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ComprehensibleLatin

@ComprehensLatin

For the promotion of reading authentic Latin texts, primarily from the medieval and modern periods. Personal account of Aaron Decker.

 Madison, WI
comprehensiblelatin.com
Joined June 2025
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For free electronic copies of my intermediate text series, just go to comprehensiblelatin.com/ and click the direct PDF links in the table. An Amazon link is also there in case you prefer paper copies.
Image from ComprehensibleLatin (@ComprehensLatin)
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Replying to @AdemirAmaral12 @latinedisce
Sed caput 34 habet lēctiōnēs dē Catullō, etc.
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Replying to @PuppetGodOracle @paleomaragato
Quoque, Familia Rōmāna vērō habet partem 'Grammatica Latina' in quōque capitulō.
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Replying to @Basedtexans @rightwingnutrs
I never cheated in college. None of my friends did either.
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Replying to @uncle_deluge
Just tucking the Didache in there between Acts & Romans, where surely no one will get confused about its canonicity lol
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youtube.com/playlist?list=PL… Accompanying text is here: comprehensiblelatin.com
Gesta Francōrum Read-Along Class

Gesta Francōrum Read-Along Class

youtube.com
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Finally found some time to record more read-along videos for my simplified version of the Gesta Francōrum. The goal is to have a freely-available mini-course that can be used by homeschoolers who have completed Familia Rōmāna through about chapter 16.
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Replying to @JohnSmith6qxd
Agreed. However, often the grammar/translation method is advocated for the purposes of language acquisition, which it does poorly. A grammar & composition class would be very beneficial to have, after students have already obtained a basic acquisition of the language.
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Replying to @bull_shiff
The closest I can think of is saxum,petra,lapis.
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Replying to @bull_shiff
Not a classicist, but I note the following: - St. Jerome uses stella for what the magi saw - Whereas Gregory of Tours uses sīdus to describe the exact same object Matthew 2: "vidimus enim stellam eius" Historia Francōrum Liber 1, pars 19: "Cuius immēnsum sīdus magī ab oriente cernentēs"
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Replying to @JohnSmith6qxd
That's a test of whether someone is highly literate, not whether they know a language. If you asked the average native English speaker to interpret a passage from Paradise Lost while citing grammatical principles, they likely wouldn't be able to do it.
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I'm going to tell my 5th grade Latin class that if they can't recite a full verb conjugation chart in English on demand then they don't know English. </s>
faustian alexander (@faustianspiritt) profile picturefaustian alexander@faustianspirittNov 11
Esse método é muito engraçado, a ideia é democratizar o latim com historinhas enfeitadas mas isso é impossível, latim é para um grupo seleto. Se você não sabe de cor as 60 desinências dos 6 casos das 5 declinações e muito +. você não sabe latim. Serve o mesmo para o grego.
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Replying to @actistonfos @dionysiusmaurus
Jumping on this thread to shill some free resources: once you get through about chapter 16 of Familia Romana you could try one of the simplified Latin texts I wrote here (available as a PDF download): comprehensiblelatin.com/
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Replying to @AntigoneJournal
That was an interview question when I got my current teaching job at a classical k-12 school. My answer was Athanasius' Life of St. Anthony, which the headmaster had also read.
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New tool that's out: a system that takes real texts and interweaves the original language with an English translation. The amount of interweaving appears to be dynamic & configurable.
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Timothy Kearns (@TimotheusKearns) profile pictureTimothy Kearns
@TimotheusKearnsNov 10
--LAUNCHING NOW-- LECTIO - Reading Greek and Latin Fluidly I have been teaching for a long time. And this is what I have wanted for students. Something to build joy and confidence and skill together. This is a new method of study: Interleaving--Explore it with me:
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Replying to @ashleysbored
Agreed. Familia Romana is a MUCH better curriculum.
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ComprehensibleLatin retweeted
τοῦτο βλέπω (@toutovlepo) profile picture
τοῦτο βλέπω@toutovlepoNov 10
Last year for the 50th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I began a translation of Gordon Lightfoot’s song. As fate would have it, I was satisfied enough with my work to share it today, for the 51st
Dūrat ab amne memorja fluēns vīvāx Michigantis ad mare pervastum nōmine Gitche Gumī. Aequor id effātur nōn umquam reddere captōs Cassiopē cum fert nūbila venta polō. Bis ter quīndeciēs lībrīs milliōnibus illa nāvis ferrātum plūsque ferēbat onus. Sīc velut ossa suīs cum nautīs illa Novembris mordenda est ventīs flantibus ante decet.

ALT Dūrat ab amne memorja fluēns vīvāx Michigantis ad mare pervastum nōmine Gitche Gumī. Aequor id effātur nōn umquam reddere captōs Cassiopē cum fert nūbila venta polō. Bis ter quīndeciēs lībrīs milliōnibus illa nāvis ferrātum plūsque ferēbat onus. Sīc velut ossa suīs cum nautīs illa Novembris mordenda est ventīs flantibus ante decet.

Nam fuerat prīnceps veniēns ōrīs Amerīcae dē Portū Geminō mōlibus inde gravis. Nāvis ut est solitum maior quam aliae gravitāte, doctīs cum nautīs, cum quoque dūce bonō. Factīs Cūm gregibus ferrī pactīs neque multīs sīc Cōjāhōgam plēna petīvit ope. Lūnā nunc ortā vigilisque sonō resonātō, ipsene eīs Aquilō, quī fuit aura mināx? Quī cecinit suprā nautās vinclīs quasi vātēs cum latus assūmpsit vastā aqua prīma tumēns. Extemplō cūnctī nōvēre, vigilque magister Quae raptūra est hūc esse Novembris Anum. Tardāta est Aurōra, morātaque pēnsa cibōrum, cum Brūmae ventus rumperet alta secāns. Tunc gelidō pluviī Zephyrō dūcente procellam. Quā cēlātus dum vertice Phoebus inest.*

ALT Nam fuerat prīnceps veniēns ōrīs Amerīcae dē Portū Geminō mōlibus inde gravis. Nāvis ut est solitum maior quam aliae gravitāte, doctīs cum nautīs, cum quoque dūce bonō. Factīs Cūm gregibus ferrī pactīs neque multīs sīc Cōjāhōgam plēna petīvit ope. Lūnā nunc ortā vigilisque sonō resonātō, ipsene eīs Aquilō, quī fuit aura mināx? Quī cecinit suprā nautās vinclīs quasi vātēs cum latus assūmpsit vastā aqua prīma tumēns. Extemplō cūnctī nōvēre, vigilque magister Quae raptūra est hūc esse Novembris Anum. Tardāta est Aurōra, morātaque pēnsa cibōrum, cum Brūmae ventus rumperet alta secāns. Tunc gelidō pluviī Zephyrō dūcente procellam. Quā cēlātus dum vertice Phoebus inest.*

Hōrā tunc cēnae, “Comitēs,” stabilis coquus inquit, “Flūctus tam validī, nē cereāle parem.” Crētīs nunc umbrīs, īdem iam tālia dīxit, “Esse sodālēs vōs est mihi magnus honōs.” Dux itaque ēmīsit, cava nāvigiī mare complēns crēscere, quō nautīs penditur ultima sors. Tēctō tum tenebrīs caelō, lūcēs abiērunt nāvis, et effectum est flēbile naufragium. “Quō sacer īvit amor? Dominum quis vīdit adesse?” hōrīs praeteritīs, dicta, furente mare. “Paulō,” dīcitur, “īvissent utinam magis ultrō, nam vēnissent ad lītora Tēquamenōn!” Aut hominēs disjectī sint, ēversave prōra, aut implēta gravī fissa carīna mare. Nunc, faciēs hōrum, vel sōlum nōmina dūrant cārās per spōnsās per quoque prōgeniēs.

ALT Hōrā tunc cēnae, “Comitēs,” stabilis coquus inquit, “Flūctus tam validī, nē cereāle parem.” Crētīs nunc umbrīs, īdem iam tālia dīxit, “Esse sodālēs vōs est mihi magnus honōs.” Dux itaque ēmīsit, cava nāvigiī mare complēns crēscere, quō nautīs penditur ultima sors. Tēctō tum tenebrīs caelō, lūcēs abiērunt nāvis, et effectum est flēbile naufragium. “Quō sacer īvit amor? Dominum quis vīdit adesse?” hōrīs praeteritīs, dicta, furente mare. “Paulō,” dīcitur, “īvissent utinam magis ultrō, nam vēnissent ad lītora Tēquamenōn!” Aut hominēs disjectī sint, ēversave prōra, aut implēta gravī fissa carīna mare. Nunc, faciēs hōrum, vel sōlum nōmina dūrant cārās per spōnsās per quoque prōgeniēs.

Volvit Hurōn undās; dē sēde suā canit altum per gelidās camerās sīc mare Gitche Gumī. Ē Michigante vapor juvenis quasi somnia surgit. Omnis vēnātus portus et īnsula dat. Īnferius tunc accipiēns situs est lacus undās, dē Ērieō missās ultimus Ontariō. Dum pergunt hodiē ferrātae per mare nāvēs, Vectus cūnctus habet corde Novembris Anum. Conveniunt, quoddam in fānum nōn grande, precantēs prō nautīs, positum lītore Detroitī. Tintinnābula sunt totiēs resonāta per aulās āmissī quotiēs sunt gelidīs sub aquīs. Dūrat ab amne memorja fluēns vīvāx Michigantis ad mare pervastum nōmine Gitche Gumī. Aequor id effātur nōn umquam reddere captōs Cum properāns rapiat nigra Novembris Anus.

ALT Volvit Hurōn undās; dē sēde suā canit altum per gelidās camerās sīc mare Gitche Gumī. Ē Michigante vapor juvenis quasi somnia surgit. Omnis vēnātus portus et īnsula dat. Īnferius tunc accipiēns situs est lacus undās, dē Ērieō missās ultimus Ontariō. Dum pergunt hodiē ferrātae per mare nāvēs, Vectus cūnctus habet corde Novembris Anum. Conveniunt, quoddam in fānum nōn grande, precantēs prō nautīs, positum lītore Detroitī. Tintinnābula sunt totiēs resonāta per aulās āmissī quotiēs sunt gelidīs sub aquīs. Dūrat ab amne memorja fluēns vīvāx Michigantis ad mare pervastum nōmine Gitche Gumī. Aequor id effātur nōn umquam reddere captōs Cum properāns rapiat nigra Novembris Anus.

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Replying to @HariSel57511397
Amen.
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Replying to @JMSterling5 @6079SmithWinsom
You just need the first book in the series (called Familia Romana). You don't need Roma Aeterna or the exercise book. Colloquia Personarum gives additional stories and is a fun supplement. Familia Romana is designed to not need a glossary, but I found chapter-specific glossaries to be helpful for my students. They are available for free here if you want them: comprehensiblelatin.com/reso…
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Replying to @richardrohlin
This is what our Latin program uses, starting in the 5th grade. After about chapter 18 or so students are ready for simplified prose texts, such as my reader's edition of the Nāvigātiō Sānctī Brendānī Abbātis (available for free at my site).
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Replying to @QuiltstarCo @richardrohlin
They did butcher your Latin education. Research into second-language acquisition indicates that rote memory is not a good methodology. Comprehensible input is required.
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