In schola poeta iuvenis versus breves recitat, et discipuli eum libenter audiunt.

Because in takes the ablative when it means in or inside a place.

So:

• in schola = in the school / at school

If in meant into with movement toward something, it would usually take the accusative instead.

• in scholam = into the school

Here there is no movement, just location, so schola is ablative.

Some Latin nouns referring to male people belong to the first declension, even though many first-declension nouns are feminine.

Poeta is one of those masculine first-declension nouns.

So in this sentence:

• poeta iuvenis = the young poet

Even though poeta has a first-declension ending, it is masculine in meaning.

Here iuvenis is being used as an adjective, meaning young.

So:

• poeta iuvenis = a young poet

Latin often places adjectives after the noun, so this is very normal.

It is true that iuvenis can also be a noun meaning young man, but in this sentence it matches naturally with poeta and describes it.

Because iuvenis is a third-declension adjective. Not all adjectives follow first- and second-declension patterns like bonus, bona, bonum.

The adjective iuvenis, iuvenis, iuvene means young. Its masculine and feminine nominative singular forms are the same:

• masculine: iuvenis
• feminine: iuvenis

So poeta iuvenis is grammatically correct: poeta is masculine, and iuvenis agrees with it.

We know from both meaning and form.

• recitat means recites
• what does he recite? versus breves = short verses

So versus breves is the direct object.

Also, breves is clearly accusative plural masculine here, agreeing with versus.

Without macrons, versus can look ambiguous, but in this sentence it makes sense as the object of recitat.

Because versus is masculine, so the adjective must also be masculine.

• masculine/feminine accusative plural of brevis = breves
• neuter accusative plural = brevia

Since versus means verses and is masculine, Latin uses:

• versus breves = short verses

Recitat is:

• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood
• third person singular

So it means:

• he/she recites
• or is reciting, depending on context

Here the subject is poeta iuvenis, so:

• poeta iuvenis recitat = the young poet recites

Because discipuli is nominative plural, and audiunt is third person plural.

They match:

• discipuli = the students
• audiunt = they hear/listen to

So:

• discipuli eum libenter audiunt = the students gladly listen to him

Latin often makes subject-verb relationships clear through endings rather than fixed word order.

Eum is the accusative singular masculine form of the pronoun is, ea, id, meaning him in this sentence.

It refers back to poeta iuvenis.

So:

• discipuli eum audiunt = the students listen to him

It is accusative because it is the direct object of audiunt.

Latin sometimes can leave a pronoun out if the meaning is obvious, but here eum helps make the reference clear:

• the poet is reciting
• the students listen to him

Using eum clearly points back to the poet.

So it is not strange or unnecessary; it is a natural way to show the object.

Libenter is an adverb. It means gladly, willingly, or with pleasure.

It modifies the verb audiunt:

• libenter audiunt = they gladly listen

Latin adverbs are often quite flexible in position, so placing libenter before audiunt is perfectly normal.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because Latin uses case endings to show grammatical function.

English depends heavily on position:

• The students hear him is different from He hears the students

Latin can move words around more freely because endings show who is doing what.

In this sentence:

• poeta iuvenis is the subject of recitat
• versus breves is its object
• discipuli is the subject of audiunt
• eum is its object

So even if the order changes, the endings still guide you.

Et simply means and and joins the two clauses:

• In schola poeta iuvenis versus breves recitat
• et discipuli eum libenter audiunt

So the sentence has two linked ideas:

1. the young poet recites short verses in school
2. the students gladly listen to him

Its placement is straightforward and works much like English and.

It can mean either, depending on context.

The basic meaning of audio is hear, but in many sentences it is naturally translated as listen to, especially when someone is paying attention to a speaker or performer.

So here:

• discipuli eum libenter audiunt

is very naturally understood as:

• the students gladly listen to him

rather than just hear him.

Yes. Both main verbs are present tense:

• recitat = recites / is reciting
• audiunt = hear / listen to

So the whole sentence describes an action happening in the present:

• the poet is reciting
• the students are listening

Yes. Depending on context, in schola can be understood more literally as in the school or more naturally in English as at school.

Latin often uses simple location phrases that English may translate in slightly different ways depending on what sounds natural.

So either of these may work:

• In school, the young poet recites short verses...
• At school, the young poet recites short verses...

Both are reasonable.