How should I tackle my Latin set text translation?

The Latin that you are set for your set text is a difficult piece of Latin as you are examined on it after you have translated and analysed it in your own time. Don't panic!

First, if you can, read an English translation of what you are trying to translate. This will give you a very basic jiist of what the Latin is about and can help with those tricky unknown vocab words.

Scan through the text. There will be vocabulary in the text that is unfamiliar, but again do not panic and begin wildly guessing what words mean that the expense of the whole sentence. Instead focus on what you do know in the passage - often you will be able to make sense of the unknown word(s) in context.

Next, break up each sentence into smaller, more manageable sections and work grammatically.  It often easiest to first find the verb in a sentence - if it is singular, you know you need to look for a singular subject. Keep an eye out for particular words (e.g. participles) and structures (e.g. ablative absolutes).

A good way of preparing your translation is to write each line of Latin out with its respective English underneath. This will help be clear what part of the translation goes with each part of the text - when seeing the Latin it will be hopefully easier to recall the English.

Write any style points or commentary points close to the Latin it relates to - preferably in different colours. This is a good way of remembering which points go where.

Check that what you have written makes sense! If you have time, it is interesting to read up on the background of the text - what is happening at the time? Any historical events, people or places mentioned? If you are able to set the text in its larger body of work and remember interesting facts, it will help remembering the text.

Keep going over the text as much as possible. Write down any vocab you are struggling to remember on a different sheet of paper and test yourself separately on it.