"English to Latin translation" Topic

Does anyone know of a reliable source – could be a forum, whatever – for the above?

I did Latin O-Level in 1979 and I got an A. I can remember a certain amount of it, I can often figure out inscriptions, and I can tell online machine translations are hopeless, but that's about it. I am putting together notes towards a set of ancients rules (a veeeeeery long way off), and it has occurred to me that it might be fun to have a Latin epigram at the start of each section. These wouldn't be authentic classical sayings Rome: Total War style. They'd be school Latin translation exercises inserted mainly to amuse me.

The obvious source would be a school text book that has English sentences to translate with the Latin answers given. However, it is not obvious which texts do include the answers and for obvious reasons lots don't. So the alternative is to find someone who can help.

The kind of thing I am looking for is:

- Balbus was unable to jump over the very high wall.

- Spears having been thrown, the Romans made such an impetuous charge that the barbarians were put to flight.

- Marcus sold his slaves for a very high price.

- Someone had to be chosen to make a speech to the plebs.

The last one by the way was an actual sentence you were given to translate in a text book called "Latin Sentence and Idiom". I have always found it inexplicably hilarious.

Any go-to places for these? I have found one forum but can't get the 'sign up' link to work.

I have no idea how accurate these translations are but Google Translate (English to Latin) gives:

- Atio Balbo posset salire de muro magno valde.

- natus elisus Romani adeo violentum impetum barbari in fugam.

- M. vendidit servis suis pro pretio magno valde.

- Ad quod aliquis potest facere electi in oratione incitabat plebis animos.

Google translates this back to English as:

- Atio once, could jump out of the wall is very high.

- Roman old boy was so violent natives to flight.

- Marcus sold very high price for their slaves.

- To which one can be chosen to make a speech to urge people thought about it.

Druzhina
Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers

Armand told me Google translation isn't perfect, but if not for official use should get you the general meaning. Have tried the Latin translation as well as for Pig Latin.

Machine translations of Latin are 100% hopeless. The intended joke is that when (if) you translate the epigram you find it's not some pithy observation on the nature of warfare, it's a futile sentence of the kind set to 12-year-olds as a translation exercise.

In each case above there's some bit of Latin grammar being tested. In the first example it's prepositions, cases and case endings. In the second it's the ablative absolute – "spears having been thrown", which would be hastis missis or something – followed by the Romans routing the barbarians. In seven years of school Latin I was never given a sentence to translate in which the barbarians routed the Romans.

Marcus selling his slaves is to test whether you know that magno pretio means "for a high price". Ablative, boy, ablative. The speech to the plebs requires a gerund, which is a noun made from a verb. In delenda est Carthago, "delenda" is a gerund. "Must be destroyed", "had to be chosen" – same thing.

I am equipped only to know what a wrong translation looks like…

There used to be a Latin newsgroup in which someone once coined a Latin word for "cheerleader": hortatrix. Seems dead now though.

Mea culpa.

The only purpose of machine translations is as a means of annoying those that are competent in the language.

You could try contacting organisations in the UK that promote classical teaching – they may be able to put you in touch with someone willing to take on the challenge, or at least point you to online resources:

The Classical Association
Classics for All