Let's Learn Latin!: A simple guide

Basic pronounciation

This guide is mostly on reading and writing, but I thought I'd throw a couple quick tips on pronunciation out there!

The most dramatic change is likely that V is read like W. So, Servi (slaves) is read NOT LIKE "Sir-vEE" but rather "Sir-WEE"

Note that this is something hard to teach without hearing, but this is the rough of it.

AE= "I" sound. So puellae is "Poo-eLL-I"
I= "EE" sound. Lupi is "Lue-PEE". Yes, like 'loopy'. Bit silly.

"C" is pronounced the same as "K"

Ancilla is "Ahn-KEE-la"
Pictura is "Pic-tur-ah"
Mater (mother) is "Mah-tare"
Amare is "Ah-maR-ey"

As you can see, many latin words have soft 'A' sounds!

Other words we know:
Puer= Poo-air (plural adds EE to the end, see above)
Amo= Ah-mo

Also, infinitives. As noted with Amare above, infinitive endings of 'are' and 'ere' are usually pronounced "AR-EY"

You get the hang of pronunciation as you go. I won't be focusing much on it though, seeing as this is a written guide.

Here's a question though, knowing what is written above:

How do you pronounce "Caeser" in Latin?

(And here is a free thing, while I reflect on fun latin words: Appropinquabamus. What a glorious word. It means We were approaching. It is pronounced "Ah-Pro-Pin-Kwa-Bah-Moose". Amazing.)