Blog
Miscellaneous language advice.
I received this inquiry: "When reading the chapter ever day are they (we, I'm trying to do this with her) suppose to be reading in English, Latin or both? Also: We are using the Cassell's Latin Dictionary both Latin-English and English-Latin. Many of the vocabulary...
Education via smartphone.
My students have the latest and greatest tools. They have ipods, ipads, and idon’t know what else. For someone who grew up in the 1980‘s, today’s tools are mind blowing. The kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers of my childhood didn’t have access to...
Flip your email.
I have several problems. First of all, I'm a procrastinator. Second, I receive about 100 emails a day. Combine both of these, and I've got a major problem. About a week ago, I discovered a helpful tip. I flipped my email. For years, I have always received newest email...
Time to do the dishes!
Yesterday my son came home from a new job. He had been washing dishes all day at a restaurant. He's a smart, personable, driven, ambitious kid. I thought he could do better. I told him that I was a little surprised at his choice. "You're washing dishes in a...
He gets it.
I received this email from a Visual Latin user. He gets it. I added the Vulgate into the course on purpose. "Of course, your winning personality and humor won me over immediately when I first found your VL program online. The bite size portions and the...
Access to class
Quite a few of you (those enrolled in an online class) have emailed me asking for access to class. You should have received a PDF with login instructions when you purchased the class. Unfortunately, it sounds as though quite a few of you did not. I am currently...
Whitaker’s Words
I received this inquiry: Comment: I'm teaching Visual Latin to a group of 8th graders. I'm wondering if there is a chart or resource somewhere that tells me which nouns belong in which declension as they are introduced lesson by lesson? I'd like to have the kids color...
Beyond Word Up…
I received this inquiry: This looks like a great class. My high school daughters already have a full schedule, but are interested. What amount of homework will be included? Would you also suggest it for upper elementary? Here is my reply: I am still developing this...
What does “auditing” mean?
I received this inquiry: What is your definition of auditing a class? I am trying to decide between auditing Henle 1 and "I already own Visual Latin". Thank you! Here is my reply: I personally grade the work of my students. This, however, is time-consuming. For...
Why does my kid hate Latin?
I received this inquiry: Hello. My son, now 12 y/o was in Classical Conversations Challenge A last year. He started the year LOVING Latin... then slowly began to hate it. I'm sure it's because it was more difficult as the year went along and I was not on page with...
Save money in the morning.
If you shave, if you know anyone who does shave, or if you know anyone with hair, this tip may be useful. As you know, razors are ridiculously expensive. If you can make them last longer, you should. I have been using this trick for some time and it seems to work....
Visual Latin or Henle Latin?
I received this inquiry: Comment: I have a question about Visual latin and Henle. I know you have a sheet for using both together. I am wondering if we really need it. My question is, will my children come away with the same level of latin just using VL 1 and 2 as...
Which Latin pronunciation?
I received this inquiry: What pronunciation do you use? Ecclesiastical or classical? Here is my reply: I use the Ecclesiastical pronunciation. The differences between the two are actually not that great. If you want something to imitate, imitate...
Why we made Visual Latin
I received this inquiry: Hi Dwane, I am a bit conflicted about what I should do for my 13 year old grandson (I homeschool him). He's doing the work of Challenge A this year, but is not in a community. There was not one this year. He does not enjoy schoolwork and is...
Help for students overseas?
I received this inquiry: Hi, I have been teaching my son Latin using Memoria Press' Form series, going into Third Form. We are learning it together, and yes, there is a lot of grammar memorizing, which is why I also purchased Lingua Latina to read through as a...
Henle 1 Syllabus
Quite a few of you have asked for the First Year Latin syllabus. Well, here it is: Henle 1 Syllabus Let me know if you spot any mistakes! Thanks! Dwane
Abandon Henle.
I received this question: "My son has completed Challenge I (Henle I) and wants to continue Latin one more year even though he is not in CC this year. Would you recommend continuing on to Henle II or switching to Lingua Latina since both are actual books? I plan to...
Cabbage
Cabbage: a hard round vegetable with green or purple, lettuce-like leaves. Who knew cabbage could be so interesting? Most of you thought of the definition above when you read the word cabbage. You were right to do so. Cabbage is one of the leafy foods your kids...
A head full of words.
Yesterday I asked, “Can you think of any English words that derive from the Latin word, caput?” A few of you took a stab at it. Just like a little league baseball game, no one struck out. You guessed cap, capitulate, capital, capitol, and decapitate (ewww.) You are...
Head’s up.
The Latin word caput means, head. When a Roman wanted to use the prepositional phrase, “of the head,” he would use the word capitis. Capitis is the “genitive” form of the word caput. I mention this for a simple reason. The genitive spelling of a Latin word often...
What level of maturity is needed for the online course?
Level of maturity needed for course? Age range? I have a group of 3 boys interested in possibly taking the course together (ages 11- 13). Would you suggest this course for them? If not, what is your opinion of a curriculum called Latin for Children - Primer A...
What does the calendar schedule for the class look like?
What does the calendar schedule for the class look like? Time off due to holidays? Two weeks off at Christmas. One week off for Thanksgiving, and that’s about it. May change from time to time. If it does, I will make sure students are alerted well in advance.
How flexible is the online Latin course?
How flexible is the course? i.e. in terms of holidays & unexpected occurrences? Everything is recorded. So, students can miss any class they like. My site currently has about 430 videos on it. In theory, students never have to show up to the live class and...
How long is the online Latin course?
How long is the course in terms of weeks & number of lessons? We start at the end of August and finish at the end of May. We will take two weeks off for Christmas and one week off for Thanksgiving. I have not decided yet if there will be a spring break at all....
Are quizzes & tests given in spite of whether we pay you to provide a grade or not?
Are quizzes & tests given in spite of whether we pay you to provide a grade or not? Yes. There are online automated quizzes and tests that you can take on my site. There are also assigned quizzes during the school year from the textbooks. I will be creating...
How demanding is the online Latin course?
What does the homework tend to entail? Is it intensive? How demanding is the course? The course is demanding. Whether you go through First Year Latin by Robert Henle or Lingua Latina, students are expected to be able to read the New Testament in Latin by the end...
How much time should we devote to the Latin 1 online class?
How much time should we expect to have to devote to the Latin 1 online class? Typically, students spend about an hour a day studying. I suggest they do this six days a week. I always suggested that they take Sundays off.
Henle 2 Syllabus
This week, I received a series of question about Henle and Visual Latin. I thought the thread might be helpful for you. Especially those in Henle 2. "Is Visual Latin 1 and 2 designed to only cover Henle 1? Same question I guess, is the online course only to cover...
Writing well.
If you can write well, you will go further. We all know this is true. If you are a student, you will score higher in school and university. If you are a writer, you will get your message across. In one of my favorite books, The Loom of Language, Fredrick Bodmer...
Decision made.
I posted nothing on my site yesterday. I posted nothing because I was busy. Later, I was depressed. This fall I am teaching a vocabulary class. In the class, we will study the great grandchildren of Latin and Greek. We will study the English words spawned by their...
Email of the week.
Here is my favorite email this week: "Here is a testimonial to the power of your Visual Latin combined with the pure enjoyment of Lingua Latina: My 11yo son started Visual Latin 1 with us mid-May. The only Latin he had taken before then was the CC Foundations memory...
Henle 2 before Henle 1?
I received this inquiry: "My son completed Classical Conversations Challenge 1 with Henle Latin 1. They only got about 2/3 of the way through the book. Which class should I sign him up for from you...1 or 2? Thanks!" Here is my reply: Why not both? 🙂 Seriously....
Tip #27: How to Write Clearly.
Clear writing. If you can write well, you will go further. We all know this is true. You will score higher in school and university. In one of my favorite books, The Loom of Language, Fredrick Bodmer reminds us: "Good English, well spoken and well written will open...
Last minute change.
Last minute book change: If you are in the online vocabulary class, do not order the book. I have been reading it again and there are simply too many sexual innuendos. I am going to look for another book. Terribly disappointed as this book is a rather entertaining way...
Pig Latin.
Brilliant. Having trouble seeing it? Here is the original post: http://www.incidentalcomics.com/2012/08/pig-latin.html
Intro to the Word Power class.
During this class, we will read through all of Word Power Made Easy, by Norman Lewis. 90% of the multi-syllable words in English derive directly from Latin. In other words, 90% of our “big” words are the children of Latin. Much of our scientific and medical...
Intermediate Latin?
I received this question: 1.still have room in your Lingua Latina 1 class? 2. If my 7th grader finishes VL mid-year is there something intermediate you recommend before jumping into a high school level class like Lingua Latina? Here is my reply: Hi! Still room. No...
Auditing an online class.
A reader, interested in auditing an online class, sums up the differences. Here is her short, to the point assessment: Audit class= viewing recordings, cannot ask questions, cannot have work corrected by Dwane, can watch as much as need to. Am I correct? Here is my...
More time for you!
According to the United States Department of Labor, Americans spend almost 3 hours a day watching television. I have seen higher numbers on other sites. But, hey, let’s give our fellow countrymen the benefit of the doubt. Let’s stick with the lower number. The...
Cynosure
Cynosure: the center of attention. Think of a dinosaur. He is always the cynosure. Incidentally, if I were half horse, and half man, I would be the centaur of attention. A Cynosure can also be something that serves as a guide. Polaris, in the constellation Ursa...
Visual Latin Lesson 12 confusion.
A student is bewildered by the differences between the indicative mood and the imperative mood. This topic appears in Visual Latin lesson 12. Here is her mother: She does not understand how to change the words to indicative or imperative. The endings seem to vary so...
Can I learn two languages at once?
I received this question: I am going to start my rising 6th grader in Latin this year. We have decided to use Visual Latin - Thank you! She started a Mandarin class last year and has decided to continue. I saw one of your interviews on foreign language and it sounded...
I will imitate her when I retire.
Over the summer, I have been corresponding with a Latin learner out West. In one of our conversations, she admitted this: By the way, I am 65 years old, so I am no spring chicken, but am wanting to learn Latin to increase my vocabulary. I also do substitute teaching...
Online Vocabulary class questions?
I received a series of questions about the online vocabulary class. I am very interested in auditing this class but before I commit, I have a few questions: 1. What are the major differences between taking this class versus auditing it? 2. If I would audit this...
Google Translate
I am a fan of google translate. But, it has limitations. This infographic provides a good breakdown. http://verbalink.com/services/translation-services#translation-infographic
Scotus Motus
Not long ago, I was in Lake Tahoe, California. Near our hotel was a park bench. On the park bench sat a statue of Mark Twain. Or, Samuel Clemens. Whichever you prefer. Here he is: As I stared at the statue I wondered, "What was Mark Twain doing in Lake Tahoe?"...
Lingua Latina and what else?
I received this question: I was wondering if students needed any other book besides the Lingua Latina book? There appear to be a couple of other books that are part of the Lingua Latina 'program'. Here is my reply: The only other piece I would recommend would be the...
Henle Latin or Visual Latin?
I received this question: I have a reluctant Latin learner (6th grader). We purchased visual Latin a couple months ago, but will be starting classical conversations in the fall. So what the difference is between visual and henle and which would be better for him? Here...
Challenge A, B, and C?
I received this comment: I am interested in the Henle Latin 1 online class for my son who will do Challenge A with Classical Conversations. Have you ever considered doing a class that just corresponds with what they will cover with each level? For Challenge A...
Am I ready for a Latin CLEP exam?
I received this inquiry: My son has completed all 60 lessons for Visual Latin. Would this be enough to prepare him for a CLEP test?? Here is my reply: Hi! I apologize for the delay. I have been on the road for weeks. Home now. Catching up. Visual Latin teaches...