I just finished the Latin course!
I have never taken Latin before and I just finished Level 1 of Latin for English speakers and earned the Golden Owl. It was just released yesterday and I did not test out of multiple topics at a time. I am proud of myself because some of the bugs were frustrating, but more so because of a negative language learning incident in my life. When I was in high school, during my second year of Spanish, I was asked to withdraw at the semester since the teacher believed there was no way I could pass that next semester. The teacher didn't ask me what was going on in my life that was causing me to struggle, nor did she ask how I suddenly had dipping grades in many classes. In either case it has added to the shame I feel in life. I am thankful that Duolingo has given me a way to prove to myself that I am not insufficient and that even if I am not "naturally" good at learning new languages, I CAN work at it, at my own pace, and be successful. Anyway, if you are struggling with Latin or any language or any academic area -- if others are quick to write you off -- for WHATEVER REASON -- don't let them take from your self-esteem and your self-confidence. You don't have to be a "natural" to be good -- or to even just do what interests you. Do it for YOU! Peace be with you!
32 Comments
In follow up: I enjoyed the course tremendously. I made notes and flagged some bugs along the way. I hope to continue when the course is lengthened and some of my bug reports are able to be addressed. If you are on the fence about trying Latin, I recommend giving it a try. It's an amazing and important language and it has been a fascinating learning experience :)
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Well done! I am not even past the first checkpoint yet! I will finish it though, I have done Latin before so I will test out on everything. Have a go at getting them to level 5!
I hope they fix everything soon, and lengthen the course.
I probably would enjoy the course tremendously as well, if it taught me the correct vowels and didn't just ignore half of all Latin vowels.
A huge shame. I can't learn Latin with Duolingo if I have to learn every word and word form somewhere else if I don't already know it.
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WOOT!!! Keep it up :o)
Everything is possible when you apply yourself.
At my 20 year reunion, I challenged my music teacher who told me I couldn't sing - I've always been embarrassed about my singing since then (plus my mother said the same thing) - but by the time of the reunion, several people had told me that I sang well and in tune.
Keep doing what you enjoy :o) Have a lingot.
The Contributors are working through bug reports: check your emails :o)
Thank you Elin.7-1! Congratulations to you, also, for challenging others' perceptions!
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Thank you for your nice post. It has good insights for learners and for teachers. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Thank you Lillith713! I appreciate your response (and your lingot) :)
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Wow! I was hoping that I'd finish sooner, but I'm only about halfway done so far...
Tips & Notes are urgently needed. They can sometimes be more important than the lessons, in my opinion.
there's 5 levels though. if you made it to level one, your lessons are in a green bubble now.
No one should ever write themselves off as being somehow mentally deficient. We can re-wire our brains through our activities. Here is a link to a TED talk by Barbara Arrowsmith-Young, a woman who did just that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0td5aw1KXA
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Thanks for sharing the TED-Link. It's a great inspiration and proves that you can change your life by training your brain.
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Wow one day is impressive. I have to agree that this course is a lot of fun to take. So far I am enjoying it so much.
That's what I love about Duolingo so much: That you can take your time and learn at your own peace without someone telling you, you are too slow.
Thank you GoldyB! ... I agree that going at your own pace is invaluable!
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The course is rather short now and is in Beta. Soon it will grow and your Owl will vanish.
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Everything in life is fleeting - let us enjoy the joys whilst we may!!
The challenge is to get each of the Level owls before the course lengthens...and then do it all again :o)
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Well that was quick. Well, I'm already a third of the way through, and I only started about an hour or two ago.
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The course just came out yesterday, did you finish it in one day?, wow, amazing. And congrats for prove yourself you can do it.
Haha! That is true! I also have finished Navajo & Hawaiian (although those took me muchblonger than a day) which are both shorter courses. One thing I appreciated about this Latin course was that it already has a lot of working audio -- which helps me a lot! ... The Navajo course doesn't include audio and the Hawaiian course has a lot of audio that doesn't work on the android app...
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Thanks for your post, I have a similar story, have always struggled with languages as a child and a teenager, languages classes were very boring, and I always felt a bit stupid compared to others, Duolingo changed my life, now everybody tells me that I am smarter than others and for me it is easier to learn languages...they just don't see my efforts in Duolingo. But it's good to see that some methods work for some people and not for others, everyone has its own way of learning. We are not equal at all, and it's fine.
Thank you, fc0292! I am happy that you have been able to change your life. Cheers to future successes!
First of all, congrats to 3CelticVikings and everyone who finished the Latin tree! :-)
I just did it too -- I'm so very, very happy! The course is fun. Many thanks to everybody who contributed to it, and I'm looking forward to new versions of the tree.
Wow, that's awesome! I can't wait to do it, once I finish the few courses I'm currently working through.
