About The Minneapolis Latin Language Meetup Group

`Hadn't time,' said the Gryphon: `I went to the Classics master, though. He was an old crab, HE was.' 'I never went to him,' the Mock Turtle said with a sigh: `he taught Laughing and Grief, they used to say.' `So he did, so he did,' said the Gryphon, sighing in his turn; and both creatures hid their faces in their paws.

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I was called an old crab once, but please don't let that scare you off from this group! Seriously, Latin Is Easy, and you will find yourself Laughing much more often than sighing as we learn the Latin language together. You will learn at your own pace, and you will have lots of fellow Latin students to accompany you on your journey.

You probably already understand the benefits of learning Latin, otherwise you wouldn't be here. But for a bit of additional encouragement, realize that you will be learning THE language of Western civilization, scholarship and science for the last 2000 years. Schopenhauer said it better than I can:


"A man who does not understand Latin is like one who walks through a beautiful region in a fog; his horizon is very close to him. He sees only the nearest things clearly, and a few steps away from him the outlines of everything becomes indistinct and wholly lost. But the horizons of the Latin scholar extends far and wide through the centuries of modern history, the Middle Ages and antiquity."


The time you spend learning Latin is worth it! I have regretted many things that I have done and not done in my life, but I have NEVER regretted the time and effort I have spent with Latin. I daresay you won't either .

We will use various texts and helps to learn our Latin, and practice all the language skills, not just reading and writing, but also some speaking and listening. Yes, Latin is still spoken today (although not that often outside the Vatican, and probably not that often inside). We will do poetry and prose, learn some Latin songs, and generally just have fun.

For those of us who are more advanced, we will tackle some really difficult Latin translations, and practice prose and poetry composition. So as you grow in knowledge and understanding of the language, the group will grow with you.