Latinum’s Comenius Project

Latinum’s Comenius Project

"A Rosetta Stone for Unlocking the Latin Tongue"

Project Outline August 2008

 

John Amos Comenius  ( March 28, 1592 – November 15, 1670)  was a European Educator from Moravia, who wrote an important series of school textbooks for learning Latin. These were textbooks covering the complete curriculum, as he devised it. The textbooks were written in Latin, and come in a gradated series. The aim of these textbooks was to get the students to become fluent in Latin, as school was taught in Latin - but the textbooks were not all LATIN textbooks, but general schoolbooks, covering the subjects we now recognise as history, politics, the sciences, &c. The goal of learning Latin was combined with general scholarship, so the reader was not just learning the language, but useful information about the world as well, at the same time.

As such, these books are of enormous utility to the student of Latin, as they cover areas of knowledge with which we are somewhat familiar, and they provide a wealth of vocabulary, and knowledge about real things in the world – while at the same time giving us an insight into the mindset of the Renaissance, in a manner that no amount of academic study can give us – for by studying the course outlined by these textbooks, we become one of Comenius’ students, and are transported back in time. At the same time, we build up and strengthen our Latin.

Comenius' textbooks were very famous, and some editions remained in active classroom use until the early 1800's. Most editions are bilingual (Latin plus some other European language, including Hebrew and Classical Greek), some are trilingual or more, with the text running in parallel columns -  such a text is a veritable Rosetta Stone for learning Latin. One of the online texts you can access has parallel translations in German, Polish, French, and Czech.

 The Magna Didactica 

LEVEL ONE
Orbis Sensualim Pictus 

 

The first text Latinum will present will be  Comenius’ Orbis Sensualim Pictus.
We will use the first American edition, in English and Latin, as this is available on Google Books. The book can be purchased as a reprint.
  Versions:
Orbis Sensualim Pictus - Anglice - Latine. (1810)  on Latinum in audio

Orbis Sensualim Pictus - Anglice - Latine - newer imprint of above text. on Latinum in audio

Orbis Pictus   Die Weldt in Bildern, Swet w Obrazych, Swiat w Obrazach, Le Monde en Tableaux. (1833)

Variant Text:
Nouveau Orbis Pictus - Germanice - Latine - Francogallice (1832)

This book is Comenius' foundation textbook, and it covers in a very basic format, all the main areas of knowledge as they were understood in the seventeenth century – biology, physics, geometry, trades, philosophy, music, recreation, law, politics, etc. This book was written for six to seven year olds, but it serves quite well for adults as well, although each topic is of course only treated in the barest of outlines. 

Each lesson is an ‘object lesson’, and all the words given are illustrated in drawings that accompany the lesson, aiding in memory and understanding. The lessons are interesting historically, as they describe the processes of long extinct trades, adding to your store of Latin words related to everyday life.
 

In order to progress to Comenius’ higher level textbooks, it is necessary to master the vocabulary in the Orbis Pictus – and going through the book seven or eight times will be necessary – possibly more. The Orbis will give you a vocabulary of a few thousand words.

 

LEVEL TWO
The Vestibulum

 

The next text in Comenius’ series is the Vestibulum to the Janua Linguarum. This is a simple text, of a slightly higher level than the Orbis Sensualim Pictus. Comenius also wrote an essential introduction to Latin Grammar, to accompany it. He wrote two versions of the vestibulum, both of which are useful texts. Two versions of this text are in the Opera Didactica Omnia.
Versions:

Vestibulum in usum illustris paedagogei Albensis

Vestibulum ( Latine - Hungarice )

Vestibulum Majus.(Latine-Germanice)  on Latinum in audio

LEVEL THREE

 I will use 1796 text of Johann Georg Lederer: Der Kleine Lateiner, for level 3. This text follows the outline of the Orbis Pictus very closely, while introducing some material some material from the Janua, and thus serves admirably as the ‘next step up’. This text is in German and Latin, but is similar enough to the Orbis for a beginner to assimilate after studying the Orbis.

Comenius' Latin-Latin dictionary.

This dictionary was especially written for the vocabulary contained in the Janua and the Atrium. There are two editions, one for the Janua, one, more advanced, for the Atrium. The Lexicon Januale is in the  Opera Didactica Omnia.
Several Editions of the Lexicon Atriale  will be appearing on Google. The first one to appear online, is, unfortunately, a poor scan, with the edges of many pages sliced off.  It, is, however, still very useful. Laura Gibbs has started a project to transcribe the dictionary, to create an online, fully searchable text. several people are already contributing. This is a very important project, as no 'pocket' Latin-Latin dictionary is available, either in print, or online, apart from this scan. As part of your Latin studies, I urge you to contribute, and help transcribe a few pages, lines, even one entry, of this dictionary. Every little will help to get this up and online as soon as possible. 

LEVEL FOUR 
The Janua

The Janua Linguarum Reserata Aurea uses the same chapter outlines as the Orbis Sensualim Pictus, but the material is fleshed out in much more detail. The text, reprinted so often, comes in several verrsions, as Comenius composed variant texts, and the editions from different places and times have important differences, but they all follow the same chapter structure. 

Versions:

Latin, French, Dutch 

Latin, Classical Greek, French

Latin and Classical Greek ed. Theodoro Simonio
 
Latin, German Italian and French. 

Latin, German, French, Italian ed. Duez.

French-Latin 

 Copies of the Janua Linguarum can also be viewed as scans at the Comenius Library in Japan. (Before the first google editions appeared in late 2008, this was the only way to view these texts).

This text with its parallel translations is a veritable Rosetta Stone for unlocking the Latin language. I will be using the critical edition of the Janua. The earlier editions of the Janua are simpler than later editions, so I may present this text in two versions, a lower level and higher level version.

Comenius also wrote an intermediate Latin Grammar, composed in accessible Latin, for students of the Janua Reserata. This material is now available online in the Two versions of this text are in the Opera Didactica Omnia.

LEVEL FIVE
Schola Ludus

This section will be the Schola Ludus, where the material of the Janua Linguarum Reserata is presented in short dialogues and ‘plays’ – although these are not dramatic plays, but rather expositions, using conversation.I will use the critical edition of the Schola Ludus. The colloquies in the Schola Ludus develop the educational themes in the Janua in more depth. This text is available online as individual photographs of the pages, and can be found listed here. 
Schoal Ludus also exists in the Opera Didactica Omnia.
  

LEVEL SIX

A text composed of 700 sentences, all in alliteration, for ease of memorisation, called 
" Vestibuli Lat. Lingvae Auctarium". This text is also avaiable in the  Opera Didactica Omnia.

  LEVEL SEVEN
Atrium

The Atrium. The atrium contains Comenius' Higher level Grammar, and advanced philosophical discussions of the material initially introduced in the Vestubulum and the Janua. See the  Opera Didactica Omnia.

LEVEL EIGHT
Latin authors in the original. 

Comenius thought a student should not open any works of original Latin literature, until fluency had been developed. He estimated this would take three years, if conducted FULL TIME in a school only following his curriculum.  Part time, you are looking at six - ten years to attain the level of fluency that Comenius would have expected from his students.

From Compliant Subversity Blog

Comenius' Latino-Latinum Lexicon Atriale: A Wiki that works

I came back from the first half of my January holidays to discover that a remarkable Latin project has taken off. Evan Millner, who is simply prolific in providing internet resources for Latin learners, made us all aware of a digital scan of Comenius' 17th century Latin-Latin lexicon. Laura Gibbs immediately pointed out that a searchable version would be far more useful, and started a wiki, which now is up to the letter D, as contributors transcribe, format, and proof the scanned pages. I can't begin to tell you how useful a Latin-Latin dictionary is, suffice to say I'm overjoyed at the work being done. But it's also a great example of how a wiki can work - small, chunkeable sizes of work, divided among volunteers, contributing to a great resource.

You don't really even need any Latin to get into the Comenius' project, just a careful eye.
Go and make a contribution today: Comenius' lexicon project

Anniversarii

Latinum ( a simple google search for 'latinum' or 'latin podcast' will find it at the top of the list )  is approaching its second anniversary. The entire Adler course is almost all online - all 97 lessons of it, offering several hundred hours of structured Latin tuition.

In addition, Latinum offers a growing selection of Latin readings, and a huge vocabulary learning resource, neo-Latin colloquia, and resources specifically targetted at GCSE.

Over 3 300 000 ( 3 million three hundred thousand) individual audio episodes have been downloaded from Latinum so far, rather a lot of Latin.

Schola on http://schola.ning.com has its first anniversary at the end of the month, with over 780 members. People join every day. Schola now has a real time chatroom, which gets busy every day, with people forming friendships with others who have only Latin as a shared language of communication.

Schola also offers blog posts, a forum, Latin videos, and a huge photolexicon with over 3 500 labelled images.

Original Letters, Illustrative of English History : To 1586. Including Numerous Royal Letters; from Autographs in the British Museum, and One Or Two O

Original Letters, Illustrative of English History : To 1586. Including Numerous Royal Letters; from Autographs in the British Museum, and One Or Two Other Collections By Henry Ellis: ""

Original Letters, Illustrative of English History : To 1586. Including Numerous Royal Letters; from Autographs in the British Museum, and One Or Two O

Original Letters, Illustrative of English History : To 1586. Including Numerous Royal Letters; from Autographs in the British Museum, and One Or Two Other Collections By Henry Ellis: ""

These letters are found on page 130 onward in the above text.

The text can be hear read aloud on the Latinum Podcast.

Reviews posted on the itunes site for Latinum

Mr. Millner has done amazing work creating and posting these podcasts online. They are a real labor of love, and his passion for and dedication to the Latin language really shine through. I still find it incredible that someone would take up such a task and make his work so readily available to all. If you have an interest in learning in Latin or at least wish to see it spared the fate of being a truly 'dead' language, please send a donation to Mr. Millner.

This is a course intended for serious study, so you won't be able to just tune in and get something from it - a little preparation is necessary. The lectures follow the course laid out in the Adler textbook, so you must get the Adler textbook to make use of the lectures. The text is available for free from Google as per the instructions on the Latinum website - it's easy enough to take it to a printer (like Kinko's in the US) and get it printed and bound for a nominal sum. 

This is a superior resource - Latin teachers are hard to find in a lot of places; this podcast with the associated resources can actually teach you well enough to make up for the lack of a teacher provided you dedicate yourself to it. Bravo, Mr. Millner! 

 

 

 

 This is a rare gem of a site for learning Latin. It is a phenomenal compilation of many drill podcasts. If you download the book from google it is a great idea.
The podcasts are in order but you must go through them methodically as suggested by the creator/developer. Exercise patience with Latin as it is different from other languages! It's not an overnight achievement! It will come in time and so you will have to go through podcasts patiently. Overall it is worth it because it is free. Get a tutor and you'll pay through the nose! Thank you Latinum

 

 This is well-suited to the autodidact. 
Non scholae sed vitae discimus: We 
learn, not for school, but for life.

 

 As a beggining self taught Latin student I must say this is a wonderful tool. Not only are there poetry and prose read aloud but if you go to the website you can get a textbook that goes along with the lessons. At first I had trouble navigating the website but it is worth it once you get on track. By the way, the starting leassons are on the site and all the podcasts or organized there. Plus if you email Evan, who put this whole thing together, he will respond quickly and seems very friendly. Excellent tool for anyone wanting to learn Latin on their own and many others too

 

 This is an extraordinary podcast if you want to become fluent in latin. This takes about 500 days. I'm currently half-way. It's a living language approach based upon an ingenious textbook that is available for free from Google Books. Evan Millner has spent hundreds of hours creating these meticulous recordings. Also offered are hundreds of recitations by other scholars. If you are interested in Classics, this is the way to learn latin. These recordings will endure for decades. Five Caesars (highest rating)!!!!!!
 

 

This is an excellent supplement (or alternative) to reading-only Latin learning approaches. I've taken several years of Latin in college, but felt that my fluency had plateaued. I was looking for something that would bring in other learning modes (listening and speaking) instead of the traditional reading-only method. Latinum was exactly what I was looking for and it has helped me move forward. Plus, it is something I can do while I'm driving or taking a walk. I really appreciate all the hard work it must have taken to put this together.

Like some other reviewers, my one complaint is that it can initially be tough to figure out where to start. To help out those who are just getting started with it, I'd recommend first listening to the episode titled "INTRODUCTORY EPISODE" -- which is near (but not at) the top. Then listen to "II - A Pensum Alterum (THIS IS LESSON ONE FOR BEGINNERS)" -- which is maybe 3/4 of the way down the list. Then the main episodes proceed UP (towards the top of the list) according to the roman numerals (with A, B, C, D subsections to each). The various episodes without roman numerals are supplementary materials of various kinds which you can explore at your leisure. 

 

 

 Even though it might be hard to navigate (which I think Evan should work on), I found the material to be worthy of donating to the site for its hard work. Perhaps we could see some new things in the future? 

 

 

 This podcast is a great tool to assist you in learning latin.
Being able to hear spoken latin really helps the learning process.
 

 

 

I have been trying to learn Latin off and on for the last 20 years. There is no particular reason for wanting to do this, other than that the language appeals to me. Visiting Rome last year only intensified my desire to study it. Thus, this site was a godsend. It is, admittedly, not easy material. For those planning to use it, I recommend that they first get a copy of Adler's book, as well as the answer key -- they help immensely.

The amount of work that is involved in setting up a site like this is amazing -- my experience with much less ambitious projects, only underscores my sense of awe at what Evan Millner has accomplished. I hope this project will continue to grow. 

 I found this podcast very easy to use and follow. The lessons are clear and concise. All in all, a great tool to use in the learning of latin. 

 

 

 Thank you for creating such a wonderful collection for free. My Latin was absolutely terrible before I tried this. I'm still learning and I can't wait to learn more!!
**Note to other users: The episodes are not in order. Don't be so lazy, it's a free collection. Just sort it out yourself. =)

 

 This is great stuff. Especially if your in a latin class, this will give you an edge over everyone else. 

 

 This podcast has a large number of lessons (around 400!). This podcast is not only for advanced Latin students-- though it's easy to make that mistake as some advanced lessons are at the beginning of the podcast. Pay attention to the names of the lessons and you should have no problem. The lessons are very thorough and if you visit the web page that corresponds with the lesson, it includes both text and pictures for most of the lessons. (*Note that visiting the web page for a lesson is much more direct if you use a RSS reader rather than a podcast client.) In the lessons, the author is very thorough: he gives examples, explanations, and tastefully repeats them to aid in memorizing the content. I wish that the text and pictures for each lesson were provided in .pdf format so that they could easily be downloaded with each episode-- that's why I rated the podcast as four rather than five. I value portability and having a transcript of the lesson along with the information on the web page in .pdf format would definitely make it easier for me to print it and take it with me. Overall, it is obvious that the author spent a great amount of time producting this podcast. I thank the author for producing so many great lessons to aid in learning Latin! I can't wait for my next lesson! 

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Lyncei ... philosophi ac mathematici summi systema cosmicum, in quo dialogis IV de duobus maximis mundi systematibus Ptolemaico & Copernicano, ... By Galileo Galilei: ""