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A web app to read Latin texts with inline translations

adi.earth

1–10 of 71 posts

Re: A web app to read Latin texts with inline translations

#2
After finishing DuoLingo’s Latin course, I wanted to read some Latin texts, but I didn't find easy enough texts and going back and forth to a dictionary was cumbersome.

So I created this app for reading basic Latin texts. The idea of the app is to have a Latin text with translation of each word under the paragraph line, which makes it easy to grasp the meaning but also focuses on reading the original Latin text.

It only has one book, if I finish it I might add others.

I used OpenAI to do the translation which looks pretty good for me, with the caveat that... well... I do not know Latin. This approach will not probably work for more complex texts.

This mode of reading works for me, not sure if is of interest to anyone else.

The app source is on GitHub if you are interested:

https://github.com/aleris/duplex-lectio

A couple of details about the dev process:

https://adi.earth/posts/duplex-lectio-read-latin-bilingual/

Re: A web app to read Latin texts with inline translations

#5
I suggest using ruby annotations for the translation part.

I am building a sanskrit reader[1] and needed a feature that allowed users to tag words with notes/meaning. ruby annotations work wonderfully for that.

[1] Site: https://www.adhyeta.org.in/

Backend: https://github.com/s-i-e-v-e/adhyeta

(The vocabulary features require a login, which is not open to the public as of yet.)

Re: A web app to read Latin texts with inline translations

#6

After finishing DuoLingo’s Latin course, I wanted to read some Latin texts, but I didn't find easy enough texts and going back and forth to a dictionary was cumbersome. So I created this app for reading basic Latin texts. The idea of the app is to have a Latin text with translation of each word under the paragraph line, which makes it easy to grasp the meaning but also focuses on reading the original Latin text. It o…

Thank you for the details: I really like the minimalist UI, well done! And I like to see you sharing the tools that you build to help others learning.

That being said, I'm surprised though, that the translations are GPT generated, so not sure how trustworthy this actually is. Domain foreign users have to be able to trust that learning resource are proof-read / accurate.

Not to say it's worthless, but you may want to note that the translations were done automatically and may contain errors.

Re: A web app to read Latin texts with inline translations

#8
post #7

TIL the sentence structure of Latin is wild

Latin’s sentence structure is much more flexible than languages such as English. For example, Latin uses cases for nouns to indicate which is the subject and which is the object, whereas English uses word order. This allows Latin sentences to be constructed in various orders without affecting meaning. It also leads to Latin’s reputation for trying the patience of students such as myself (studied for five years at school many years ago).

Re: A web app to read Latin texts with inline translations

#9

After finishing DuoLingo’s Latin course, I wanted to read some Latin texts, but I didn't find easy enough texts and going back and forth to a dictionary was cumbersome. So I created this app for reading basic Latin texts. The idea of the app is to have a Latin text with translation of each word under the paragraph line, which makes it easy to grasp the meaning but also focuses on reading the original Latin text. It o…

>I used OpenAI to do the translation which looks pretty good for me, with the caveat that... well... I do not know Latin

OpenAI also does not know Latin. This is either a tool to troll people that can read Latin or a tool to help people “learn” a made up vaguely Latin-shaped set of gibberish that ChatGPT nondeterministically generated. This only works for a definition of “Latin” that is a sort of vibe wholly detached from structure, syntax, or vocabulary.

Re: A web app to read Latin texts with inline translations

#10
post #3

The jargon is „interlinear translation“.

The best article on the subject in English is maybe still Ernest Blum's "The New Old Way of Learning Languages" https://theamericanscholar.org/the-new-old-way-of-learning-l... but note that it's quite imperfect. For example, there's no mention of the fact that interlinears went mainstream in France in the century between Locke's efforts and Hamilton's. There's also a subreddit https://www.reddit.com/r/interlinear , but you may still have to message a mod to be allowed to post.
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