I think yes that we are all going to make mistakes but I think the
risk of making no ground whatsoever, for a beginner, will be much
higher when made to translate suttas.They have quite a bit of
idiomatic language that should not be the beginning focus of language
students for any language, except those which one can not do without
in everyday speech.
I think small sentences like those found in the workbooks I have will
not pose any problems.
I am only starting on paali but i have some language learning
experience and I cannot read a 20 word sentence and translate them
one for one and learn much. At best i learn vocab doing that but i
have better methods for that. This way is good for once you know how
to contructs a couple simple sentences.
There would be checks and perhaps someone more knowledgable would be
able to give some pointers. Possibly I can get in touch with the
Sydney University lecturer who teaches pali and get some pointers.
I think that people that used to get Latin drills hated it and I feel
like that when i look at some of the stuff here. There is nothing
wrong with grammar but to a beginner, who may struggle to understand
the terms even for their own language, will feel disheartened.
We must make learning a gradual process not a jump into the deep end.
I am currently deep in university study so i will be doing a little
in the way of exercise making in my spare time. Hopefully in a few
months i can get a few lessons going. :)