Start by making sure you have a strong grammar foundation:). When beginning to translate, read the full sentence in Latin to get a sense of it. Always look for the VERB first. That will tell you what kind of subject you're looking for, whether it's a singular or plural nominative, or perhaps the subject is in the verb itself. I always like to "chunk" my sentences - I double underline the verb, put parentheses around the prep phrases, underline adj/noun pairs together, all to break the sentence up into digestible pieces. I'll sometimes even identify the grammar above the Latin (verb person/number/tense, direct objects etc). Then go for it! If you can't remember a vocab word, see if you can figure it out through context, OR try to remember an English derivative that looks like the Latin word and see if that's in the ballpark. Latin is a little like a puzzle, and you have to put all the pieces back together. Hope that helps! -Elizabeth
