Dear all-

My mind is drawing a blank here; in case I did not mention this, here is an addition to Monday's assignment. Ontop of the English to Latin on Ch. 7, please translate also the dialogue on p. 46-47.
And (for those of you who were MIA) get the info about Wednesday's TEST!
Have a good weekend,

EM.

PS. Trajan's column in Rome, with St. Peter on top, holding the keys to paradise (a papal litttle frill added in the 10th cent. C.E.) When I climbed up that 60 feet column and saw him up close and personal, I thought that Latin (=Rome) will get me into paradise. Yeah, yeah, I am a geek but I don't care. I will be saved!

Nothing much to say as of late, except I was working on the crossword tonight from today’s edition of the Tampa Tribune and one of the clues was “Classics language.” Can you guess the answer? Well, what do you know, it was Latin. Yeah...

Olivia Hattan

So I was telling my friend, Zinzi, about how cool our Latin class is... She's not sure she believes me. She had 2 years of Latin in Catholic school and hated every second of it. I asked her if it was because she had a mean nun for a teacher or something, but she said, no, it was all that grammar that made her hate it. This coming from a woman who took Organic Chemistry without having taken the Chemistry pre-reqs and ended up with an A-! Oy! She had me very nervous before the semester began with her Latin horror stories, but I think we're all doing alright so far, if the in-class exercises are any way to judge.

This is off topic, but Zinzi would like me to ask you, Professor Manolaraki, how to spell "panacea" in ancient Greek letters. She wants to get a tattoo of it on her ankle before she begins a grad school program next year. She wants to be a research scientist, studying viruses and infectious disease, so I guess it's appropriate. I tried to look up how "panacea" might be spelled in ancient Greek and the best I could come up with was Pi-Alpha-Nu-Alpha-Kappa-Epsilon-Iota-Alpha. Did I get it right?

~Rachael Stern

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?

I was reading shakespeare today and i saw the word cur. I immediately thought it meant 'why' and after reading it several times I realized I was thinking in Latin and totally missing Shakespreares point. heh Funny how when you start to grasp a foriegn language it interrupts everyday English thinking.
I was reading King Lear for probably the third time...ugh. Only bad thing about being an Engligh major is that most of us love reading so we've already read most of the selected reading on our own when we were in elemtary school. haha
anyway see you guys tomorrow! :)

I was listening to Michael Buble in the car today and one of the songs on his latest ablum is called "Quando, Quando, Quando." And it just happens that quando is when in Latin.

Tell me quando quando quando

So he is saying tell me when when when.

Candace Kaw

I happened to miss class again today, and I apologize. I would have much rather been in class than where I was, but I was dealing with the Clerk of the Circuit Court about a speeding ticket that I payed four months ago, and I wasn't sure what time they closed (turns out it's 5pm), so I missed class.
If anyone can tell me what we did/what the homework is for tomorrow, that'd be great. My email is beckeck@hotmail.com.
-Becky Brown

Useful Websites for Latin:

Sunday night at Temple Terrace, browsing a couple of Latin sites and pictures and looking very much forward to getting back into the swing of Monday and our class...I always marvel at how big the Latin community is, people from all over the world who have found something deep and enduring and sharpening in the study of Latin.

Remember: the only good language is a DEAD LANGUAGE.

See you (pl.) tomorrow,

Eleni

http://www.camws.org/cpl/educators/promote.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/25/AR2005042501178.html?sub=new

http://www.kent.k12.wa.us//KSD/MA/resources/greek_and_latin_roots/transition.html

http://www.rktekt.com/ck/LatSayings.php

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
wassup guys!
anyways... i was just hangning with a few of my friends at argos, and we were joking about all the different things, like we usually do. And, we somehow ended up talking about different languages, and a friend of mine said something in spanish. I replied in Latin! lol, that was pretty exciting for me... even though it is a dead language, with my little reply i think i ressurected it! lol, well for me, atleast! lol

Jeremy yesudas

So it’s 8 a.m. and for the past few days I kept thinking, “Crap! Do a Latin blog! Don’t forget!” I even write in my planner to write one up… never happens. So what better time to do it than when you think about it first thing in the morning (geek much?).

I was on pins and needles to get our tests back, even though the studying I put in Sunday night would have made anyone sure I would do well. I rocked on the test and was so proud of myself that I took my fiancé out to dinner last night as a little celebration of sorts. There was an Italian family sitting near us who kept going from English to Italian in their conversation, and I found myself trying to listen in to see if I could recognize even one word. I couldn’t, but I was doing it because I’m in Latin! I did it when I took Spanish in high school, but now I’m lucky if I can understand “Hola!” half the time.

And I don’t know if it’s because my job involves education, but once a week, one of the teachers I work with HAS to ask me if I can say something in Latin (uh, hello! Dead language!) or help one of the kids out with finding a root word. It starts to get on my nerves kind of because they seem to expect me to be a genius at it (the quizzes definitely remind me I’m not), but the kids find it kind of cool that I’m studying a dead language. Maybe we can all inspire people to study just a little bit of Latin, no matter how much it makes us want to jump off a building sometimes.

Olivia Hattan

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
So heres the thing... I feel like I did not have enough time to complete the test... first of, I was probably a inute or two late, but that did not affect me too much. The fact that ms. Eleni said we had five minutes at the end kind of put me in panic mode... thus I made a bunch of silly mistakes....
does the test time have to be longer, or was it just my relative lack of speed in completing the test???

let me know...
Jeremy yesudas

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?

So guys I'm kind of confused. I did horribly on my last two quizzes and I got an A on my test. I feel like I only fail the quizzes because I am expected to learn so much in one night...and sometimes I'm not sure what will be on the quiz. I understand the material, and I like the subject, but these everyday quizzes are going to kill my grade. Does anyone else feel the same way? Or maybe even have suggestions as to how to study for them? It's difficult to study for a quiz every night..I have other classes and I work..and sometimes I have fun (sometimes, not usually). I

I'm not trying to start a student revolution, I just want an A in the class and the way these quizzes are going it might not happen. BUT YAY FOR THE A ON MY TEST! W00t! I studied pretty hard, so that’s exciting. Hope you guys did well also.

Anyway..back to Latin HW. I'm going to study more and hope my quiz grades get better.

Stacey Bedard

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?

So guys I'm kind of confused. I did horribly on my last two quizzes and I got an A on my test. I feel like I only fail the quizzes because I am expected to learn so much in one night...and sometimes I'm not sure what will be on the quiz. I understand the material, and I like the subject, but these everyday quizzes are going to kill my grade. Does anyone else feel the same way? Or maybe even have suggestions as to how to study for them? It's difficult to study for a quiz every night..I have other classes and I work..and sometimes I have fun (sometimes, not usually). I

I'm not trying to start a student revolution, I just want an A in the class and the way these quizzes are going it might not happen. BUT YAY FOR THE A ON MY TEST! W00t! I studied pretty hard, so that’s exciting. Hope you guys did well also.

Anyway..back to Latin HW. I'm going to study more and hope my quiz grades get better.

I've got a few questions, and I know that I'll never remember them all in class...

I am confused by the given definition of "debere." What is the infinitive translation? The textbook just says "I ought, I must." "To ought, to must" couldn't be the infinitive translation, could it? That seems strange, but maybe it's just me? Even so, I tried to look up "ought" in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary and got "verbal auxiliary," "transitive verb" from the infinitive "to owe." When I looked up "must" I got "to be compelled to by necessity," "to be obliged to." So I looked up "oblige." But in the etymology for that entry, there's another Latin verb: obligare. So I figure "debere" must have a different literal translation... I thought, it looks close to what must be the root of the English word "debt." So I looked that up... And there's "debere" in the etymology, defined as the Latin for "to owe." Should I just not worry about what the infinitive means in this case?

For "constituere," because the "u" is part of the stem, would the 3rd person plural really look like "constituunt"? Or would it just be "constitunt"?

According to the glossary in the textbook, "domus" is a feminine noun. But it is declined like a masculine noun?

That's all I've got for now. I'm sure I'm posting *way* too much, but this class has me very excited and I'm tied to my computer, so the temptation to post is too much to resist.

~Rachael Stern

So I was going through glossary in the back of the textbook today, and I noticed by accident that the Latin verb for "to demand" is "poscere." I immediately laughed because I remembered there's a character on HBO's "Rome" named "Posca." He is Julius Caesar's secretary/clerk. He's short, old, moves very quickly, and has a tendency to speak out of turn, considering his situation in life - which I suppose is how he got a name like "Posca." I'm guessing that his name has the same root as the verb, and that there's also a corresponding adjective - poscus, posca, poscum? So the adjective "demanding" in the first declension would be "posca" and it would be used like "posca femina," "the demanding woman"? What makes me confused is that he is a male character with a name in the feminine form. I've heard that the writers of the show have made some mistakes with the Latin that the actors speak (like saying "dominus" when "domine" should be used... like in the sentences we've been translating, things like "Nimium rogas, Flacce" and "Tace, Flacce" and "Mane, Quinte." Second declension, vocative case?). But if the writers did make "Posca" the character's name on purpose, might it be a name in a diminutive sense, as if to say "little demanding one"? I don't know, but I found it interesting anyway.

~Rachael Stern

This class has been a wild ride. I hate that I can go from total understanding to being utterly baffled by it in less than an hour. This test has been weighing heavy on mind mind because I missed two days last week that were out of my control. When all of the sudden you come back and realize that everyone has done the ablative case but you it's a little scary. I've been happy that the past two days things have been falling into place for me in my Latin studies.

As always I adore you all and your many laughs, and GOOD LUCK ON THE TEST TODAY!

Sarah Hebert

I gotta tell you, this whole weekend, I was *totally* not getting the ablative case. Why and how to tell when it should be used, and why exactly it was different from the accusative, etc... just wasn't getting it. Even so, I decided I had to just keep going, retranslating some of the passages in the textbook for practice and hope that it came to me. And sure enough, it did. I was paying no attention to what I was doing and then all the sudden, I got to "nam Flaccus diu in agro laborat et fessus est" in Chapter 3 and it clicked. "Ager" is in the ablative there and it is because Flaccus is working inside the field, in a particular place. I looked back into earlier chapters and realized we'd been translating the ablative all along without noticing that was what we were doing! Ah-ha! Eureka! And in the very next sentence, "puer ad agrum festinat," "ager" is in the accusative because the boy is going to the field, but he's not there yet. After that, all the other reasons for why the ablative case is used instead of the accusative just started to fall into place in my head, as if it is perfectly sensible and why couldn't I see that before? I still don't know why I couldn't see that before, but I'm glad I do now!

Good luck to everyone else in their studying!

~Rachael Stern

I've got a question... When putting words into the plural ablative case, if the word stem already ends in an "i", such as with "via," is the suffix still "-is"? In other words, does one end up with "viis" for "from the roads" or "in the roads"?
~Rachael Stern

Geez, those pictures are intense! I would have been scared too. I would absolutely love to visit Italy. I've always wanted to see the beautiful art, taste the great food, and experience the wonderful culture. I wonder if anyone speak Latin there at all any more? hm.
I was wondering if we were going to receive any type of review sheet for Tuesdays test? I've been going through chapters 1-5 which is the obvious thing to do. I'm just unsure as to how to the test will be formatted. This is to be expected.
Well, I have a break in between classes tomorrow from 3pm-6pm. If anyone wants to study with me in the library during my break that would be awesome. I'll always be able to study Tuesday in the morning. I'll be there either way- so if someone wants to join email me: staceyb07@hotmail.com
The most puzzling thing about Latin is why I can't instantly distinguish between verbs and nouns. They are so easy to point out in English, I know what the Latin words translates to, but my pea brain still gets confused. Weird.

__STACEY BEDARD__

Technical Point:

I will be answering your questions in the 'Comment' area, so be sure to check it too. I have already answered Olivia's question. Keep them coming!

EM.

I have a question on conjugating he/she is present. The book gives us "adest" to mean he/she is present, and according to the vocabulary in the back, the infinitive is "adesse." The translation on page 25 uses "adsunt," which means they are present. What type of conjugation is this verb? With adsunt, it looks like it would be a third conjugation, but with adest, it looks like it could be a second conjugation but it doesn't have the accented 'e' in the infinitive. Anyone want to enlighten me, because I feel like I'm missing something. Thanks!

Olivia Hattan

I hope that it is not too late to begin blogging on here. I really have been meaning to visit and post something since day one, but it kept slipping my mind. I will assume that it is not too late and go ahead with it anyway. And this post is going to go all over the place. I beg everyone's indulgence.

I became interested in Latin for a number of reasons.

1.) I am interested in pursuing graduate studies in early northern medieval Europe (like Scandinavia ca 500 - 1100ish... ya know... the Vikings...). I'd love to find an interdisciplinary program that covers history, religious studies, language, art, architecture, literature, and archaeology, but I digress. So you know, Scandinavia aside, much of the literature (and non-literature, for that matter) of the Medieval period was written in Latin... certainly, not classical Latin, such as we're learning, but this is as close as I can get at USF to a significant Medieval-type language. Truth to tell, my first and second choices would have been Old Norse or Anglo-Saxon. Nerd that I am, I want to be able to read the Icelandic sagas and "Beowulf" in their original languages eventually, just because. Latin was my third choice though because I do enjoy the simplicity of purpose expressed in the phrase: "Facere quod in se est." (I've been told that this translates as "To do what is in one [to do]." Is that right? Personally, I don't agree with the traditional religious interpretation of the phrase, but I still like it.)

2.) I wanted a long dead language to fulfill my foreign language requirement. I took French in high school. I liked it a lot, and my teacher was great and very understanding, but I have *major issues* with public speaking and the panic attacks I suffered in high school weren't fun or pretty. I wanted to skip a repeat of that in college, but at the same time become more confident with speaking in a class setting. I am *very* happy to say that, so far, Latin class is doing wonderful things for me in this area. The lack of pressure to correctly pronounce words and the lack of fear of making a spectacle of oneself in front of the class is a major plus for me. Oddly (because I usually don't), I'm finding the class very comfortable and supportive. I hope that it continues thus because it is certainly a good thing.

3.) More recently, I got into watching "Rome" on HBO... Inaccurate program, I know. But they use a lot of Latin phrases, which pepper the dialogue with an authenticity and otherness (to remind the viewers that they aren't watching "The Sopranos?") that I don't think the program would otherwise have. It just got me thinking about something I read long ago, which stuck with me... That the Latin spoken in the Roman Empire 2000 years ago was a lot like modern English is today. It had a flexibility and a subtlety to it that comes with a sophisticated language. This is not to say that English is the only sophisticated modern language. It certainly is not. But English is what I am most familiar with and was the language being compared to Latin in whatever it was I read. The comparison intrigued me because, being 14 at the time with modern prejudices (and *American* prejudices at that - for us, history began in 1776! ... that was a joke...), I had never thought of something so ancient as being sophisticated on the same level as something modern, and it made me want to eventually learn how to read Latin so I could find out for myself. If I get it so far, in Latin, the sophistication comes from the many endings that are added to the roots in order to give them specific meaning. If I had to guess about English, I would say that it is the many languages that have influenced it over the centuries which give it sophistication, not the least of which has been Latin itself.

So, even as the first test of the semester looms before us all, I look forward to the challenge Latin presents. I hope I don't change my mind come 1:50pm on Tuesday! ;) I keep going back and forth between thinking that I have a handle on all this Latin stuff and feeling frozen in confusion and doubt. I think it is because I'm having a hard time trusting that this all *does* make sense. There is method to the madness, I know, but every now and then, it won't come into focus and then it will and then it won't again. If I remember correctly from the first class, there's a certain amount of instinct in translating and understanding Latin. I haven't quite gotten used to trusting that instinct yet... but I think I'm getting there. I think...

I would *love* to have a study group this weekend at some point. The only time I'm unavailable is from 1pm - 2:30pm on Sunday. Even Monday after class would work for me if anyone else is up for it. If it's still set for 3pm on Sunday, 1st floor of the library, I think I might be able to make it. I'll certainly try.

I'm enjoying reading everyone's posts and I hope that this one is not too tedious... Oh, and about those protest pictures, I've never been to Rome but from everything I hear from those who have, "fabulously insane" is right!

~Rachael Stern

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?

By the way, A couple of things...
Sorry guys I wont be able to make it Sunday- I have a conference to attend.. i am hoping to study after that! lol...
One thing that a lot of us (mainly me,lol) got confused was the adjectives- plural and singular....
I will be sure to study that this weekend! (argh.... it kind of pisses me of that I have to spend time studying even though its the weekend, some thing I consider a time of rest...)

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?

Believe it or not! I have been spending more time on Latin than any other class I am taking! i guess this is to be expected considering its a new languge, and I have never taken it before! Anyways... theres a myriad of grammer and words to memorize! wow! but, hey with subjects like these, I have found that time spent is directly corellated with the grade you get!
Jeremy Yesudas

Hey all-

As I continue to enjoy your posts, I got an idea: whoever wants to ask any question whatsoever about Latin, ask it on the blog instead of an e-mail to me; I will answer it promptly, since I do check the blog more than once every day to see how everyone is coping. By posting Q-A there others will benefit too from your questions, or attempt to answer them themselves. If you feel shy about asking 'the obvious' (I never got that whole shyness thing, btw, but still...I know there are some people like that...) you can leave your comment unsigned (Lord knows you do that already!)

So, repeat after me!

Declensions and Cases are characterizations for NOUNS
Conjugations and Persons are characterizations for VERBS
Singular and Plural numbers affect NOUNS, VERBS, and ADJECTIVES

* Since nouns do not CONJUGATE, do not attempt to fuse your nouns with your verbs, e.g. fessum, fesses, fessest, fessumus, etc. THIS IS WROOONG!!!! Perhaps I am stating the obvious here, but I thought I actually heard someone mix nouns and verbs as they were conjugating the verb 'sum'. (Has anyone ever seen the movie 'The Fly'? Remember what happened to that guy? That is the visual equivalent of fusing verbs and nouns.)I might scoot over to the library tomorrow, if our faculty meeting with WLE is over by 3 pm. But I remain at your disposal throughout tomorrow and the weekend.

See you all soon!

EM.

PS. I took these pix during a cab driver protest in Rome, this past July. It was so scary when the special forces came, armed and looking mean...see the cabi posing as the suffering Jesus? The sign behind his head reads 'TAXI'. The Romans were fabulously insane, and so are their modern counterparts...

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?

Relief! The test is not monday! Tuesday instead, but that gives us that much more time to grasp the ablative noun cases. Flash cards really help me study, and i'm planning on making lists of the verbs, depending on what number.
Thinking about class, what everyone seems to be stuck on are the different names of the different parts of speech. Declensions and cases and "what number is it" and "how many" seem to catch everyone up. Right? Well I know I can't make it to any study groups this weekend, I work almost nonstop. So I hope everyone has fun and wish ya'll luck on your studying!
TTFN Stacy Snelling

Hey everyone. A couple of us who sit on the left side of the classroom (if you're standing up front) thought about getting a study group together this Sunday for the test. We're planning on meeting at 3 p.m. on the first floor of the library (in the vicinity of the Starbucks). Prof. Manolaraki, if you're not busy and feel like giving us a little help or to make sure we're on the right track, please feel free to find us and assist us.

And just to cover all bases, I'll post this message on Blackboard.

Olivia Hattan

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
I keep forgetting to sign my name at the end of the blog. So that was me asking for the run down of tomorrow's class...me aka Stacey Bedard :)

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
HEY EVERYONE!!
I will only attend the first few minutes of class tomorrow. I was hoping some one would post a brief description of what we went over and also if there was any hw assigned! I would really appreciate it. As far as the description of the lecture all I would ask for are the page numbers discuss. Thanks guys! See yah!

I keep forgetting to do these blogs, but Olivia told me about the horribly awesome Elmo picture, I just had to check it out. That pretty much sums it up for me...although I do wonder why Elmo hanged himself - did he finally snap after years and years of referring to himself in the third person?
Or maybe he was taking Latin 1 and couldn't get a grip on the infinitive forms of verbs and the many, many declensions.
Before class, Olivia, Mia, and I were talking about people randomly asking how to say things in Latin. Our response? "I don't know, but I can tell you all about Quintus in the field!" We also discussed getting a book of silly/dirt Latin phrases and "revamping" the textbook. Imagine, instead of reading about Scintilla making dinner, we translate a page of cartoons that goes something like this:
Flaccus goes to the pub. He hires a prostitute.
Scintilla is angry.
Flaccus and Quintus are tired.

A bit messed up, yes, but rather funny.
As of yet, I haven't done tonight's homework, but I'll get on it soon enough.

Becky Brown

I haven’t lived with my parents in two years and yet I continue to call my mom every day. I guess it’s just habit from my first year in college. I usually call her after classes (Latin is my last class on any given day) or at night when I can talk for free. She always asks how classes are going and the first class I talk about is Latin. She probably thinks I’m crazy because I talk about the class so much, but then I thought about and realized that I have never had a class where I’ve put this much effort towards it. Sounds odd, I know, but if I don’t feel as though I’m putting some substantial effort towards things, I’m going to die a slow death (you catch my drift). Next time I visit home though, I hope to express my parents with some of our Latin skills.

And that Elmo picture a few posts down… totally sums up how I feel sometimes when I don’t understand the grammar and such.

Olivia Hattan (Sep. 12, 2006)

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
Really a random comment but i was reading one of my books that I've read, oh a thousand times, and stumbled across the word laudable. I really never gave a thought to it before, prolly just skimmed it and went on. But after learning Laudare and laudat and all, I realized that the person in the story was praising someone else. I find it really fun to read a story and come across a word you never noticed before and suddenlt, boom! it's there!
p.s. I've read a few blogs and some people forget to sign their names I think. Remember to sign as this is graded and all..

TTFN Stacy Snelling

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
ps- that was me (Stacey Bedard) that posted last about the study group :)

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
Hey guys! I don't have much to post at this point in time, but I did have a question/statement for everyone:
Would anyone like to arrange a study group before our next test? I'm also interested in having some sort of online study time through IM or email or whatever. I just figured since we all have so many questions we may benefit from eachother.

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?

I am gonna be honest here... latin has done absolutely nothing for,yet! other than give me something to study every night! But heres the thing, I guess we have not gone into the deeper things the language has to offer, and I am guessing that by going into the more complex, it will help me figure out some of the complex English words... especially because I am Pre-med!

Jeremy Yesudas. P.S> the blog below was by me too....

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
Wow, thusday's class was intense!! I did not have a clue that we were expected to know all the plural and declensions and whatnot the very next day!! MAN THIS STUFF CAN SERIOUSLY SNOWBALL!! But luckily I did study a little bit, so I was fine...
Here's whats annoying- all my other classes I can take a rest from studying over the weekend, but not Latin1 OHHH NOO- One day of rest and I have to study all over again!! lol
Thank God, I actually like lating huh! i wonder what kind of hell I would be if I did not like Latin!

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?

One of my post was deleted from last week and I don't know why.

I just want to say that when I was doing my translations yesterday and I had barely had to look up the words it felt great. It was amazing knowing that I was reading another lanuage and actually understanding it.

Candace Kaw

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?

What has Latin done for me lately...hmmm..It's driving me a little nuts, but I think once I do Chapter 4 homework over again it will be more clear. The only problem I'm having is differentiating between declensions and conjugations. I am a bit more clear on conjugations- ok just kidding I'm lost.
On a less academic and more social note I do like the class as a whole. I like that it's a very good learning environment. I'm not afraid to ask questions and everyone seems to ask the same questions I have. It's nice to see most of us on the same page. I’m not a big fan of quiet classes. We’ve all been in that class where everyone is afraid to speak in fear of sounding silly. And I'd hate to admit it but I like that our home work is graded. If I miss a day of Latin I know I would be so lost. I'm so lazy and unless I'm pushed to do my homework chances are it's not getting done. Sad, but true.
I would also like to say I think we should have a class trip to Europe. I’ve never been and I’m dying to go! We should speak Latin and record how many people we can communicate with. And I think the trip should be free for us...I can dream, can't I?
Sorry for the random babble. Have a great day!
ps- I like the Elmo picture- morbid but funny. :)

Stacey Bedard

Great minds think alike....

Wow. I am having a late lunch before my Ovid class and logged on to scramble some thoughts about our class today, when I saw Sarah's post....I am so glad that you guys have taken to it and that you have quite clearly already established a connection amongst yourselves, online and offline. One of the highlights of each class is that split second before I get into the classroom, when I hear you all laughing and chattering about god knows what (certainly not those conjugations...? maybe a little!).

Yes, I too understand where you are all coming from. You are coming from a language that has no special word endings to mark the multifunctional ways in which words are used in sentences, so all this is makes little sense on a conceptual level. It is hard to wrap one's mind around the concept of 'Declension' of nouns, when English uses prepositions to mark things such as possession (the cat's), reception (to the cat) , and accompaniment (with the damn cat). So, I suggest we meet half way: As I promised you on the syllabus, we will shoot for a chapter per week, beginning with Ch. 6. That will give you more time to memorize words and practice at home. Simultaneously, I do expect you to do your homework neatly and as much of it as you can, and to come to class prepared to ask and be asked questions about our stuff. I am thankful that already 3-4 people have come to the office after class and asked me point blank what a verb is, what is the difference between a 'person' and a 'number', or asked me to demonstrate how the dictionary in the back of the book works. I am always available to talk before and after class, and I am hoping to see more of you at my office and to have an opportunity to talk on one-to-one. Latin is one of the hardest courses you will take in college, but I guarantee you that when you find a way to study it efficiently, it will provide you with a structure and an intellectual satisfaction that few courses can effect on our post-modern, internet-littered, i-pod buzzing, HBO-addicted brains.

A friend sent me this picture today, which runs contrary to my message--but I thought it very funny and relevant to Latin woes....see you all Monday,

Eleni

I understand where Stacy was coming from. It seems like yesterday things came so quickly I didn't have enough time to even comprehend, let alone to ask questions. I am starting to feel like my studying method is not efficient and horribly slow. I am having a hard time remebering the infinitives, which means learning the declensions is more difficult...well you get the point, it snowballs, and quickly! I'm still debating whether or not I will be helped by maybe setting up a group study, but I fear that we would all confuse eachother, rather than help. I e-mailed the Latin tutor asking her for some advice on how to study, so we'll see how that goes. Yesterday in my Leadership Survey class, we went over what are our biggest stressors. Of course Latin was right up there, but I suprised myself by not saying it was something I would remove from my life. The truth is, Latin is the reason my day isn't so horrible. I feel so connected with the class because few others understand what were going though, and we have a bond that literally transcends time.

Quick thought, if we translated our Latin passages word for word into English, we would all sound like Yoda! :)

Sarah Hebert

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
(sorry i had to post again I didn't put my name on it the first time)
Today was by far the most confusing day of class for me. I feel like the material piled up quickly in those short 50 minutes. Having to know the infinitive of each verb is overwhelming. I'm having difficulty with my book and notes and this scares me in regards to future tests. I am a bit worried about all of this memorization.
Overall I am still enjoying the class. I guess it just hit me today how much studying it will require. I saw someone in class today with flashcards- those should be the best place to start. I feel like Latin is helping me stay focused. Having a quiz everday keeps me on my toes and helps me stay focused with my other courses. yay for Latin!
Stacey Bedard

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
Today was by far the most confusing day of class for me. I feel like the material piled up quickly in those short 50 minutes. Having to know the infinitive of each verb is overwhelming. I'm having difficulty with my book and notes and this scares me in regards to future tests. I am a bit worried about all of this memorization.
Overall I am still enjoying the class. I guess it just hit me today how much studying it will require. I saw someone in class today with flashcards- those should be the best place to start. I feel like Latin is helping me stay focused. Having a quiz everday keeps me on my toes and helps me stay focused with my other courses. yay for Latin!

This afternoon at work, one of the teachers (I work at a tutoring center) was helping a student with an English assignment and the student was confused about a certain word (can't remember what the word was now). The teacher, who knew I was taking Latin this semester, asked me if I could help them out, hoping I could figure out the root word. Obviously, after just two weeks in class, I wasn't able to help, but the fact that studying Latin seems to be put in such high regard makes me more excited to keep studying. Maybe I'm just a dork. I can’t wait to see what happens as we learn more vocabulary. I hope I can teach one of the kids at my job a thing or two.

Olivia Hattan (Sep. 6, 2006)

Latin actually helped me in one of my religious studies classes the other day when we were breaking down the word religion which traces its roots back to latin (how odd), and it was for the fact that I was in latin that made me feel more comfortable seeing latin words on the board. The reason i am taking latin is to one day be able to translate my own versions of religious documents and it is good to see that within the first week of taking latin it actually helped.

Zachary "ZT"

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?

Latin....It's been the mystery language to me. It sprouted all the Romance languages of Europe and still influenced American-English. That is amazing. But what really attracted me was the fact the animal kingdom is all latin, from the genus to the family and everything far and 'tween. Being a Marine Bio major this is a very improtant thing to me.
I love the cat pics! According to all my friends I will most likely end up the cat lady with too many cats to count!
TTFN (TaTa For Now)
Stacy Snelling

To be honest, Latin never interested me before. I took three years of Spanish in high school because it was the most popular thing to do. When I arrived at college and knew I had to take a foreign language, I swore I would never take Spanish. I wanted to try something new, and a friend of mine who studied Latin in high school told me about it, so I figured why not. After the first week, I’m already enjoying it (especially after lectures).

Already I’m enjoying explaining root words and such to my fiancé. I’ll have him quiz me on words after I do the homework, and then I get excited to show him how the Latin word has brought about an English word (for example, salutat in Latin and salutations in English). He probably thinks I’m crazy, but it feels awesome to be excited about something I’m learning. I guess Latin is already doing wonders for me.

Until next time…

Olivia Hattan (Sep. 3, 2006)

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?

Hey!
hope you liked my poem- more in store! so please dont be scared...lol anyway. The first week of Latin has taught me one major thing ! dont take too long for lunch, because a minute late means a dropped quiz!
I was just reading through the book, and man they have really interesting articles about the Ancient Romans! I love the book and have a great teacher! So far, so good... we'll see how it goes....
hastalavista ....... Jeremy a.k.a tallthunder

Thinking of the reasons of what Latin has done
I sit on my seat ,still, where I begun!
Thinking of the reasons of what Latin has done
Oh wait! I think I got one!
Alas , there never was a perfectly good rea-son .

I know the direction of my fate, so whimsical:
Pre-med, Per-Med it yells, as I ride my bicycle.
I guess that’s a reason enough , why am I so fickle?
Like raindrops these words fall, hmm… maybe trickle.

Yet what do I care?
Thinking of the reasons of what Latin has done,
Surely it will help, I have only just begun.

-=-==--==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--==-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=---- Jeremy Yesudas a.k.a "Tallthunder"

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?

Stacey Bedard

August 31, 2006

I chose Latin for 3 reasons:
1. I am a Tech Writing major and Latin will help me improve my vocabulary. I'm hoping this course will help me define unknown words be their roots which will in turn improve the word bank in my head.

2. I’ve always found Latin interesting. I went to a Catholic Elementary school as a child and our daily mass was in Latin. The language seemed to so powerful and mystical- it's almost as though the gods were only aloud to speak it. (I was a kid give a break. :) )

3. I thought it would be a nice challenge. I've taken 1 year of French, 2 years of Spanish, and I grew up will relatives that spoke Italian. With a small background in the romance languages I thought Latin would be fun and interesting.

So far the class has not been too difficult. I'm glad I decided to make Latin my foreign language and I hope to gain a wonderful experience from the class.

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?

Breakfast with Bella....




You know how I have been using 'Cat' as the standard noun to talk about cases? I will be using it throughout the semester, because the cat is the perfect creature and the perfect noun, and because it makes me happy just to think about it in Latin terms. The cat is female (there is gender for you), it is alive so it can possess a genitive, you can come 'with a cat' so it gets into the ablative, the 'cat is beautiful,' and 'the cat is coming/eating/sleeping in the toolshed' so it can get into the nominative, have a predicate or accompany intransitive verbs, I buy a lot of stuff 'for the cat' and give it 'to the cat' so there is your dative, I 'love the cat' 'feed the cat', and 'remember the cat', so it is also the object of my verbs and my affections, and...god willing, when we learn the plural number (=denoting not one but many cats) I will be thinking of slowly embracing my fate, that of the cat lady that owns 35 cats and feeds another 100 (until the animal control raids her house....)...I just wanted to share with you the fact that this proverbial Cat is real, her name is Bella (which is Latin for 'beautiful') and I have had her for 3 years now. She lives in Crete on my dad's farm, so she is semi-wild but with a very tender streak....I have been trying to get her a passport so that she can imigrate here (EU rules...argh!) but it is very expensive and I am running into a lot of trouble with the beaureocratic and corrupt Greek authorities (asking me for about 600 euros to expedite my business)....here is a pic of me and Bella in the farmhouse, and another one of my daughter (ok, she is actually my niece but I pretend she is my daughter) imitating Bella's pose. How does Latin relate to this? Well, the inspiration for Bella's name, for one. Also, and you might see this further along: Latin is a window into humanity and a certain affection for all living beings that are fragile in time...The Colosseum stands after 2, 000 years, but all of us, including Bella, will be dust in the wind long before the Colosseum collapses...hopefully, heaven looks something like Rome.... my coffee is growing cold! Laters,

Eleni