<p>Thanks for the advice, guys.</p>
<p>The AP Latin exams are hard. Focus on what you can most improve: the free response. Free response is worth 60% of your AP grade and all the materials are on the syllabus! Also, one passage from the multiple choice is on the syllabus! So as long as you cover and understand all the Latin on the syllabus, you should be fine.</p>
<p>Well, I've been wanting to learn Latin for quite some time now, and I was wondering what textbook series to use. My goal is to get to Latin III proficiency by the end of the summer, which would let me prepare for the AP Latin tests in May 2009. Is Wheelock's good enough, or should I use a different series, like Latin for Americans or Ecce Romani? The latter too look long and simplistic, which is a problem for a person who wants to learn as much as possible in the shortest amount of time. </p>
<p>If this matters, I've had about 5 or so years of French, so things like the subjunctive won't be that difficult; instead, the major problem initially would be to remember all the endings for the different nouns.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input.</p>
<p>I used Ecce Romani for the first two years of Latin. It's fairly sufficient for learning the basic syntax, grammar, conjugations, forms, etc. For the AP test though, the vast majority of your AP grade is knowing the lines on the syllabus. I took the Latin Literature test for Catullus and Ovid. The free response is actually quite easy if you know the lines.</p>
<p>I looked at the Ecce Romani series, but it looks short and split into multiple volumes, which is bad for a person who wants to cram the most knowledge possible into short amounts of time. For that reason, I was looking at Wheelock's Latin, which colleges manage to finish in about two semesters or so, maybe three.</p>
<p>I was looking at the AP Latin exams and I have a question. Do the exams not ask you to compose anything in Latin? Does the entire exam consists of recognizing the different Latin forms and translating the lines into Latin, with a few essays in English about various topics, or do we actually write something in Latin? I was sort of confused, since I thought that we would write in a foreign language for a foreign language exam, but if we don't need to, that's pretty cool too.</p>
<p>Got a 5 easy on Catullus - Ovid. </p>
<p>Format: I copied this from the College Board website.</p>
<p>Section I: Multiple-Choice</p>
<p>The 50-question multiple-choice section tests your knowledge of Latin poetry and prose. You'll answer questions about four passages. The first three passages, which are also used on the Vergil exam, test your Latin reading and comprehension skills. (An English-language introduction to each sight passage will help you put it in context.) The fourth passage, a syllabus-based Catullus poetry selection, tests your familiarity with material covered in your coursework.</p>
<p>The category breakdown of the questions is as follows:</p>
<pre><code>* Grammar and lexical questions (10-15 questions)
* Translation or interpretation of a phrase or sentence (17-23 questions)
* Metrics: i.e., scansion of the hendecasyllabic line or either line of the elegiac couplet (1-3 questions)
* Figures of speech (1-3 questions)
* Identification of allusions or references, recognition of words understood but unexpressed, explication of inferences to be drawn (10-15 questions)
* Background, based on the passage from the syllabus (1-3 questions)
</code></pre>
<p>The greater the experience that you have with close reading at sight, the better your performance will be on the multiple-choice portion of the exam. Unusual words are glossed. Significant long vowels (for example, ablative singular of the first declension) are indicated in the prose passages. You will be asked to scan only the hendecasyllabic line and the elegiac couplet in this section; the ability to do so can also be an aid to translation.
Section II: Free-Response</p>
<p>The free-response section includes a 15-minute reading period followed by one hour and 45 minutes of writing time. There are six questions. You'll answer three about Catullus and three on your choice of Cicero (Pro Caelio), Horace (Odes and Satire 1.9), or Ovid (Amores and Metamorphoses). The exam includes 800 lines of Catullus, and 500 lines of Horace or Ovid or an equivalent selection from Cicero. Your essays should demonstrate your ability to comprehend, translate, analyze, and interpret the lines of the required selections.</p>
<pre><code>* Short-answer questions test your knowledge of grammar and syntax, reference, context, figures of speech, and meter.
* Translation questions test your ability to translate literally; in answering the question, you must make it clear that you understand the structure of the Latin.
* The long essay question requires analysis of one or two passages; don't just relate what the Latin says but analyze how the author uses his literary skills to create meaning in several different ways. For example, the structure of a work may contribute to its meaning, as do the development of theme and imagery. You need to show how the author uses the resources at his disposal to create a meaningful work of art. Latin cited in your essay should help prove your point. The short essays also require analysis or discussion of the Latin in the passage, but to a lesser extent than the long essay.
</code></pre>
<hr>
<p>In my opinion, to prepare, you need to:</p>
<p>First: Translate ALL the required poems yourself.
Second: Correct your translations.
Third: Frequently (before each test, and before your midterm) rewrite or copy your translations, or go line by line and translate out loud all the poems.
Fourth: Practice essay questions and lit. analysis questions from old exams. Compare your essays to past essays (your teacher can purchase these) or rubrics.</p>
<p>Using Ecce and Wheelock's alone will NOT AT ALL prepare you for AP Latin. Go to the college board website and read the course description.</p>
<p>Ok, so we don't actually need to write anything in Latin; we just need to recognize and translate the Latin into English.</p>
<p>I understand that Ecce or Wheelock's won't prepare me for the AP. As I plan to learn Latin within a year or so, I need to start somewhere, and so I asked about what textbook I would use to start learning. I'm fully aware that the AP's have their own curriculum and test us on the classics, not the grammar or syntax we would learn from a textbook.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot, ceebee63.</p>
<p>Recommendations for textbooks for the lit exam:</p>
<p>Love and Transformation: An Ovid Reader</p>
<p>Love and Betrayal: A Catullus Reader</p>
<p>I absolutely adore Catullus, and Ovid is a nice complement, so I'd do Catullus-Ovid, not Catullus-Horace.</p>
<p>you'll also need a special spiral bound supplement to the catullus reader; not all the ones for the AP are in the textbook. </p>
<p>after you learn all the grammar, i recommend transitioning from translating "fake" (written for a textbook) latin to real latin by practicing with pliny's letters. </p>
<p>do you have a tutor to help you get through this (4 years of latin in 1 year)?</p>
<p>Hmm, it's a little early to be thinking about readers, but thanks a lot!</p>
<p>I really don't have a tutor to help me out. I'm going to be working on my own, really, on the 3 years of Latin (fourth year is AP in most schools.) My only sources of help will most likely be online forums where I can ask questions about grammar or translations, but other than that, I'll mostly be on my own.</p>
<p>I do have a friend who would like to continue learning Latin, but I doubt he would consider taking the AP with me.</p>
<p>Has anyone done the Cicero option on Latin Lit? I independent studied Lit first semester this year and I thought the Cicero was really easy compared to the Catullus. Or have people only read the Pro Caelio Cicero option from previous years?</p>
<p>The College Board's website has a course description which includes some sample multiple choice questions (<a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/ap/students/latin/ap-cd-latin-0607.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/ap/students/latin/ap-cd-latin-0607.pdf</a>.)
They look very similar (to me) to the Latin SAT II.</p>