Tip of the Week #375: My Favorite Latin Book – Now on YouTube
I am pretty excited about this.
I recently found a complete YouTube playlist for Familia Rōmāna, the first book in Hans Ørberg’s Lingua Latina per se Illustrata series. This has been my favorite Latin book for a long time. If you are learning Latin, I recommend Visual Latin (naturally) and Familia Rōmāna.
Now you can listen to the book for free on YouTube. Best of all, the reader uses the Ecclesiastical pronunciation, also called the Italian pronunciation.
Here’s the playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeAdgLsSLlqoJ8Ji6zvfrwCSQgKSGSOOP
Here’s what makes Familia Rōmāna so unusual:
It’s a Latin textbook written entirely in Latin.
No English translations. No vocabulary lists telling you what every word means. Instead, you begin with extremely simple Latin:
Rōma in Italiā est.
From there, the book gradually introduces new words and grammar in a way that allows you to figure things out from context.
And now you can listen to the whole book on YouTube.
That’s the part I’m excited about.
Here’s a suggestion I often give my students: Pick one chapter and listen to it every day for a week.
Don’t worry about understanding every word. Don’t stop every few seconds to translate. Just listen.
Then listen again tomorrow.
And again the next day.
You’ll be surprised how much more you begin to understand.
Bonus: If you’re already studying Latin with Visual Latin, Henle Latin, or another curriculum, you don’t have to switch programs. Just add Familia Rōmāna as extra listening and reading practice.
A few minutes of Latin every day can make the language start to feel less like a puzzle—and more like a language.
Incidentally, I am not teaching a live Latin class this year. I am taking a break for the first time in 30 years. Planning to return in the fall of 2027.
I am teaching other classes, though. German, French, Spanish, and Italian. The links to the live classes are now up on my site for subscribers. You can now register. We start in about three weeks!
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Almost every Saturday, I send out a Tip of the Week. The tip of the week is usually something I have picked up along the way that may make your life a little easier.
If you would like to hear from me (almost) every Saturday, just go to the home page of my site and plug in your name and email. You will also get a free digital copy of my book on learning Latin (and almost anything else). Just go here: https://dwanethomas.com/ and enter your name and email.
If you want to buy the digital book instead (because you just feel like buying me a cup of coffee) go here: https://dwanethomas.gumroad.com/l/fzixlh
If you are interested in learning Latin, you can go through the classes on my site 24/7. I recommend the book Lingua Latina by Hans Ørberg.
If you tackle the book and find yourself bogged down, you may find the classes on my site helpful. To join, just click here: https://dwanethomas.com/join/
If you want a more professionally filmed Latin learning experience, check out the best-selling DVD series: Visual Latin.
Or, if you want to skip Latin, and just jump right into learning English words from Latin and Greek roots, you may enjoy the series Word Up! Warning. Word Up! is a bit wacky. You will learn a lot… but, you may find yourself rolling your eyes, too.
I teach other languages on my site, too. The current schedule is here: https://dwanethomas.com/schedule/
By the way, some of the links in this post are affiliate links. Not trying to pull a fast one on you. I only promote what I believe in. Not only that, but commissions from affiliate links allow me to continue offering training and books at low prices and sometimes free.
