Expert: Michael - 4/27/2006

Question
hi!
I am learning latin for a while already and i was wondering how you put together simple, now-a-day, phrases such as:
'good morning'
'good night'
'how are you?'
'you're welcome'
'have a great day'
could i have translation for these and any others you could think of?
thanks!
-Akiva

Answer
Certainly you can use Latin for conversational purposes.  After all, it has been used for 2500 years for that purpose, and still is.  The list of even common phrases would be too much to give here, but there is a wonderful compilation of phrases, a dictionary, and sample conversations in John C. Traupman's "Conversational Latin for Oral Proficiency, Phrase Book and Dictionary," now in its third edition.  You can find it on amazon.com or other booksellers.  It's available in paperback for less than $20.