Mundus Latinus: A Course in Practical Latin
Welcome to Mundus Latinus, a course to master Latin through immersion in the daily life of Latin speakers across history. Whether you're haggling with a merchant in a bustling forum of Imperial Rome, discussing manuscripts with medieval monks, or corresponding with Renaissance scholars, this course will equip you with the practical Latin skills you need for these everyday scenarios. Through carefully structured scenarios, you'll progress from basic market transactions to complex academic discourse, all while mastering essential grammar and vocabulary. You will never again find yourself defrauded by horse traders because you failed to choose your prepositions correctly.
Using written exercises, colloquia and role plays, you can work with a tutor, fellow students, or cum intellegentiā artificāli, with our prompts written for the purpose, to write and speak in your own time and at your own pace.
Our course takes you through three major periods of Latin usage - Classical Rome, Medieval Europe, and the Renaissance - with each unit building your abilities through real scenarios you will encounter in Roma to Antverpia. The practical focus means you'll learn Latin as it is actually used. When you discuss oil prices with a merchant, you're not just practicing the ablative of price - you're learning how to conduct commerce with the Romans: a much trickier thing altogether. When you correspond with a Renaissance physician about recent medical discoveries, you're not just using purpose clauses - you're ensuring you and they avoid doing someone a great disservice by making the wrong incision.
So prepare yourself for a journey through time, where Latin isn't just a classical language to be contemplated and recited with little educational result, but a living tool for communication across two millennia of European history. Whether you need to purchase a horse in medieval France, negotiate wine prices in classical Italy, or debate philosophical points with Dutch humanists, this course will give you the practical skills you need to live your life through any period of history you find yourself immersed in.
Who this course is for
[edit | edit source]You will need to have completed around three years of Latin study. We start by reviewing most basic Latin forms, so you can use those lessons if you are in your third year (Lectio I-VII). The main course is at upper intermediate to advanced Latin.
How to use it
[edit | edit source]Each lesson has
- A reading piece focused on the grammar at hand
- A summary of the grammar and how to form and use it
- Written exercises to practice the forms
- Colloquia, which practice the forms and vocabulary
- AI prompts for the Colloquia so you can try them without a parner
- Ludi Scaenici (Role plays), which practice the forms and vocabulary
- AI prompts for the Ludi Scaenici so you can try them without a partner
These allow you to move beyond passive semi-recognition through retention to active production. They will help you write Latin better, and speak it better.
As well as equipping you for many situations you will need using Latin on a daily basis, this process will improve your reading fluency, as it will deepen your familiarity with the language.
Course lessons
[edit | edit source]| Course lessons on Wikiversity | Notes |
|---|---|
| Review Phase | |
| These first lessons focus on review of grammar, but assume it has all been covered. Practice focuses on key topics. | |
| Lesson I: Mercātūra | Business Latin; present tense and imperatives; deponents and basic case uses; |
| Lesson II: In Tōnstrīnā | At the Barbers; demonstrative pronouns, questions, locations and movement, commands |
| Lesson III: Sorōrēs Studiōsae | Past tenses |
| Lectio IV: Dē Futūrō | Political careers; Future tense formation, common irregular futures, active and passive futures |
| Lectio V: TBC | TBD: Present participle formation and use, Perfect participle formation and use, Future participle formation and use, Participial phrases |
| Lectio VI: Thermopōlium Administrāns | Running an eatery; Temporal clauses (cum, ubi, postquam); Relative pronouns; Perfect tense; Demonstrative pronouns |
| Lectio VII: Portus Mercātōrius | Ports and merchants; Gerunds and gerundives; Ablative absolute constructions |
| Additional Materials | |
| Appendix I: Other roleplays | Appendix: Other roleplays |
| Appendix II: Other stories | Appendix: Other stories |
| Appendix III: List of Colloquia and Ludi Scaenici | Appendix: Colloquia and Ludi Scaenici from the lessons available as AI prompts |