambridge Latin course is available through distance learning and is exactly the same as what my DD is learning in school.

www.cambridgescp.com/

Outschool will have online Latin lessons.

[quote Zodlebud]The Cambridge Latin course is available through distance learning and is exactly the same as what my DD is learning in school.

www.cambridgescp.com/[/quote]
What Zodlebud said! I came to say exactly the same thing. The whole thing is free online and it is definitely possible to work through it yourself. You might need to supplement with a grammar book if she carries on for more than a year or two.

Latin GCSE is actually pretty easy too, so could easily be taught by distance learning. Some of our local schools offer it as a subject but it’s taught online not by teachers in the school. I hope she enjoys it!

Not sure gcse Latin is very easy. My son is studying it in year 10 and he’s very bright. It’s a challenge

Latin GCSE has infamously high pass rates. You could argue that it's self-selecting but when I did it, as a rare example of a state comprehensive pupil back in the day, my entire class got A, including someone for whom it was their only GCSE pass.

The stats bear this out too. Annoyingly they merged Latin and Greek into 'Classical Subjects' twenty odd years ago, but at that point, 33.7% of those taking Latin GCSE were getting A*. In 2020, 36.3% got 9 in Classical Subjects. 74.6% got 7 or above.

So assure your son that if he continues to work hard, the future is bright.

That’s not the same thing as saying gcse Latin is easy. It’s very misleading to imply this in my opinion.

But it is. I did it. It’s frequently said by those who take it (who are apparently generally in the top third of ability - however they’ve worked that out). If your son is bright, he’ll find the same. I’ve just looked at a recent past paper (given how long ago my experience sits) and the paper is very similar indeed. As I said, it was literally the only pass grade one of my friends got, and she got an A.

A level is NOT easy. There’s a huge jump. The GCSE syllabus and exam have really been simplified to make it more accessible. The exam is very, very well supported by the Cambridge Latin Course materials. You can get a good grade without really understanding what you’re doing. The unseen gives you most of the vocab. Then you get to A level with old style free poetry translation and it steps up about four gears.

We will have to agree to disagree. I think you are belittling a difficult subject.

There is Latin on Oak Academy, the free online lessons that started in lockdown 1. Dd did that for a bit and enjoyed it, might be worth a look.

@Susu49

Duolingo have a Latin course too

Obviously not the same as learning academically but a good starting point

Literally in the first line of OP’s post. 🙄

GCSE Latin IS pretty easy compared with other GCSE subjects. Latin is actually a very simple/basic language based around rules which are pretty consistent. The vocabulary required for GCSE is also a lot smaller/narrower than required for other languages.

My son did it and got A* without really putting much effort in beyond learning the vocab each week and doing the homework as set by the teacher. In all his other GCSE subjects, he had to do a lot of extra work to keep up and generally got lower marks.despite spending a lot more time.

@FelicityPike
MIOW!

Another one saying Cambridge Latin course.

I did have some teaching but it was 1 after school lesson a week for a single year. I learnt the grammar structures and vocab list off by heart. The poetry translation was more difficult but if you're prepared to rote learn again not that bad - I just learnt the English and the Latin. It wasn't very long.

You definitely have to put the work in but if you're prepared to it's pretty formulaic and contained compared to wider ranging subjects.

I did Cambridge Latin and was able to access it through the books and it’s now online! Been around for years. Very self-teachable I reckon

Cambridge Latin Course -hands down.

I’d also agree that Latin isn’t any more difficult than MFL GCSEs, but obviously you don’t start by learning about the contents of your pencil case etc.!

The great thing about Latin GCSE is that everyone thinks you’re so intelligent if you pass it and a genius if you get a really good grade, but it’s actually not harder than MFLs.

My eldest got a 3 in the mock, knuckled down and 4 months later got a 9 -there’s no way they could have done that in any other subject! They said it was a case of “learning and regurgitating”, which is not possible in most other subjects as you have to apply your knowledge.

Btw definitely not a genius, by any stretch of the imagination 😂

OCR do an entry level latin qualification (which is below GCSE) and might be a very useful aiming point to start with. There are resources on their website to show the vocabulary that is needed - it can be done as an external candidate if she can't peruade her school to support her. If that goes well she would be well placed to move on to GCSE?