Blog
Financial Peace
Years ago, I read Dave Ramsey's First Book, Financial Peace. I began to follow his advice. Then I made a foolish financial mistake. I became a teacher in a private school. Disaster followed. Eventually, my wife and I went through foreclosure. We ended up living...
Before I am crucified…
On Saturday, I sent out my usual "tip of the week". This one received quite a response. Here is what I mean: "Thank you for this! Just read it to our son. Tear in my eyes." "I may have put an edited version of this as my Facebook status (with credit to you, if...
We get one shot at this.
On Thursday, I drove to Birmingham, Alabama. There, my cousins and I carried my 92-year-old grandfather to his grave. This week was crazy busy. Visitors, travel, and a funeral. I am ridiculously behind in my work. But, I haven't been thinking about work this week....
Pronunciation help from an Italian
In the following helpful video, a native Italian speaker shows us the differences between the several Latin pronunciations: https://youtu.be/0SUqF32dKnU
Not yet.
Tomorrow, I'm heading to Birmingham Alabama. My family and I will be saying our final goodbyes to my grandfather. He died Sunday. I am sad. I am very sad. But, I don't see tomorrow as an overwhelmingly sad day. He lived a good, long, and happy life. He lived 92...
Not happy with me…
I received this email: We are going to be canceling our monthly payments for Henle 1 latin class. We weren't satisfied. I agree that Henle is not a great book, but it is the book we choose and the constant negativity about the book as well as the constant...
Yep.
Living Forward
This week I received this note: Hi! Just wanted to let you know how we LOVE visual latin - my two older kids do it with me. : ) Are you planning to ever do a video series for visual greek? We would buy it. You probably don’t need any more things about goals but here...
The National Latin Exam
I have decided to offer a National Latin Exam preparation class. During this class, we will practice taking the National Latin Exam together. Students will have the opportunity to ask specific questions during class. Classes will meet once a week during the spring...
Air
As I blog my way through my study of Italian, I am considering bring the "Word of the Day" back. For several years, I posted consistently. Then, in the craziness that was for me 2016, I dropped the ball. But, I miss it. I am going to attempt to resurrect the habit....
People need to be reminded…
In church last Sunday, the pastor quoted Samuel Johnson. "People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed. " If you hang out on my blog at all, you know that I like DuoLingo. I have explored many, many language sites, and have purchased many,...
Classes resume today.
If you are in one of my online classes, and if you are wondering... yes. Classes resume today. There are no scheduled breaks between now and May. We have a long road in front of us. However, I may be adding unscheduled breaks. My family and I are considering a...
Parental success
There is always time for this…
Like you, I subscribe to several "tips of the week." This morning I received one from Bill Meyers. I was already working on my own "tip of the week" when his showed up. It's good. I am going to postpone mine and share his. You really can change your life, my...
Not sure about the online Latin classes? This may help…
This note made me happy: Let me start by telling you how happy I am to have found your website!! You have totally revolutionized the way we study Latin in my home. 🙂 This will be my 4thyear being a Challenge director for Classical Conversations, therefore 4 years...
Next year?
I received this question: I am planning out our 2017-18 school year. We have been involved in Classical Conversations for seven years now. Due to some changes in our family, we will be taking the year off from CC. I am looking into online Latin classes for our son and...
From Latin to Italian
As many of you know, I'm studying Italian. This year, I hope to blog my way through the language. I am going to attempt to post something about Italian, or about my trip through Italian, every day. For starters, let me explain why I am starting Italian even though...
Beyond Word Up….
I received this question: I have a few of questions about Beyond Word Up: Is it in the same format as Word Up? How many lessons are there? Since it's not a live class, do you have to sign up for a year or just a couple months? Here is my reply: No. Unfortunately, it...
Resolutions
Many people make fun of New Year's resolutions. Not me. I'm a fan. Of course, I don't always refer to them as resolutions. I call them goals. Today is the last day of the year. On December 31st of every year, I print my resolutions/goals for the upcoming year....
Hey, Europe. Stop apologizing. Hey, America. Wake up.
I majored in History in college. I never heard any of this. Did you hear any of this when you were in college? I doubt it. https://youtu.be/-ilFbbk9jw4 Author Douglas Wilson comments on this same subject in a post from 2011 entitled, Seven Memes for Keeping...
Ignore the rest.
One of my favorite living authors is Bob Bly. His writing is full of practical, no-nonsense advice. I usually leave his articles with an idea I can use right away. Today, this showed up in my inbox. I found this inspiring. Perhaps you will as well....
What now?
I received this question: So what do you recommend after we have completed Latin 2?? Here is my reply: Ah. What a question. This rant may help: https://dwanethomas.com/world-world-winning/ And, this page may help: https://dwanethomas.com/?s=after+Visual+Latin There...
General questions
I received the following series of questions: Can you give me a little more info about this? How many video lessons per week is it designed for to get through in 1 year? I per day 5 days a week? Or 1 lesson per 5 days of work? Is it sent to our email address? Here is...
Am I doing okay?
I received this question: Is it ok that I can’t translate very well at this point? It will come eventually, right? I just want to know if I am on track OR if should I spend extra time reading Lingua Latina and going over the vocabulary? Here is my reply: Good...
A bad poem, and a better story.
This Christmas, I am thankful for many things. You are high on the list. A few years ago, I launched my site praying that I could survive for a year. Now, heading into my third year, I am thankful for you. You have kept me going. As you know, I teach Latin online....
The oldest know inscription of the name Yahweh.
Last March, my family and I became friends with Joel and Cathy Kramer and their kids. Cathy had wanted to attend a Harry Potter class that I offered in 2015. She was living in Jerusalem at the time and, due to time differences, was not able to attend the class. She...
This note made me happy.
I received this email over the weekend: "Your classes have been wonderful, and for the first time Latin is actually making since to me and both my children. I am so thankful for you and your resources. Thank you, again, for all that you do because you are helping so...
Help them.
I spend a lot of time grading Latin and Greek homework. Every now and then, someone asks... "Why not hire someone to help you?" I have watched business owning friends of mine hire and fire incessantly. No, thanks. I'll save myself some time and just do it myself....
UnrollMe
This week, one of my students sent this email to me: Hi, Mr. Thomas! "I'm trying out this program called UnrollMe, which is supposed to send you all your subscription emails in one email, at one time, every day. I don't know how many of those you have, but I thought...
The quote I live by
Sometimes, I really want to sleep in. Usually, I don't. When I do, I regret it. When my alarm goes off, I have trained myself to think of this quote by C.S. Lewis. "If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can...
Good riddance.
Once, back when I was teaching in the classroom, my students were laughing at the Romans. They couldn't believe that the Romans actually worshiped their political leaders. It happened to be just after the 2012 presidential election season. Barack Obama had just...
Some impressive work from an impressive student…
A 15 year-old girl sent a homework assignment to me. Here are the first three questions and answers: 1. Quid fecit Achilles? Hectorum ducem Troianum interfecit atque corpus eius mortuum post currum suum traxit circum moenia Urbis troiae. 2. Quid fecit...
Babadum
A few days ago, one of my kids reminded me of Babadum. How do I forget this stuff? I used to use Babadum. Then I forgot about it. Now it's back. I am no big fan of flashcards. But, if the flashcards help you with pronunciation, I am a big fan. Babadum is a fun...
Some warnings.
You can join EVERY CLASS I teach with ONE simple subscription option. That’s correct. Subscribe once and you will have access to each and every class I teach. Not only that, all subscriptions are FAMILY subscriptions. Everyone in the family is welcome to enroll. I...
Lighten up!
Like over 20 other Americans, I suffer from a desire to reach personal goals. Around this time of year, I start planning the next. William James once said, "Think in the morning. Act in the noon." I'd like to add one more sentence. "Laugh in the evening." By the...
Algebra, Geometry and the Kardashians.
https://youtu.be/9mR8-loJNpU
Ah… Henle. Sigh.
Henle Latin is full of some of the most brutal sentences you'll ever translate. One of my students just included this note to any national security agency might be reading our emails: "To any NSA member reading this, no I'm not a terrorist who either owns, or...
Becoming an Essentialist
Years ago, I owned a house with a big backyard and a decent sized front yard. I would spend almost all of my Saturdays mowing, raking, or maintaining that yard. It would sometimes take 8 or 9 hours. My wife and I sold the house and moved into a condominium. We did...
How I am learning Italian.
The other day, I received a sad email. Here it is: I am looking for someone to practise speaking with using the lingua Latina course as the basis.i have had two tutors but I am still not able to speak the language after 11 years of effort. Do your online courses help...
Schedule change
I received this question: Just to clarify: The syllabus schedule would have us meeting, Nov 30, Dec 7, Dec 14 and Dec 21, then NOT meeting on Dec 28 & Jan 4. GoToMeeting (and thus my calendar) have us skipping Dec 21 and Dec 28 and then meeting Jan 4. ...
Coming this Monday
Don't spend all of your money this black Friday. Compass Classroom is about to run a cyber Monday sale. It's going to look like this: - Visual Latin Set (35% off) - History Set (55% off) - Economics for Everybody (40% off) - Modern Parables (50% off) - Word Up! (50%...
Start in the shallow end of the pool.
Not long ago, while I was working online, an advertisement popped up. It posed a simple question. “Which Latin author do you prefer?” The advertisement, in the form of a survey, gave four choices. I could choose Cicero, Ceasar, Virgil, or Livy. I prefer none of...
High Speed Reading
When I read, my mind tends to wander. Perhaps you struggle with this as well. I have heard that a speed reading course would help me solve this problem. I have tried unsuccessfully to speed read. I remain a rather slow reader. If you listen to audiobooks, like I...
Grading
I am about to start grading a pile of Latin and Greek papers. I hate it. I don't hate it because of the work it represents. After all, grading papers is a good deal for me. Grading papers makes me very good at Latin and Greek. As I scroll through, looking for...
Football?
I received this question from one of my students: I was wondering, do you enjoy football? Here is my reply: I really do not want to answer this email. Hence, the delay. You likely do not want to hear my response. No. I do not. I consider it barbaric and brutal....
On Writing Well
Recently, several students sent me some sloppy writing. I had to send them a rather hard email. You may find some helpful tips here. Here's the email: ================================================= First of all, run everything you write through Grammarly. I ran...
Yep.
This is from the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. I am in complete agreement. ================================================== I have already mentioned that I had only one year's instruction in a Latin School, and that when very young, after which I neglected...
Seize the morning.
I failed to send a "tip of the week" last Saturday. I started the morning by responding to emails, and by grading student work. Four hours later, I was done. And, I was burned out. Generally, I don't start the day this way. Instead, language study and...
Pushing on.
I received this question: Hi Mr. Thomas! I’m really struggling with Roma Aeterna because I haven’t done Lingua Latina in the past, so the vocabulary is really hard for me to get. I’ve already taken Henle 1 and 2 as two years of studying Latin for High School. I...
Does Money Grow on Trees?
At some point, every parent asks every kid, "Do you think money grows on trees?" It's just something parents do. It turns out, money does grow on trees. These days, the trees are shedding their leaves. Naturally, someone has to rake them. Those leaves on your lawn...