Blog
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...
Reminder:
I will be on the road, or in the air, from Wednesday, March 22 to Monday, March 27. I will check email, and I will check my site when I am able. I apologize for the inconvenience. There are NO more scheduled online class breaks. I AM planning to teach classes on...
One Backpack
Next week, my family and I are flying back to Athens, Greece. Long story short, a local mission organization found out that I possessed a British passport. They needed a European to manage their work among the refugees in Greece. So, they contacted my family, we...
Visual Latin errata: Test 23.
A student pointed a mistake out to me. I have corrected it. Here is my note to her. Thanks for your help on this. I finally have the time to take a look. For question 24, quod should not be the answer in the answer key. It should be qui. Qui is the masculine...
More kudos
I really like it when people say nice stuff about my work. It reminds me that the comments on YouTube might not actually be true. Heh. This week, I received this note: "Your site has been a tremendous help and I really appreciate all of your videos etc. Your style...
The History of Rome
Several years ago, I worked my way through the entire podcast series, "The History of Rome" by Mike Duncan. It was excellent. I am planning to go through the series again. In fact, I hope to start again in Greece. I am teaching my way through Hans Ørberg's Roma...
A common question
I get this question a lot. "Would you recommend Henle or Lingua Latina for new students? " Here is my reply: If you have the time, I recommend everything. Visual Latin, First Year Latin by Robert Henle, and Lingua Latina. The more you study, the more you learn. Of...
The organization of the Roman Army
For those interested, the following short video will help you understand the structure of the Roman Army. https://youtu.be/Rcbedan5R1s
I am maxed out.
I really hate to say this, but, I am not currently taking on any more students under the grading option. I am maxed out. I simply do not have time to take on new students. In the past, I had two options. $25 a month option grants access to every live class I teach...
A note from my wife…
Dear Friends and Family, You are receiving this letter because I wanted you to hear from me, rather than “through the grapevine”, about an opportunity that God is opening for us to serve in Greece. A year ago, we were able to serve the refugees with Servant Group...
Can I join the Lingua Latina 2 class?
I received this question: Do the kids take LL 2 the next year for Latin 2? With you - of course! Here is my reply: To get into LL 2, students must first be able to read the first 19 chapters. Basically, it is a vocabulary game. Visual Latin teaches students the...
Is Latin Lingua one year of high school Latin?
If you finish all of Lingua Latina, you will have completed two years of Latin.
Italian Chaos
I am likely going to begin taking tours to Italy at some point in the near future (2018.... maybe?). Rick Steves has been taking tours to Italy for years and years. Here, he and a few friends explain the daily chaos that is Italy....
Wake up and drive.
Years ago, I fell asleep at the wheel. I totaled my car. With my family in it. No one was injured. I thank God every time I think about that night. It should not have happened. I will do everything in my power to ensure it never happens again. My son and I are...
Confusing Latin Adjectives
I received this question: Hello Mr. Thomas, I have a very basic question. I think I've asked you this before but I can't find the email. Somehow I have a mental block about this: When you have a noun which you must decline why doesn't the adjective describing the noun...
Wichita, Kansas
I will be on the road for the next few days. My son is touring with the Rock and Worship roadshow (as a photographer). I will be hanging out in local Starbucks coffee shops. Trying to catch up on emails. On March 2 (today), if you are near 29th & Rock, 3000...
The upcoming Greek class…
I received this email: First, thanks for all of your inspirational emails. They always make my homeschooling day. : ) I have a few questions for you regarding learning Greek…. When my daughter was in seventh grade she was interested in learning Greek. I did some...
California here we come…
My son is moving out to California for a bit for work. He and I will be driving out there starting March 1. There will be no classes on March 7 and March 8 as a result. I apologize. If you don't like spring break, you are welcome to watch the classes from next...
Grading? Pronunciation?
I received a series of questions. Here is the first one. This may apply to many of you: I would like to enroll my son in your 2017-18 Henle Latin course with grading. Here's my first reply: Unfortunately, I am not currently accepting new students whose work needs to...
How we homeschool
I received this comment: I'm so sorry to hear about your technical challenges lately. I hope your work is coming together better now. Just dropping a note to see if in one of your blog posts you could address how your family homeschool and what things you value as you...
Extra stuff for Visual Latin?
I received this question: We are already using the History course (streaming subscription) and I planned on adding Visual Latin for my son. What material will I need to purchase to make this class a success? I see a few items mentioned such as a Latin dictionary, etc....
Is Genesis History?
Just got back from the theater. I hope you had the chance to watch the new documentary, "Is Genesis History?" It's good. I enjoyed it. Naturally, I most enjoyed the section on Genesis 10. May write more about it tomorrow. If there is an encore presentation in your...
Came at the right time…
I am pretty tired these days. My site was attacked on Friday. That's all cleaned up now, but I am tired. And, now I have an incredible amount of work to catch up on. Just at the right time, this note showed up: I am in your Henle class, though doing most videos...
Recovery
Last Friday, my site was invaded. Someone was sending slightly flirtatious messages to my students via the forums on my site. The forums are still down, and will remain down for some time. I am not sure when they will be back up. I continue to work on them and I...
Forbidden
Hi, guys. As many of you know, my site was attacked on Friday. It's been 18 hour days for me ever since. Now my students are denied access when they try to log in. I am doing every thing I can and will continue to do so. I sincerely apologize for this....
An army of one
This is less a tip of the week, and more an apology. Back when I started my site, I didn't have the money to hire anyone. So, I designed my site myself. You can probably tell just by looking at it. I set out to design a beautiful, sleek, muscular stallion. Instead,...
Ignore Lucy…
Hi, Everyone! It looks like someone tried to hack my site this morning. My site is secured by WP Engine. You can check them out here: https://wpengine.com/ WP Engine and I have been working on this issue since early this morning. I have temporarily closed down all...
Hacked
Guys, It appears my site was hacked a few hours ago. If you get a message from "Lucy" just ignore it. Working right now to fix this. Dwane
Would you ride this?
When I was a kid, flying cars were a fantasy. Every year, companies push that fantasy closer. Here is the latest. Would you ride around in this? https://youtu.be/1iyCgy1juHc Remember these guys? They had it all. Flying cars. Robot servants. 3-D printed food....
Why Lingua Latina?
Earlier this year, this was posted on my site. I couldn't have said it better: As a recovering Henle student, I also encourage the Lingua Latina book. My sons and I switched over to Lingua Latina after one year of tedious struggle with Henle. Lingua Latina is not...
3 Little Pigs (My favorite version).
https://youtu.be/dAEJ_RB_ZXU
Possible schedule for 2017 – 2018
I will be finalizing my schedule soon, but it will likely be something like this: (All times are in the Central Time Zone) Tuesdays 9 AM: Latin 1: Lingua Latina by Hans Ørberg chapters 1 - 19 10 AM: Latin 2: Lingua Latina by Hans Ørberg chapters - 34 11 AM: Latin 3...
Six days…
We humans are pretty funny. If our bosses told us to take a day off, we would praise our bosses to the heavens. When the King of the heavens tells us to take a day off, we protest. Don't tell us what to do! Among the Ten Commandments, we find this: Remember the...
Latin in three years?
I received this question: I have a question regarding Henle 1. My 13-year-old is taking Latin 1 through a Homeschool Community this year. They are covering Units 1-5 this year and will be covering Units 6-14 next year. However, I am anticipating a change in our...
Thanks, School.
According to Voddie Baucham, school does a great job teaching at least one skill. School teaches children to stand in line. My wife and I homeschool our children. We do it for many reasons. Reason #1? Freedom. I pay my taxes. I understand that, as an American, I...
Zonks.
We don't have television or cable service in our home. We never have. Now and then my kids will end up watching a show or two at a friends house. They really like the show, Let's Make a Deal. If you have ever seen the show, you know that contestants may win...
Italian so far…
I am learning Italian for two reasons. First, I am learning Italian to master Latin pronunciation. Second, I am learning Italian because... I want to learn Italian. Back to the first reason. When I was first learning Latin, I looked high and low for a pronunciation...
Unmotivated in Latin?
I received this email: I am wondering if you can think of some options I may have with my son. He just won’t do the work. I was hoping the live class would be motivating for him but he refuses to participate and I have found him looking at the answers to do the work...
105-Year-Old Cyclist sets a new record.
I love stories like this. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/04/508213332/105-year-old-cyclist-rides-14-miles-in-an-hour-en-route-to-a-world-record So what's his secret? Marchand's coach and friend Gerard Mistler told the AP it's simple: He eats fruits and...
Mile IQ
I drive some beat up old cars. In fact, not long ago, one of my daughters quickly found my car in a crowded parking lot. I asked her how she did it. She replied, "It was easy, Dad. I just looked for the rough among the diamonds." Heh. The odometer on my car does...
Stick it out. Get it over with.
Every so often I receive emails from parents who are rather concerned. Usually, their sons (it's almost always their sons) have no interest in Latin. For that matter, their sons usually have no interest in school at all. They email me. They ask me what they should...
40 maps that explain the Roman Empire
I am posting this link for myself, mostly. I would post it happily for everyone. But, naturally, modern scholars can't seem to help themselves. They have included one section on Roman debauchery. This one section takes a rated G post and turns it into a rated R...