Considering learning Latin but wondering – is Latin hard to learn? Great question!
There are a lot of facets to Latin that label it as being a hard language to learn. However, all languages to some degree are difficult. And Latin doesn't have to be intimidating.
Here are some factors that make people consider Latin a hard language:
- It's a dead language
- There are three genders
- There are noun and adjective cases
- The grammatical concepts are complex
These different factors will depend on your native language and your background in language learning. If you already know a Romance language or languages that use cases and gender, you will find these aspects less of a hindrance to learning Latin.
So, is Latin hard to learn? Read on to find out.
Pro Tip
By the way, if you want to learn Latin fast and have fun while doing it, my top recommendation is Latin Uncovered which teaches you through StoryLearning®.
With Latin Uncovered you’ll use my unique StoryLearning® method to learn Latin naturally through story… not rules. It’s as fun as it is effective.
If you’re ready to get started, click here for a 7-day FREE trial.
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Table of Contents
Latin Is A Dead Language
As a dead language, Latin can be harder to learn. You don't have other native language learners to help you practice the language. There's no country that you can visit to try to speak in only Latin or participate in a language exchange program.
In addition, when learning Latin, you're often not learning how to use Latin conversationally. Fortunately, there are increasing numbers of Latin teachers and institutes focusing on learning Latin as a spoken language.
Regardless, this doesn't make Latin impossible to learn. Instead, you're able to focus more on the existing bits of real Latin. You will be able to spend time practicing and understanding Latin grammar.
Also, as a dead language, there are no words that have been created for new inventions and concepts, such as “computer.” This significantly decreases the amount of vocabulary that you need to know in order to master Latin.
Even though Latin is a dead language, it's also the parent language of the Romance languages. This helps the “deadness” of the language be much more manageable if you have experience with Romance languages.
Some people end up choosing Latin because of the fact that it is a dead language. Most Latin classes do not have an oral or spoken component to the class. A great way to keep the fear villain at bay!
In many other modern language classes, you have some sort of oral exam and expectations to participate by speaking in the language in class. The lack of this aspect often draws in more shy language learners.
Latin Has Three Genders
For English speakers, the concept of noun and adjective genders can be confusing. Only personal pronouns are where genders apply in English. In Latin, however, you need to use genders with every noun and adjective.
Unlike other languages that have two expressed grammatical genders, such as French, Arabic, and Hindi, Latin has three genders: feminine, masculine, and neuter.
For the most part, this means that for adjectives, there are three times the number of possible endings that can be used. For nouns, you'll need to learn the gender of the noun in order to be grammatically correct.
Latin genders can add complications to the noun and adjective relationship. When creating a noun-adjective pair, you need to consider the gender of the noun to know how to form the adjective.
If that sounds scary, don't panic. If you follow the rules of StoryLearning and read books in Latin you'll soon pick up noun gender as you immerse yourself in story. And that's not all…
Reasons Why Latin Gender Isn't As Hard As It First Seems
While noun gender seems anxiety-inducing, there are several considerations that make gender significantly less overwhelming. There are over 4,000 languages in the world that use gender. Many actually use the three-gender system.
If your native language has even two grammatical genders you'll be familiar with this concept, even if you haven't explicitly learned it. This makes it easier for you to learn the gendered endings due to your ingrained acceptance and understanding of the concept of gender.
In addition, you can learn and categorise Latin genders easily thanks to numerous patterns.
First, several grammatical endings tend to have similar vowels used depending on their gender. For many cases, the feminine gender has a’s while masculine and neuter have o’s, u’s, and i’s.
Certainly, there are exceptions to the rule, but this pattern is a great starting point for beginning to learn Latin.
In addition, the meaning of the word can also help you determine what the gender of the noun is if it's not easily discernable based on the ending.
Typically, feminine nouns are female names, names of cities and countries, plants, and qualities and concepts, such as “liberty.” Masculine nouns are male names, river names, winds, mountains, and months.
Latin Case Use And Endings
One of the biggest concerns that language learners have is the claim that Latin grammar is harder than the grammar of other languages.
There are five main cases: Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, and Ablative. These cases change the endings of nouns and adjectives according to their use in the sentence.
Latin nouns and adjectives, beyond gender, also need endings depending upon their cases and use in the sentence. Unlike English, Latin doesn't rely on word order to determine how words are used in the sentence.
While main verbs are typically found at the end of the sentence, nouns and adjectives can technically be anywhere in the sentence. Meaning is found through the case ending of the noun. And adjectives are paired to their nouns based on their endings.
The patterns in case endings create declensions, of which there are five. Additionally, there are five cases, and two numbers, singular and plural. This gives around 50 possible endings for nouns, which is certainly very intimidating.
Not As Bad As It Sounds
No matter the appearance of infinite ending options for Latin nouns, a noun actually only has ten possible forms, not the 50 that it may seem.
Not only is there a finite number of endings for a noun, but also the cases follow a pattern through all five declensions.
For example, Accusative singular nouns will almost all end in -m; Dative, Accusative, and Ablative plurals will almost all end in -s; and Ablative singular will almost always end in a long vowel.
Latin is not the only language that has cases to give meaning to nouns in sentences. German, Russian, Mongolian, and Japanese are examples of languages that have from three to eight different cases.
Tsez, spoken in the Dagestan region in Russia, actually has 64 cases! Considering Latin only has five, you could consider Latin’s cases to be less of a deterrent to learning it, comparatively.
The use of cases allows Latin to be much more flexible in its word order. Latin authors and orators have taken advantage of this flexibility to artfully arrange words, imparting additional meaning in the intentional composition of their sentences.
Aside from Ancient Romans, this allows you to organise your sentences in your own unique way.
Complex Latin Grammar
There are also several different grammatical concepts such as subjunctive clauses and ablative absolutes. Due to the extensive grammar of Latin, there is a greater chance of you coming into contact with some very complex sentences.
One of the common jokes about the orator Cicero is that you can go through lines and lines of text before you find the verb of a sentence.
This claim that Latin has the hardest grammar is unfounded. Every language has its own quirks and complexities of their languages. Much of the concern over the difficulty of Latin grammar decreases if you’ve learned other languages before in a traditional setting that focuses on grammar.
If you've never learned about how grammar functions, this will make learning any language’s grammar very challenging. The possible struggles of learning grammar are also relative to the type of language you already know.
To make your life easier, in my story-based Latin course, Latin Uncovered, I include a Latin grammar overview to help you get to grips with grammar terminology, Latin word order, Latin nouns and Latin verb conjugation.
If you know other Romance languages, Latin has more in common with their grammar. If you are learning Latin from learning Korean, there will be certain aspects that will be more difficult than for Romance language speakers.
Latin is a very logical language and will generally fit its established grammatical patterns. While Latin grammar can be complex, once you learn it you don't need to worry about an excessive amount of exceptions to rules.
People often compare Latin to puzzles due to its logical nature. If you encounter difficult and challenging sentences or phrases, the pleasure that you feel when figuring it out makes it worth it.
FAQs About Is Latin Hard To Learn?
How Long Does It Take To Learn Latin?
It typically takes around 2 years of regular study to learn Latin to an intermediate level. But the length of time it takes to learn Latin varies according to many factors. So you may need less than two years or you may need more.
Some of the factors influencing how long it takes to learn Latin are your native language(s), your language learning experience and how much time you can commit to learning Latin.
If you already speak a Romance language plus a highly inflected language like German, you'll be able to learn Latin faster because the vocabulary and some of the grammar will be familiar to you.
Why Is Latin So Difficult To Learn?
Latin is a challenging language to learn due to its complex grammar (cases, gender, verb conjugation, adjective inflection), extensive vocabulary, and lack of widespread usage in modern communication.
As it's a “dead” language, you can't travel to a particular country to learn Latin or find native speakers to talk to. For this reason, the resources to learn Latin are slightly more limited than for modern langugaes.
Which Is Harder Spanish Or Latin?
Latin is generally considered harder than Spanish. Here's why:
Latin is a much more inflected language that Spanish with nouns, adjectives and pronouns changing according to case. In comparison, Spanish grammar is simpler, with one of the trickiest parts being verb conjugation. But there are no cases to worry about! Latin also has three genders compared to two in Spanish.
Spanish is widely spoken and taught throughout the world so there's an abundance of resources to learn Spanish. As a living language, new material is being added every day. In comparison, there are fewer resources to learn Latin.
As Spanish is a modern language spoken widely across the globe, it's easy to find Spanish speakers to talk to. Latin is no-one's native language these days so it's not as easy to find people to talk to in Latin, although people do teach spoken Latin.
Does Anyone Still Learn Latin?
Yes, Latin is still taught in some schools and universities, especially those with a focus on the liberal arts or a classical curriculum.
In addition, people still use Latin in various ways today beyond.
The Catholic Church still uses it to various degrees and depending upon the congregation.
Many religious scholars and European historians of certain time periods still continue to learn Medieval Latin for reading older texts, such as Bibles, government documents, or even literature.
Ancient historians continue to learn Classical Latin to read the works of Ovid, Cicero, Caesar, and many others.
Even though born of New Latin, many individuals entering fields of law or medicine will learn Classical Latin to better understand the numerous terminologies that derive from Latin today.
So, Is Latin Hard To Learn?
As much as any language is hard to learn! Elements of Latin are more challenging than others, causing Latin to seem harder to learn than other languages.
Truly, learning languages, including Latin, is a lofty endeavour for any person. There are aspects of the language that makes Latin confusing and complex. It's a dead language and has many elements of its grammar that are tricky.
Regardless of these challenges, learning Latin is not impossible by any means. Mastering Latin is certainly difficult. But you can achieve it through dedication to learning the different patterns and seeing logical connections.
With consistent effort and commitment, anyone can learn Latin! Especially if you use the right method – StoryLearning®, my method where you learn by reading stories – is particularly well-adapted for learning Latin.
For more inspiration, check out these 11 life-changing reasons to learn Latin.
Olly Richards
Creator of the StoryLearning® Method
Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.
Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.
When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.
