I received this question from one of my online students:
“I seem to be having difficulty with the proper usage of most of these verbals/verb equivalents. Do you have any suggestions?”
Thanks!
Here is my reply:
I actually think you are doing quite well. Your work is rather impressive.
There comes a break point when you a learning Latin. At that point, the only thing you can do to achieve fluency is read extensively.
Listen to the foreigners in your own life. Listen to them as they speak English. Do they get every verb tense correct? No, of course, they don’t.
That’s where you are.
Honestly, that’s where I am.
You can read in Latin. You understand most of what you read. Of course, you have to look words up as you read, but that is nothing new. You are reading the literature of an ancient people. Get used to looking things up. I still do after decades of learning Latin.
The only people who are going to get on your case for using the wrong verb tense are academics. Don’t let it get to you. Academics generally don’t live in the real world.
My advice? Keep reading. If you haven’t read Lingua Latina by Hans Ørberg, start there. You will love it.
