Thursday, January 04, 2007

Learning Latin

My ambition this year is to learn Latin so that I can read Franciscan sources in their original language. I think this will be a long way off. I've started with Lesson One in "Teach Yourself Latin". There are many grammar rules but the general rule is that every rule has at least three exceptions.

I love the short sentences we start with:
Ubi sunt nautae? (Where are the sailors?)
Nautae in taberna sunt. (The sailors are in the tavern)
In tabernis puellae non sunt. (The girls are not in the taverns)

Obviously someone is waiting for the ferry to depart but the sailors are nowhere to be seen. But why are they bothering going to girl-less taverns? I suspect these sailors will be very disappointed when they finally return to the ship. Or perhaps we shouldn't be thinking about these things. Certainly not about girls who might frequent taverns (with or without sailors).

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well, have the sailors left the tavern yet, with or without the girls.

You can't keep me in suspense like this...

I have abiding memories of struggling to learn Latin for 4 years, and seemed to have failed dismally in the retention of much of that knowledge.