What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?

Thursday, November 30, 2006

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?

So I've decided the daily quizzes are not such a bad thing. I can admit when I am wrong. :) It would be much harder to take weekly or biweekly quizzes. This everyday brush up, although it may not provide me a better grade, does help.

I'm looking forward to having the same class structure next semester. I feel like I have learned a lot. It's nice to come out of this class really grasping the basics of Latin. Hopefully most of you will be in Ms. Manolaraki's class next semester too!

This blog has been great. I started blogging the first week of the semester only so I would be sure to get the full 7 percent extra credit. But it has really been an awesome tool for homework questions. I really relied on it for help and a place to vent. I hope future students take advantage of the blog.

I'm going to start studying for the final tomorrow- no joke. I want to do well on these last four quizzes and ACE the final!!!!! Also, I will be studying with Candace again for the final if any of you want to join us you are more than welcome.

So few days until this blog ends...*sniff*

Night everyone

Yours truly,
Stacey Bedard



Wednesday, November 29, 2006

I was just reading something a little while ago and came across a very interesting word. The phrase went something like "... perambulate the muck and mire..." Perhaps I don't read enough (or it could be the NyQuil), but "perambulate" struck me as such a seldom used, four-dollar word that I laughed. But because of Latin, I didn't have to give the meaning of the word a second thought.

My use of the slang term, "four-dollar word," here got me thinking about what Prof. M said recently about strange English idiomatic expressions. So I looked it up on the internet to see if I could discover where "four-dollar word" comes from. Lo and behold, I found a very amusing article, printed in The Boston Globe, if anyone is interested.

~Rachael

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
Hey,
On page 98, line 5
Romani auxilium ferunt hotesque iam oppugnant.
Is it...
Romans carry help and already fight enemies?
That sounds ridiculously incorrect.
Let me know what you guys think.
Also, in reply to Olivia, I completely failed the quiz today.
I was not expecting that on our quiz. If it weren't for those quizzes I'd have an A in this class.. :(
One more thing- Does anyone know if this blog is 7% extra on a test or on our overall grade?
See you tomorrow!
-Stacey Bedard

So, who else did terribly on today's quiz? Yeah, I'll admit it, I did fantastically poor. But that's why I strangely love those quizzes: They are a very nice reality check. And is anyone else worried they may lose some of what we've learned this semester over winter break? I remember in high school taking three years of Spanish, and after every summer vacation, I went into my next year of Spanish feeling completely stupid. I think, though, that because Latin hasn't been traumatizing and I actually find it interesting, I'm looking forward to next semester and shouldn't be too bad off in the spring.

Viva la end of semester (See? I still know some Spanish)! We all (including Professor M for putting up with us) need a break!

Olivia

Monday, November 27, 2006

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
I know you love the Latin quizzes....

http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz1825721a300.html

I had a great Thanksgiving. Cooked, ate too much, cleaned, and fell asleep. Isn't that what the holiday is all about? Haha.

Also, I know it is a shot in the dark but has anyone stumbled across my Latin notebook? It is probably lost forever, which is ok, I just wanted to use it for the final. :( Oh well...Wish me luck!

Stacey Bedard

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
I know you love the Latin quizzes....

http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz1825721a300.html

I had a great Thanksgiving. Cooked, ate too much, cleaned, and fell asleep. Isn't that what the holiday is all about? Haha.

Also, I know it is a shot in the dark but has anyone stumbled across my Latin notebook? It is probably lost forever, which is ok, I just wanted to use it for the final. :( Oh well...Wish me luck!

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
Just in case we dont go over it in class... in ch.15, how do you conjugate volo and nolo? Also, how do you decline senatus?
thank you!!!
Jeremy

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
I was just at my friends house over thanksgiving, and I found a semi-practical use for Latin! His first language was spanish, so whenever he spoke spanish to the family, I would try and tap in on the conversation and use Latin to figure out what they were saying... Did it work?
I guess you could say it worked to an extent. This was mainly because they conjugated/declined most similiar root words with diffrent endings.
Hope everyone had a happy turkey day!
Jeremy

Sunday, November 26, 2006

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
So, i was at Barnes and Noble today looking around. Just as I was preparing to leave I saw the title "homer's Illiad and Odyssey". After learning a little about them in class, I had an urge to read the stories in their entirety so I snatched them right up! I want to get a Latin version of them just to compare them and all, but I could hardly even find a Latin dictionary in the store....Does anyone know of a place, besides online, that I could find Latin-ized stories or anything? Thanks! Stacy Snelling

Saturday, November 25, 2006

I hope everyone is enjoying their break from school and such. It's so nice to be able to relax for a bit before finals and such.

I have a question for you, Professor M. I was thinking about this on Thanksgiving, and I was wondering what major holidays do the Greeks celebrate? I know that sounds a bit close-minded, but I guess I'm just too "Americanized."

Olivia

Monday, November 20, 2006

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
Hello
I've lost my Latin notebook. It's purple, regular sized 100 paged notebook. I'm trying frantically to find it because it has all of my Latin homework in it. If anyone knows where it is let me know please.
Thanks
Stacey Bedard

Sunday, November 19, 2006

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
Hey everyone! What homework is due monday? THANKS!

Wednesday, November 15, 2006


Hang in there!

There is a Greek proverb that goes 'he ate the whole lamb, but couldn't finish the brain', which is the equivalent of the English 'hitting a wall', the 'last stretch' etc. (And yes, the Greeks eat lamb brains--fyi, they are delicious!). I guess my point is that you all have done very well, and I have to trust that everyone has done 100% of what they could have done for this class. If you are conscious of *not* having done so, that is between you and the gods, but I will certainly not criticize or evaluate anyone on what they *could* have done. As far as I am concerned, you are all fabulous each in your own way, with your strengths and weaknesses. So, keep it together, keep it down, and keep it real for the next 3 weeks or so. The last three chapters are coasting really, nothing earth-shattering like the neuter or the Dative--(sigh...why can't we do more of that stuff now...). Remember to come to the office, blog, or e-mail with any concerns or questions you have as you begin to review for the final.EM

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Is it just me, or did this semester just fly by? I remember reading through chapter one of our textbook and thinking, "Wow, this is interesting." I'm still finding things interesting now that we're in chapter 13, but it's definitely wearing on my brain. Fortunately, we all seem to be truckin' along without too many bumps and bruises.

Has anyone else signed up for Latin II? I registered this morning and guess which professor I signed up with? Sorry Professor M. but you're stuck with me (and I know two other girls from our current class) again. :)

Olivia

Sunday, November 12, 2006

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
*SO...*
Do any of you sell or garden roses??
If you do PLEASE contact me...
Thanks! Good luck tomorrow.
-Stacey Bedard
sbedard@mail.usf.edu

Just want wish everyone luck on the test tomorow!! Now back to studying!

Candace Kaw

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

My fiance and I recently caved in and got cable for our apartment, so we've been watching random TV shows that we've never watched before. We have a game show channel and we were watching an old episode of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" The person had a question along the lines of: "What occupation comes from the Latin word meaning 'beard?'" They didn't provide the Latin word, but the answer was barber. I immediately looked up the word "beard" as soon as I heard the answer, and lo and behold, the word was "barba." If I had not ever touched Latin, I never would have been interested in looking that up. It's amazing what one class will do for you and your thinking and awareness...

Olivia

I really thought I did well on yesterday's quiz, because I was sure of all the dative information, but then I messed up the neuter and male nouns. Anybody have any tips on how to remember them? Or is it just old fashion memorization?

Candace Kaw

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Like Olivia, I have a paper for another class to write this weekend. It only has to be in rough draft form by Wednesday morning, but I'm still feeling the pressure. I came across a Latin phrase in one of my sources: callis iudaicus, the Latin name of the Jewish quarter of medieval Barcelona.

While trying to discover the literal translation of "callis", I found something very interesting. There's a Latin version of wikipedia. You can find it here: http://la.wikipedia.org Instead of being called "wikipedia," it's called "vicipaedia." Thought that was pretty neat.

With this, I figured out that "callis" must be third declension, which I had figured from the suffix, but it's always nice to have confirmation. The best I could come up with for a translation was "foot-path" or "cow-path" or perhaps "a small road." Is there a better English translation than that of which you might know, Prof. Manolaraki?

"Iudaicus" is "jewish"? I couldn't seem to find a really clear-cut answer on that one. It's obviously not "of the Jews," since "iudaicus" doesn't seem to be a genitive form, but rather a nominative 2nd declension... perhaps even an adjective?

~Rachael

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?

Is it just me or has this class just become harder? I confused with the neuter nouns and the dative case. I feel like a lot of material was piled on too quickly.
After work today I'm going to spend time making flash cards...lots of flash cards. This class can be difficult to keep up with. The quizzes daily, new material almost everyday...sometimes I can't do all the studying I want to because I have other classes and work. I still really like this class I'm just overwhelmed with the new material.
I agree with Olivia, this is the part of the semester when I cry and say I'm only taking one class next semester! haha I know this will pass, but I can't wait for the rough spot to be over.
I'm stressed also because this is my 4th year here and I won't be here much longer. By now I should have a job in my field, writing, but I'm having a hard time. I don't know where to look or even get started.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend. STUDY HARD!


-Stacey Bedard

Friday, November 03, 2006

I have a paper to write this weekend, but I know I should put plenty of effort into Latin this weekend as well. There really need to be more hours in the day, or I need to concentrate less on getting eight hours of sleep a night.

I'm not too comfortable with the dative case yet, but I haven't been paying my usual attention to learning the new stuff as I have in the past (it's that time of the semester where we're all ready to pull our hair out, right?). I made a reference sheet of sorts to help me study the endings that go with each stem depending on the declension. I think my problem may be in recognizing third declensions and neuters. Hopefully by test time, I have it straight.

Have a good weekend everyone. See you Monday!

Olivia

What Has Latin Done for Me Lately?
Hey Guys... sorry I had to leave early Ms.E... I was wondering what I missed today and what is due on monday??
thanks a lot !!!

Jeremy

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

So I've been having a hard time with the dative case... with recognizing when to use it and when it is being used in passages and exercises. It's not coming as easily as the the cases we learned before and I'm not sure why... But let's see if I've had a break-through. (If at any time anyone reading this is getting confused, please stop reading! Because I think I've almost confused myself and I really don't want to be responsible for confusing others.)

I think you said today, Prof. Manolaraki, that you didn't want to really say that the dative and ablative cases look the same, but I think it might help me remember the suffixes if I can get this into my mind. Only the 1st declension dative singular looks like the genitive singular of the same declension. All the other datives look like the ablative of their same declension. Yes?

So I was trying to think of a way to tell which case is which. With the ablative case, there has to be a preposition in the text. An "ab" or an "ex" or a "cum" (et cetera) has to accompany the noun. Right? In the dative case, the preposition is implied, and a preposition does not appear explicitly in the text, yes?

For example:

Ambulat cum monstro forti. He walks with the strong monster.
"monstro forti" is in the ablative case, and the preposition in the sentence is "cum."

Dat canem monstro forti. He gives a dog to the strong monster.
"monstro forti" here is in the dative case, and the preposition "to" is implied, but does not explicitly appear in the sentence.

Is this correct? Or am I still getting it wrong? Or does the use of a preposition with the ablative and the implied preposition with the dative totally have nothing to do with one another and this is a bad way of trying to remember it?

I know I'm also having a problem assimilating all the neuter suffixes, but I think that this is just lack of practice rather than the grammar not clicking in my mind.


~Rachael

Anyone interested in a classics major/minor come see me, I got all the info you need about requirements and such.

EM