Tips for Translating

  1. Divide your assignments for the week so that you can work through them at a steady rate.  I strongly encourage you to translate some Latin every day.
    1. Make a schedule for how much you want to translate.  
    2. Write down how much time you spend working on this.
  2. Start with your translation from the previous day.  
    1. Try to read it through in Latin rather than translating it into English.
    2. Try to read it without referring to your translation or to the words you looked up yesterday.  Use these only when you must.
  3. Read through the material for today's translation.  
    1. Try to read it through in Latin rather than translating it into English.
    2. Try to read it without referring to a translation or looking up  words. 
  4. Work through the material for today's translation.
    1. Try to recognize the words you do know.  You don't want to look up words you already know.  See if unfamiliar words were in yesterday's translation; sometimes a word occurs several times in a passage.
    2. Look up words you don't know.  Write down the root form and the meaning.
    3. Locate the verbs.  Write down the root form.
    4. Now that you know the words, read the material.  If you have trouble with a section, see if someone else's translation helps.  
    5. Write down your own translation of difficult passages.
  5. Re-read the material for today's translation.  
    1. Try to read it through in Latin rather than translating it into English.
    2. Try to read it without referring to a translation or looking up  words.