Most people come to this site looking with one question. “Can you help us get through the Henle Latin series?”
The answer is, “Yes. I can. I think it may destroy my sanity in the end, but, yes. I can help you get through the Henle Latin series.”
I am not kidding about losing my sanity. I really do feel the Henle Latin series is taking it’s toll on my mental health.
To save my mind, I do a couple of things. One, I bike long distances everyday. And, two, I study what I love to study… foreign languages.
This summer, I am teaching myself French.
Let’s get to the point.
Here is how I am doing it.
First, I am using DuoLingo. No surprises there. I have used DuoLingo with Italian, Spanish, German, Greek, Dutch, Esperanto, and now, French. The site changes all of the time. Sometimes good changes. Sometimes annoying changes. But, still an excellent site, so I am there. I try to go there everyday for a half-hour, at least. DuoLingo will not take you to fluency in a language. But, it will get you to an intermediate level, and it will help you with pronunciation. DuoLingo is free.
Second, I am listening every day to Coffee Break French. These guys have been producing high quality language podcasts for years. They also produce podcasts for Spanish, Italian, German and Chinese. To check out all of their podcasts, go here: https://radiolingua.com/. I suspect someone could reach near fluency using only their free podcasts.
Third, I am reading Le Français Par La Metode Nature. If you want to read it, just click here and download it: https://dwanethomas.com/french-resources/. Warning… it’s huge. It’s about 1,100 pages long. Make it to the end, and you will be able to read whatever you encounter in French. This is the book I will be reading in the fall with any students who want to join.
That is, if I don’t postpone the class while I try to figure out what to do with Henle Latin. Working on that schedule right now. Should have it all finalized by the end of this week.
