Blog
All Classes cancelled today. Internet problems.
What is the opposite of "All's well that ends well"? Whatever it is, that is what I am dealing with. Today was supposed to be the last day of class. Suddenly, the internet in our rental home no longer works. It is dropping classes every 15 minutes. I will re-record...
Too many people idealize Latin. Here is the truth.
I recently received an inquiry about my online classes. The woman who emailed me added an interesting sentence in her email. I'm realistic and don't want to idealize Latin into something it's not. Wow. She nailed it. Too many people idealize Latin. Here is the...
Missed class. 🙁
I messed the schedules up today. As a result, you may have missed the Lingua Latina class today. I apologize. Completely my fault. I listed classes that were taking place today on the 31st... which is tomorrow. The Lingua Latina classes are up now in the member's...
After The Latin Road?
I received this question: I have a son who is almost 12 and has completed The Latin Road volume 1 and most of volume 2. His brain seems to compute Latin well. Do you think he would be a candidate for one of your classes, or should he hold off? I was planning on him...
Think I’ll take a break today.
Beat my own record. And, finally caught up on all those emails. Roughly 800 pages. Tired.
Tip of the Week #107. Get a job.
Every Saturday, I send out a tip of the week. I also include announcements, upcoming classes, and so on. If you want to hear from me every weekend, sign up for my weekly updates here: [yikes-mailchimp form="1"] This time of year, there is a lot of talk about...
More student answers and corrections now available…
May is a busy month for me. Lots of final grading. As I grade my way through, I am adding numerous new answer keys based on student responses. If you are a subscriber, you now have full access to the last 5 or 6 years of my work. Here it...
Can I skip Henle 1?
I received this question: My son has done two years of https://www.livelylatin.com/ online. I know it's not an intense course, but he's starting high school next year and I wonder if he would be okay in Henle 2 or if he should start with Henle 1. Do you have a...
War Commentaries of Caesar
You kids today. I am so jealous. When I moved to Germany as a teenager, I decided to learn German. Someone gave me a set of language learning cassette tapes. This, kids, is a cassette tape: There were twelve cassettes in the course. I was glad someone gave the...
Before you cancel.
Most of my students stay with me for three years. Students will typically take Latin 1, 2 and 3 before moving on. At $25 a month, that's $300 a year. Remember, That's access to every class I teach for $300. That's $300 for the entire family. This is not a per...
Vocabulary for Visual Latin 2?
I received this question: My daughter is enjoying her Latin study with your fun and engaging lessons. We bought the Visual Latin 2 printed course materials. We have not been able to find a place where there is a copy of all the latin vocab from volume 2 (lessons...
Kudos…
Found this note today while grading.... You made her year of Latin so much better than if we had attempted it alone! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! You should know that my daughter received a Gold Summa Cum Laude award this evening for her NLE this year. She...
After Visual Latin?
I received this question: Dwane... We have used the Visual Latin for the past 2 years and are sad that it's ending. My son is going to be in high school and wants to continue his study of Latin... so what would be a good next step for us? Thanks! Here is my reply:...
Tip of the Week #106. Hidden in plain sight.
I usually keep some cash hidden in my car. And, an extra house key. And, a ninja grappling hook. Okay. I don't have a ninja grappling hook. But, I have always wanted one. Today is my 44th birthday. Perhaps I will order one. I have waited long enough. I don't...
De Bello Gallico in Italiano.
I use this blog as a means of communication. I use it to communicate with students and parents. From time to time, I use this blog to vent some of my frustrations. As none of my friends or family read my blog, it is a perfect place to hide my feelings in plain site....
How my son is doing.
Many of you have asked how my son is doing. For those who don't know, my son, Jackson, nearly died on April 13, 2017, when the 15 passenger van he was driving flipped on I-70. He was just west of Strasburg, Colorado. Here is the newspaper article where the picture...
Kudos
I just wanted to add that we have loved Visual Latin, my daughter has laughed at something every single lesson...and you can't say that about any other curriculum (not that we've discovered yet anyway). Thank you for your work, it is much appreciated! - Alyssa ...
High speed Henle Latin?
I received this question: Last year I was in Challenge A of Classical Conversations. After making my way through some of the Henle latin program(and many slaughtered Gauls) we went to a different co-op this year. Almost halfway through the school year, we realized...
Doing whatever just to stay alive.
In 2017, a hacker named "Lucy Pat" invaded my site and sent flirtatious messages to all of my middle school students. Thank you, internet. Instantly, I received angry messages from a bunch of homeschool moms. They sent angry messages because they thought that I sent...
Why I do what I do….
I received this note from the parent of an online student: Thank you so much! As someone who is part of my "educational team" for my kids, you should know my daughter received a Gold Summa Cum Laude award this evening for her NLE this year. She missed 3 on the Latin...
Annual subscription?
I received this question: I've had some conflicting answers from friends that do your Latin on-line. The price for the year is $250, correct? Here is my reply: It used to be. I charged $250 a year, per family, for every class I teach. When it comes to affordability,...
Problems…
There is currently a problem with downloads on my site. If you subscribe, or if you purchase the Latin charts, my site may not deliver. If this happens to you, simply email me at dwane@visuallatin.com, I will personally send whatever you are looking for. I apologize...
Will Henle 1 prepare me for Henle 3?
I received this question: Hi! I am CC tutor and I have completed 1-26 in Henle I four times. I will be doing Henle 3 this fall with an older group. Do you recommend I finish Henle I on my own this summer and get as much of Henle 2 done as possible, or jump into...
Can I learn Latin over the summer?
I received this question: I am a parent who actually wants to learn Latin alongside their child. The academic year was too busy for me to commit the time I wanted to commit, so I fell behind, but have pledged to work diligently over the summer break....which begins...
The Secret Weapon
Last Saturday, I suggested you start using Evernote. It's free. It's powerful. And, it looks like it is going to be around for awhile. As we grow older, our memories fail us. Evernote keeps us looking brilliant. Here's the problem with Evernote. It can be...
Boondoggle
Every Saturday, I send out a "tip of the week". Scratch that. Most Saturdays. I miss some from time to time. Many of you subscribe to my list. Like you, I also subscribe to email newsletters. Every Friday I receive an email from Tim Ferriss, author of The Four...
Life is slowly returning to a normal state for my family. Back to work. Last week, Classical Conversations asked for an article from me. Here it is: ================================================= A few weeks ago life for me turned upside down. My family and I...
Travel books?
I received this question from one of my students: I was wondering if there were any books you would recommend which you or your family members may have read in preparation to travel and live in a different country. Hope you are enjoying Greece so far! I am loving your...
Cops in Athens, Cops in Franklin, Cops in the classroom.
This is going to get weird. Hang in there with me. Hopefully, it will all make sense. I have been studying Latin for 20 years. I still get the endings wrong. It's ridiculous. Here is part of the problem... and, I think it's a big part of the problem. Latin has...
Annual subscription option?
I have removed the annual subscription option. My site, ThinkOutsideTheBorder.com once renewed membership automatically. This was designed to make the process easy for students and their families. They do not have to go through the registration process every year....
Everything. I am not kidding.
I received this comment: Hi Dwane, I really apologize in advance for this question. I am confused about options regarding Latin. It seems like I am missing the page that explains it on your website. I would like to do one of two things and I don't know which. Either...
Evernote
I turn 44 this month. I have heard that memory loss really kicks in around age 45. Ironically, I can not remember where I read this. Perhaps I am getting a head start on memory loss. Writing every day but Sunday was one of my main goals this year. I fell off the...
How to update, or cancel your subscription.
Warning! If you cancel your subscription, my site will delete your information. All grades and all progress will be deleted. If you decide to return later, you will need to start a new subscription. When you have logged it to my site you should be able to change...
My new job.
It is slowly dawning on me that I have a new job. My wife and I continue to spend a lot of time at the hospital. She spends more time there than I. Before my son's accident my schedule looked something like this: 5 a.m. to noon. Study Greek, study Latin, blog,...
Online classes start back Today.
Since my son's accident, I canceled my classes. However, life is slowly getting back to normal. And, I have to get back to work. With that in mind, online classes resume today. I'm still a bit tired, and things are still a bit busy around here, but, let's give it a...
Shops
So... some time ago I sent out an email entitled, "Lead from the front." You may have noticed that the email had nothing to do with the title. That's because it didn't. I was working on another email when my son's vehicle flipped six times on Interstate 70. After...
Collateral Beauty
For the first time in two weeks, life is beginning to look normal again. Just over two weeks ago, my son nearly lost his life in a car accident. He survived, but just barely. A local newspaper posted a picture of our van here:. After almost two weeks in the Intensive...
Don’t take life for granted.
By now, most of you know that my son was recently involved in a serious car accident. He has now been in ICU at Aurora Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado for over a week. My wife, my girls, and I received the news while we were in Athens, Greece. We quickly shut down...
Don’t take life for granted.
By now, most of you know that my son was recently involved in a serious car accident. He has now been in ICU at Aurora Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado for over a week. My wife, my girls, and I received the news while we were in Athens, Greece. We quickly shut down...
All yours…
For the past 5 or 6 years, and possibly more, I have been collecting student work. Each day, as students send answers to assignments, I check their work and then copy their work into a file. I have also collected my responses to the students, and I have collected my...
Delegating to my girls…
Despite my best intentions, I have not blogged in days. I continue to crawl out from underneath the work I have given myself. One of my girls is doing a better job chronicling our life here: https://falconsandfletchings.wordpress.com/.../week-2.../
Catching up, or contributing?
As many of you know, I've been stuck behind my computer since arriving in Athens, Greece. This has, naturally, been a source of frustration to me. Mostly, I've been stuck here grading papers and assignments. A few weeks ago, I was at a conference in San Diego. The...
Why it takes me so long to grade…
Yesterday, I posted on Facebook and on my blog. I commented on the fact that it takes me so very long to grade. At the moment, I have suspended all new grading for the coming year. I am simply unable to keep up. Several people wanted to know why. "Why does it...
Grading is time-consuming
I received this comment: Please add me to the waiting list. I think it would be worth triple the money (although I'm not saying j could pay that. Lol). I can imagine it takes forever to grade. Here is my reply: Got it! You are on the list. Still working on a...
What the online classes are like.
From time to time, someone will join my online classes thinking that they have purchased Visual Latin. I may have confused you. Unfortunately, Visual Latin is not included with a subscription to my site. The company that produced Visual Latin has their own...
A better writer than I…
One of my girls is blogging her way through my maddening decision to move my entire family to Athens just so that I can learn Greek. Check out her latest post here:...
How can I afford to move my family to Greece?
Yesterday during one of my classes, a student asked, "Mr. Thomas, How can you afford to move your entire family to Greece?" Good question. I frequently ask myself the same question. First, let me start with the "why". Why have I moved my entire family to Greece?...
Settling in…
After days of travel, my family and I are settling in at our apartment in Greece. I am going to begin blogging once more. It was my goal to blog every day this year. I lost quite a few days due to travel, but, that's okay. I will be picking up the pace again......
Begin it.
The famous German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it; boldness has genius, power, and magic in it." I love that quote. My favorite part of the quote lies right in the middle. "Begin it." I believe that is the...
Book Review #5: First Year Latin by Robert Henle
Some time ago, my students and I finished reading First Year Latin by Robert Henle. I used to read this book every year. First things first. Praise where praise is due. First Year Latin by Robert Henle will take you to a New Testament reading level. Sort of. More...