July 2019 Language Learning Report

Another month, another report. For a look back at the last year and a half, take a look at last month’s post.

July

This month I logged a total of 3727 minutes of study, with a 53% Latin/47% Greek split. I usually do more Greek than Latin, but my mix last month started a shift towards Latin that will go through at least October due to my new tutoring topics (explained below). I hit two hours a day once again. Perhaps this will be my new normal. Most of that was in reading (about 90%), though about 5% of it was listening only (mostly recordings of Familia Romana) and 5% more was conversational.

Greek

Greek readings included Luke, Acts, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Romans, Colossians, and 1 Timothy, mostly as a part of my read through the Greek New Testament in the summer plan. I am a little ahead of schedule on this, so I expect to finish this on time. The only other Greek reading I did this month was in Xenophon’s Anabasis for a conversational Greek session with Seumas. Those sessions were a lot of fun. I need more conversational Greek in my life. As a part of that I also did some composition practice, which was useful and fun.

Latin

My Latin reading was all from the Loci Antiqui and Loci Immutati in the back of Wheelock, or from Familia Romana. I continue with my Latin tutor Michael. Right now we are focusing on Latin poetry from the Loci Immutati in the back of Wheelock. It is certainly not an acquisition-focused exercise, but it is fun nonetheless. In what is more focused on acquisition, I am working through Familia Romana XXV-XXXV in a conversational Latin group with Seumas. This is my first attempt to do anything coversational in Latin. I am not speaking much yet, so hopefully I haven’t embarrassed myself too much.

August Preview

Unlike most months, all my study time for August is spoken for by four tasks. First, I need to finish out my GNT reading for the summer (1 Cor, 2 Cor, James, 2 Timothy, Ephesians, Philemon, Jude, Hebrews, Revelation all remain). Second, I am once again trying to work through Eleanor Dickey’s An Introduction to the Composition and Analysis of Greek Prose with some others, this time up on B-Greek. It is very difficult to do this kind of thing alone, so I really hope the group sticks to it. Join us if you want to do this with a group. We just got started, so you are not really behind yet. Third, I have my weekly Latin time with Michael. We are doing poetry for right now, so it is difficult. Fourth, I have eight more weeks of Familia Romana classes with Seumas.

With all that, I do not expect to find much time to do much of anything else. If I do find some time, perhaps I will fit in a little Anabasis or ὁ ἑταῖρος composition time. But I am skeptical.

Books in English

At this point I am not trying to push beyond two hours of Greek/Latin study a day. My classics study has significantly taken away from my general reading over the last year and a half, and it would be good for me to fix that before trying to push my language study time further. I started that this month, finishing Deep Work by Cal Newport and The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday, both of which are easy reading. I have restarted How Vocabulary is Learned by Stuart Webb and Paul Nation, a book more obviously related to my studying.

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