Blog
Who hit Marcus?
For those in chapter 21 of Lingua Latina, question 2 is going to get you. Unless... you watch this: Who hit Marcus? https://youtu.be/OBzIkaMfHD8
Hic and Ille
Quite a few of my students struggled with this question this week: https://youtu.be/Blaz9ay_dDM
The Greatest Language book
It's no secret. I think the New Testament is the greatest intermediate textbook when you are learning a language. As soon as you are done with the grammar of a language, you are going to want something to read. Read the New Testament. Here is the New Testament as an...
Still learning at 65!
I received this email a few days ago. It inspired me. I hope I am still pushing myself mentally at 65! "Just a note to let you know I am a new subscriber to your email list and love it! The above one about archives.org is very interesting. Also, your email last week...
The Dative of Possession
https://youtu.be/4J8xNDvO3rw
Extra practice
I received this comment: Comment: Are there any additional worksheets for Latin 1 lessons? We could use some extra practice starting with lesson 7. Here is my reply: For extra practice, there are several things you can do. I always recommend that students start...
Pronoun problems
I received this from one of my online students: I am having problems with Pronouns. Do you have a recording I could listen to that could help? Here is my reply: Well, there is always Visual Latin lessons 19 and 20. These may help as well:...
Lingua Latina is tough… Now what?
I received this question: Hi Mr. Thomas! I had a question about the Lingva Latina. I have trouble with the HW assignments after the chapters, because I feel like it is stuff I have’t learned. For example the translating to English. In the normal work there is none of...
Visual Latin 16 Error
I received this email: Comment: We are loving Visual Latin. Just came across a word in lesson 16B, that relates differently from what the answers state. Question #40. Ovis ultra campum est. The answer book says The sheep is beyond the river. Should it not be 'field' ?...
Memorize the Latin Endings?
I received a question you are probably all asking: I am wondering which things(lists/endings/etc) need to be memorized in Visual Latin I for High School? I do not want to kill the joy my daughter is experiencing with your program by memorizing every list; however, she...
Quit Latin?
I received this comment: We love your home school products! I have a question about Visual Latin. My children and I completed the first 25 lessons and did the worksheets as we completed each lesson. We even took a few days in between some of the episodes to memorize...
Which Dictionary?
I received this question: We are using Visual Latin and really enjoying it. Do you have a Latin/English dictionary that you recommend? I see several on Amazon and was wondering if you prefer one. Thank you for your time. Here is my reply: As for dictionaries...,...
Stay small.
For seven years, my family of seven lived in a 900 square foot apartment. We owned it. So, technically, it was a condo. The name change did not change the size of the place. It was still small. For seven years, my wife and I slept on a mat in the living room/dining...
The Wayback Machine
This was a tip from Bill Meyer's Tip of the Week. Thought you might enjoy it as well. =================================================== Using the Wayback Machine Have you ever wondered how long a particular web site has been around? Or what it looked like when it...
In a serious relationship…
An online magazine, interested in promoting Visual Latin, had some questions for me this week. I thought I would share my answers. Here are their questions: - How many hours is the course? Specifically each video lesson, and how long it will take on average to...
Memorizing the endings…
I received this comment: We ordered the Visual Latin program and love it. I would appreciate a phone call or phone number to contact someone and ask about recommend methods for memorizing the case endings. Here is my reply: I wish there were an easy answer to this....
Diagramming the sentences in Henle Latin…
I received this email: Hi there, I ran across your blog in my internet search for "Henle Latin diagram answers" I am a Classical Conversations Challenge A tutor and learning Latin right along with my students this year. I am struggling because the answers in Henle...
Extra practice for Visual Latin
I received this question: I bought Visual Latin for my 6th grader. He is really enjoying the classes. I find that as we move on in the lessons he is not getting enough practice from only 1 worksheet per lesson to understand the concept. Are there more practice...
Lingua Latina tests and quizzes…
I received this series of questions: I am a bit confused about the comment on page 6 under the Heading #4 in the Visual Latin teacher's guide, "Tests are designed to be used only with VL after completing all three sections. If you are using Lingua Latina, use their...
A funny collapse.
I am sadly watching Europe collapse. Europe is home to me. Born in Oxford, and raised primarily in England, Holland, and Germany, I can't wait to get back. I work hard. In many ways, I work hard so that I can afford to go back. I miss home. This letter made me sad...
Not going to rip you off.
For years, I have subscribed to Bob Bly's newsletter. Now and then, I think of unsubscribing. After all, I get about 100 emails a day. I try to respond to all of them. It would be nice to receive only 99. Just when I am about to unsubscribe, he does something like...
Auditing
I received this question: My daughter is doing Challenge 1 with Classical Conversations. Is there a way for her to purchase the video lessons of your classes. Would that be auditing the class? We have also purchased VL - which we all LOVE - and that has helped...
Memorize the vocabulary?
I received this email: I have a couple questions for you. My son is only completing the exercise you give for homework. He's not learning vocabulary or grammar rules. My daughters are always meticulous with Latin writing everything down. They do pretty well in Latin....
I am ticked off.
I received this email. We are super struggling with Henle. Obviously, we are in a CC community, and I've tutored for many years. But all four of my boys, along with me, are stuck on verbs. Am considering ditching Henle and simply doing VL only. Am sure you've had this...
When is it too late to join a class?
I received this inquiry: I have been interested in my 15 y/o daughter taking a Latin class with you. Her past experience has been a smorgasbord of Latin books. She did Henle in a Challenge A class 2 years ago (with some basics in CC Foundations prior to that) and then...
How to turn in online homework…
For all of my online students: Don’t take this the wrong way. I need to give you some “homework” instructions. First of all, say “Hi” to me. 🙂 Second, always send your work to me as a personal email, never as an attachment. Makes things much faster on my end....
The word of the day is back. Maybe.
I haven't posted the "word of the day" for so long. I've missed it. I made a mistake. I offered reasonably priced Latin and Greek classes online. Not only were the classes reasonably priced, there is also an unconditional, no questions asked, ridiculously iron...
A student solves my problem
I received this question: I would like to be able to watch the recorded classes on my iPad, but I don't see a place to log in when I am on a mobile device. Is that possible? Here is my reply: As for mobile, many of my students are having trouble with that, too....
Turn the T.V. off.
Are your friends lying, too? I often hear people say, "I don't watch much T.V." I don't believe it. According to a recent article, they are lying. On average, Americans spend 34 hours a week watching live television. I hope you are not among them. I spent a long...
Another happy email…
I received this email: Hi Dwane, Thank you for utilizing your gifts to teach Latin. I know Ruby emailed you this morning to express her gratitude and I must say it's huge for her to have anything but dread and feelings of inadequacy with Latin! There is something...
I am going to waste 5 of your minutes.
One of my online students used the word "circumnavigate" in a sentence. "He decided to Circumnavigate the globe despite the fact the Motorcycles do not float." Here is my reply: What are you talking about? Have you not seen this: https://youtu.be/lDi9uFcD7XI...
Made me happy…
I received this note yesterday from an online student: When my mom read me something on your website, it said that it makes Latin fun... I could not imagine Latin being fun at the time! I have taken two years of Henle Latin, let's just say it has not be on my...
From English to Latin
An online student wants to know: I have issues when I have to translate from English to Latin. Is that bad? Will it be ok? Here is my reply: I tell my students there are four stages of learning Latin. First, you just listen. You are trying to learn how to pronounce...
Online quizzes?
I received this question: We have a question about the recorded lessons...it seems that the families that signed up for this audit option are able to access the graded quiz at the end of the lessons...AND they must submit it before they can move on to the next...
What do I listen to?
I received this question: Good Morning! I have your Visual Latin 1. My boys, high school age, are using it this year. In the Teacher's Guide there is a sample HS schedule. What do they 'listen' to on Day 1? What is 'reading' on Day 2 and Day 4? 'Listening' and...
Tough questions
One of my online students (Henle 2) sent me some tough questions. I have another question. On page 321 in Henle Latin 2 in Exercise 18, the instructions say to "identify these forms." What exactly do they mean by that? And what is the difference between Exercise 18,...
Errata: Quiz 17
I received this email: I have a question about the VL1 Quiz 17. Can you explain questions 44 and 45? Both my boys answered "b" for each question. according to the quiz answers, it should be "a." however, they seem to mean the same thing to me. we're a bit confused....
Why I get up at 4 a.m…
During the school year, a typical day, for me, starts at 4 a.m. and ends at 11 p.m. I do this 6 days a week. I got the idea from Exodus 20, verse 9. The book was written by a pretty famous success writer. Why would I do this? I do it so that I can take care of my...
Why I homeschool my kids.
Without going into too much detail, I received a disheartening email yesterday. One of my online students is a homeschool student. But, she is not a Christian. Her parents are homeschooling her simply because they believe homeschooling is better for their daughter....
Labor Day, Latin Day!
So many of my students have asked for the Latin charts I use in class. I am a slow learner. It took me a while to turn the charts into a download. I do not celebrate government holidays. Since, nearly everyone else does, no one wanted to drop their kids off at school...
Oh, C’mon.
I received this email: Yesterday, a tutor talked to the parents about the importance of reviewing English grammar no matter what language they are studying. She told us that our kids can't give the 'logical' grammar terms. For example, verbs don't just show action....
A simple way to learn Latin.
Perhaps you are familiar with the book Carry On, Mr. Bowditch!, by Jean Lee Latham. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch! is the story of an early American merchant who spends quite a bit of his time at sea. As Mr. Bowditch sails around the world selling his wares, he teaches...
The tools you need to learn a language.
Perhaps you are familiar with the book Carry On, Mr. Bowditch!, by Jean Lee Latham. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch! is the story of an early American merchant who spends quite a bit of his time at sea. As Mr. Bowditch sails around the world selling his wares, he teaches...
A grab bag of questions.
I received a series of questions about my online classes. Some of you may find this helpful. My answers are going to look like this. Good morning, I am writing to you ask a few questions about your online class for Lingua Latina. My 13-year-old daughter (turns 14 on...
Why I abandoned Restored Classical Pronunciation.
The real reason I abandoned the Restored Classical pronunciation. My greatest problem with the "restored classical pronunciation", is that its proponents tend to be pushy. They spend a lot of time emphasizing the “correct” pronunciation. They spend a lot of time...
Words from porto.
I am up late grading student homework right now. In one class, the vocabulary class, I told the students to use English words that came from the Latin word Porto. Porto means "I carry". This student went above and beyond: 1. The porter did not comport himself...
Multiple users, one email.
I contacted the developers of WP courseware. I want to know from them if it would be possible to register multiple users under one email. Unfortunately, this is not going to be possible. Here is their reply: Unfortunately, this isn't possible since WordPress...
The 15 commandments…
I am up late checking emails. I'll be out for at least another hour or so. One email list I subscribe to is Bob Bly's list. Just found this fantastic advice from him while plowing through a long list of homeworks to grade: I think everyone who wants to be a kind...
Latin Folder
Years ago I worked on a project. I was trying to distill all of the Latin endings into a concise, condensed format. I planned to turn the finished product into a folder my students could use during class. They would have quick reference to all the complicated Latin...
Lingua Latina kept me going.
Someone asked: "Is there a particular grammar book for Latin that you would recommend reading and re-reading?" Here is my short answer: Lingua Latina by Hans Ørberg. Here is my long answer: I have looked for an answer to this question for years. Really. Years. I...