About the Latin
The Colloquies are conversations on everyday subjects, such as inns, sea voyages, manners and superstition, and Erasmus wrote them specifically to teach Latin that people could actually use. That makes them one of the easier authentic reads.
They are also very funny, which helps you push through a difficult line.
How hard is it?
Difficulty 4.7 to 4.8, intermediate.
Every reading in the library has a difficulty score, on a scale that runs from about 1 to 11. Beginner texts sit below 3.5 and Advanced texts above 6.8.
Most demanding here: Rare vocabulary, Very rare vocabulary, Unseen vocabulary, Vocabulary variety.
What you can read
2 readings, each with help on every word.
Librorum Capsula currently offers two colloquies: Diversoria, on inns, and Naufragium, on a shipwreck.
Naufragium
A vivid and darkly comic account of a disastrous sea voyage in which Erasmus turns shipwreck, panic, prayer, and superstition into a sharp examination of how people behave when death seems close.
Diversoria
Erasmus turns a conversation about French and German inns into a lively comic satire of travel, hospitality, national character, and the strange customs travelers endure on the road.
Where to start
Naufragium
The shipwreck is the more dramatic of the two. Open it and the reader gives you the Latin with a definition for every word, so you can read at the pace that suits you and look up only what you need.
Start reading