Martinus Loch

Great lesson with Martinus about Cicero's "de Nature Deorum", in specific the passage about the senses. It's fun to discuss texts like that with Martinus, fully in Latin of course, and at the end to be able to easily understand it without resorting to English by any means. I will eagerly continue studying until we have finished Familia Romana and look forward to when most of our lessons will be such discussions of real texts, although I like that Martinus doesn't give up on FR yet (since it is important to get the basics right and not to rush things).

Martinus makes Latin very fun, and using the language actively has really made me a lot more excited about Latin than I used to be (especially as someone who at least used to have more love for the Greek side of things). Today we read a hexametrical inscription about the dog Margarita on which Ørberg based the dog Margarita of the family, as well as some related verses of the Aeneid concerning Dido which I had read in class. It was fun to see how he was able to quote them by memory in beautiful Latin, which again is a testament to his great expertise in Latin. Martinus should definitely be your first pick if you're looking for a Latin speaking teacher on here, and I'm 100% sure anyone who does so will enjoy it. Although I have had years of reading experience, saying even the simplest things was quite hard initially but now I notice Latin has already become much easier to speak after just three weeks with Martinus, so I can only imagine how well everything will be in a year or two.

We had an excellent lesson today: while describing some funny comics ;-) we used many important structures like Accusativus cum Infinitivo, Ablativus Absolutus, “cum” + Coniunctivo, Participium Coniunctum, Gerundivum et alia. Gratias, Martine!

Another great lesson with Martinus; We briefly discussed the way Cicero defines fear in his Tusculani Disputationes and I loved to discuss that. Although I can often read such Latin quite well passively, there were some words I didn't know but Martinus is always able to explain them in Latin so that they become easy too. Definitely have to recommend this teacher for immersion learners, as not a single word of English has left Martinus' mouth so far.

Another great lesson with Martinus; I like that he gives synonyms for words and is versed in etymology. I was amazed to learn spazieren in German comes from spatiari, a synonym of (per viam) ambulare. We are currently in chapter 8 of LLPSI Familia Romana, I'm curious to see what it will be like once this book is finished and we move exclusively onto real authers in Roma Aeterna.

Martinus has definitely rekindled my passion for Latin as an avid Hellenist. Dealing with Latin as a spoken language and conversing in it is very fun; while it is much easier for me to follow along and listen to him (as I have a good base in reading comprehension already), I am beginning to notice after just two lessons the words are coming out more naturally and vowel length feels more natural to me when I pronounce it now, which I would've considered a miracle just two weeks ago. I am very excited to see where these lessons will lead me in a few months, let's say May 2025. Whatever level I will have then, under Martinus' guidance it must be good. I also love that he talks about interesting factoids from Rome or Italy in Latin, like why the via di pera in italy is called as such or why Krakow is called Krakow according to native folklore. I cannot recommend this man highly enough!