Blog
High school level?
I received this comment about Lingua Latina online: This is a high school level class, right? Just checking. I'm pleasantly surprised as well. Henle was such a struggle for him that I'm wondering if it was the curriculum or the way in which it was presented. He did...
The struggle
I received this comment yesterday from the mother of an online student: I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your encouraging comments that you send along with my son's corrected homework. He has worked very hard over the past couple weeks. Since this is his...
Get out of school!
According to author Tony Buzan, "Learning how to learn is life's most important skill." Oh, I don't know. I think learning to duck is life's most important skill. Helps you avoid stray gunfire. Still, I understand what Mr. Buzan means. I have been in the classroom...
Stuck in Latin? Get help quickly.
Yesterday, while I was teaching, I received this email. What does ‘agere’ mean? That was it. I knew immediately what the student was struggling with. After all, this word is one of the early tripwires in an online Latin course that I teach. It is now Saturday...
Be yourself.
So true. "I find that I trust my own writing most, and others seem to trust it most, too, when I sound most like a person from Indianapolis, which is what I am. What alternatives do I have? The one most vehemently recommended by teachers has no doubt been pressed on...
Textbooks of tears
I received this comment: I have switched to using Visual Latin for my freshman. It is going so well. I have some questions though: Are there cumulative tests available after lesson 30 and 60? If not, what do you recommend I could do to replace cumulative tests? What...
The Hidden Meaning in Harry Potter
I have finally decided to do what my students have been asking me to do for years. This winter, I will be teaching a three-week course on the Harry Potter series. When? The Three Mondays between Thanksgiving and Christmas. November 30, December 7, December 14. 7...
Hey… Why Can’t We Speak Latin?
Yesterday, during class, one of my students asked this question: "Mr. Thomas. We've been studying Latin for three years. Why aren't we fluent?" I stopped class. "Let's do some math on the board." Here is what I told them: We are in school for 40 weeks. Subtract one...
The End of the World
Some of my friends, disturbed by trouble in the Middle East, think the world is about to end. Well, if so, here is a video to comfort us all. (John Oliver is usually not family friendly, but this video would pass the test.) https://youtu.be/UC_gXD5OE88
Passive Verbs and Active Verbs
My students in Lingua Latina classes just learned the difference between active and passive verbs. My students in Henle Latin are about to learn the difference. Hopefully, this video will help a little: https://youtu.be/Xu1TXs-mUeE
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...