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Syntax, or word order, is a confusing topic in Latin.  Because the endings of words change to indicate the usage and contextual meaning of the word, the syntax is fluid and flexible.  For example, let’s look at Ode 2.4 by Horace.

In trying to help his friend to embrace his love for a slave girl, Horace presents historical heroes of the Trojan War to justify love between a master and a slave.   In the first stanza, Horace says:

…Prius insolentem

serva Briseis niveo colore

movit Achillem…

The first step in translating this line is to find the verb and its subject: these are “movit” and “serva Briseis”.  Next find the accusative, in this sentence the direct object.  The “m” ending is a dead give away here: “Achillem…insolentem”.   Thus, if we were to write the sentence in English word order (and this is an effective step when translating Latin, whether done mentally or on paper), we would have something like the following:

“Prius serva Briseis, niveo colore, movit insolentem Achillem“ 

(In former times,  the slave girl Briseis, pale as snow, aroused the wild Achilles.)

The next lines from this poem further illustrate this point:

…movit Aiacem Telamone natum

forma captivae dominum Tecmessae…

(The beauty of the captive Tecmessa aroused Ajax, son of Telamon.)

To achieve the same result, find the subject and the verb, link them and then place the direct object after this pair.  Recognize the fact that one phrase agrees with Ajax, while a different possessive construction goes with “beauty/form/shape”. 

Write your answer in Latin, but force it into English word order.  Leave your answer as a comment and I will check it to see if you have gotten it right.

Bona Fortuna!

Using the basic sentence structure well means the speaker has to be comfortable with the subject being at the beginning followed by the verb and then having an object at the end. The subject is the person or thing that the action is centred around, the verb puts the sentence into motion or gives life to the sentence and the object is generally the target of the action. Many people will want to start off talking in an inverted word order, where the object is found at the beginning of a sentence usually in the form of a prepositional phrase, because this is how they are used to hearing their native language. I would encourage them to learn and appreciate the basic word order first before twisting the sentence around.

Often enough problems in communicating arise because the listener has only learnt how to speak but has not had the opportunity to write down his assimilated information so that he can confirm what he heard. People are often too busy to take the time and see what they hear. Many people are also easily influenced by what they hear on the street and that can often be far from the standard form that is going to get them ahead in their career. This is where the person has to make some distinction between the slang he hears on the street (including words that are cut short and phonetically modified) informal English that he can use with friends and formal English that he might use as a distinctive speaker.

Often enough they don’t have the patience to examine the differences between different forms of a sentence like the passive and active voice. Knowing the differences would permit them to be more fluent in their speech as they would then be able to lay more emphasis on wither an object or a subject. When the person wants to give a command he is going to leave out the subject at the beginning and start his sentence with a verb. If the person is going to express doubt he is likely to add a tag at the sentence, which is often a reversal of the subject and verb found at the beginning of the sentence. Knowing these forms would then allow the speaker to associate the reason for his speech to a specific prompt. This is why knowing sentence structures are key to becoming a more efficient speaker.

We can learn new words but remembering these new words after some time is difficult. Acquired vocabulary is practically useless unless the words learned can be recalled and used. Here are some suggestions for learning new foreign language words and retaining them. These suggestions work for any language.

You have to learn to recall words, phrases and structure as well as ascribe meaning before you can become skilful at reproducing language like other users. To do this you need to provide a label, function, association, similarity, difference and multiple meaning for vocabulary words.

Techniques to Increase Vocabulary Retention

Research in how people learn languages, has repeatedly proved that you’ll remember something you’ve discovered on your own!

Now, how are you going to make that happen? You can use basic techniques to increase your vocabulary retention.

Discover Significance of New Words

As you see or hear a new word or phrase, imagine it as a challenge, a mystery waiting to be solved. So before running to the dictionary to check the meaning of the exact phrase in your mother tongue

• Try to discover its meaning from the context – e.g. Underhand. The words Under and Hand suggest something to you. In this way you can work out the meaning of the whole term. But remember to check.
• Try to guess its meaning from the structure of the word – it may contain familiar elements – e.g. Take the word transnational. If you find out the meaning of the parts national and trans, theycould give you some idea what the word could mean.
• Try to discover the origin of the word – knowing how the word came into usage can be very helpful for remembering it

A little warning here – as soon as you have a theory as to what some particular word, phrase or expression might mean, check from the dictionary or a teacher to make sure you get the right meaning. Phrasal verbs in English are very treacherous and could lead you off into a totally wrong track, so always double-check them.

Make Associations: Relate New Information to Material Already Learned

When you come across a new word while reading, listening or work activities don’t rush straight for the dictionary. If you look up a word from the dictionary and even understand it correctly the information goes to the short-term memory area in your brain. This area is what the name says, short term. If you try to recall that word after a few days, there is a high probability that you cannot remember it. The aim in learning vocabulary is to connect this new word or phrase to your long-term memory. This is best achieved through tiny hooks called associations.

Take the following example. Many people have problems remembering the difference between “borrow” and “lend”. Make a simple association – if you lend money to someone, it is the “end” of your money, as you’ll never see it again. Thus “lend” leads to “end”. If you have created a strong and unique association special for you, there is a very good chance that you will never forget this new word or phrase.

Make Word Lists

Many people have used this technique successfully to increase vocabulary retention and learn new words and phrases.

Compile lists of new words as follows:

1. Divide a page into two columns and write the foreign language word on one side with a corresponding word in your mother tongue on the other column
2. Start a new sheet for each topic area e.g. One sheet for vocabulary related to sports, another for economy etc.
3. Use color (highlight pens) in your lists: e.g. All verbs in red, nouns in blue, adjectives in green etc., so that when you think of the word later you will remember its colour and this will help you use it correctly. Don’t make a mile long list, but a fairly short one. Then go to the next activity.

Word List Activity

Cover up one column on your list and work your way down testing yourself, first from the foreign language to the definition or the equivalent in your mother tongue and then reverse the process. You can have fun by working with a friend to test each other.

Take words from your list and write 3 different sentences in the target language using each word to illustrate its meaning. Make them humorous or even outright silly if possible. Then read them aloud to get the feel.

Remember a very important rule:

You’ll remember words better from the context you use them in!

If you have a memory association for that particular word, the better are your chances for remembering it through that memory.

Watch Movies or Listen to Songs and Meet People

Rent a movie in the language you want to learn and listen to songs in that language. Get magazines and newspapers in that language. Go and find Internet pages and blogs in that language. Even if can’t understand everything, exposure to that language motivates and aids learning. Use Google translator or Yahoo Babel Fish translator to help you. Then meet people who speak that language and try to use your new skills.

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After using these techniques, you will start noticing improvement in your vocabulary retention in a matter of weeks. I learnt one of the most challenging languages, Finnish and a very delightful language, Italian in a few months using the above methods.