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Expedite
Expedite: to make it happen faster; to speed up the process. Inigo Montoya wanted to expedite the death of the man in black. “I do not suppose you coulda speed things up?” - Inigo Montoya Expedite comes from the Latin verb expedio, meaning, to loose, or to set free....
April
April: the fourth month. April derives from the French avril, which is from Latin Aprilis. Aprilis was the second month of the ancient Roman calendar... until it became the fourth month. No one really knows where the word comes from, but, that hasn’t stopped...
Babadum!
If you are learning a modern language, this is a fun way to practice vocabulary. If you are in my online Greek class, play it. You will not do very well at all (at first), but it is a super helpful way to pile on the vocabulary. Best of all, you will get practice...
Online Lingua Latina class
This note just made me happy. Maybe I have a fragile ego. Maybe I just spent too many formative years in a very negative work environment. Who knows. Whatever the reason, I love getting emails like this one. "Your Latin teaching videos are fabulous and I have...
Apodal
Apodal: footless Apodal comes from Greek ἀ (a): without and ποδός (podos), the genitive of πούς, the Greek word for foot. Eels, snakes, worms, snails, and slugs are apodal.
Biped
Biped: a two footed animal. A two footed being. The Latin adverb bis, means twice, two, or two times. The Latin word for foot is pes. The genitive of foot is pedis. Combine both and you end up with biped, a two footed creature. According to Plato, man is a featherless...
Arthropoda
Arthropoda: a jointed-foot invertebrate. Insects, crustaceans, millipedes, and centipedes are arthropods. Arthropod comes from the Greek word ἄρθρον (arthron), meaning joint. No, California, not that kind of joint. Put your hand down. The “poda” of the word comes...
Foot words
I am increasingly stunned by the debt English owes to Latin and Greek. Perhaps this is simply because I never seriously studied vocabulary as a child. Perhaps this, for everyone else, is general knowledge. Perhaps everyone knows Latin and Greek dumped boatloads of...
Tip of the Week #12
One of my favorite quotes comes from The Pledge, by Michael Masterson. “Words matter. They help us define meaning. We think with words. We learn with words. Words are the fundamental tools we use for communicating. If we use them well, we can cut, and shape,...
Impressed
“I’m reading your book, Via, and I’m very impressed. It is a wonderful life-help book and not just for languages. I’ve never been a very disciplined person, so it will take lots of baby steps; however, your book gives me hope for change. I’m going to have my husband...
Latin is a mountain.
I received this question: "My girls are working on Visual Latin 1 this year and enjoying it. I'm a little worried about next year and VL 2 as they are mostly following but I am noticing it getting a bit harder for them. If they enrolled in one of your online classes...
Productivity tips from the pro.
Ready for some productivity tips from the pro? Michael Masterson is one of my favorite authors. He gets more done than both of us together. The guy is a productivity machine. In this interview, he details the method to his madness. Worth an hour of your time....
Chevalier
Chevalier: In the old days, a chevalier was a knight. This definition is now considered obsolete. Instead, a chevalier is now a gallant, or chivalrous man. A chevalier can also be someone who keeps their word. You can see the root meaning if you look closely. After...
Use the right word!
If you are not sure about the meaning of a word, do not use the word. People notice. Consider this example from the book, How to Sound Clever: Master the 600 English Words You Pretend to Understand When You Don’t: "A couple of years ago, I was in a meeting trying to...
Obsolete
Obsolete: Gone into disuse; disused; neglected; as an obsolete word; or an obsolete statute. Today, I looked up obsolete in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Obsolete comes from the Latin verb, obsolescere, meaning, to fall into disuse, or to be forgotten about.
A mistake in test 54.
I received this correction today: "You haven't heard from us in awhile. 🙂 You might have updated this since our last download, but Natalie and Spencer just finished taking test LIV. #28 is marked on the answer key as being C. to come. Natalie thinks it should be B to...
A mistake in test 55.
A student tipped me off to a mistake today. In Visual Latin, test 55, question 36, the answer should be eagle, not bird. 36. Aquila A) bird B) osprey C) eagle D) hawk I wrote these tests and quizzes during a writing marathon weekend. I got tired....
“Classical” pronunciation
Type "come," "see," or "conquer" into google translate. Choose Latin as the target pronunciation. Listen to the pronunciation. Even the designers at google translate avoid the awful, silly restored "Classical" pronunciation. Why did I wholeheartedly abandon the...
Cavalry
Cavalry: Once upon a time, soldiers who fought on horseback. These days, soldiers who fight from armored vehicles. Cavalry made its way into the English language from French. The French word cavalerie likely came from Italian cavalleria. Naturally, cavalleria...
Repeat a class for free!
I sent out this receipt today. If you need to repeat on of my online classes because it did not click the first time, you may do so for free. I doubt you will get such an offer from the eels... New Sale! Hello A Downloads purchase has been made. Downloads sold: Lingua...
Cavalier
Cavalier Well, this word is tricky. Better to begin with the etymology. Cavalier comes from the Latin word caballarius, meaning, a horseman. Caballarius derives from the Latin word for horse, caballus. Caballus is the common, Vulgar Latin word for horse. It...
Have you paid too much?
Since Classical Conversations adopted Henle Latin as their preferred Latin textbook, we have received requests from students asking for an online Henle Latin Class. Well... here it is! This fall I will take students through the first year Henle course! That’s right,...
Hippogriff
Hippogriff: A fabulous animal or monster, half horse and half griffon. I have to be honest. I question their existence. In the Harry Potter series, Buckbeak is a hippogriff. The U.S. Air Force, 50th Space Wing uses a hippogriff as their symbol. The word comes from...
Hippotigris
Hippotigris: the zebra. Well, basically, the hippotigris is the Zebra. Hippotigris is a subgenus of the Equidae family. While the family also contains some asses (doesn’t every family?), the most famous member of the Hippotigris family is the Zebra. In my research...
I considered giving up.
Just before beginning Visual Latin, I interviewed with a construction company and a property management company. Above all else, I wanted out of education. I wanted out of the classroom. I considered giving up. But, I just couldn't do it. I wanted to give teaching...
Latin is tough
If you are learning Latin or teaching your children Latin, and you feel overwhelmed, do not despair. You should feel overwhelmed. Latin is tough. In fact, it is tougher than you think it is. If you are learning Latin, you are climbing one of the toughest academic...
There go my excuses.
I completely enjoyed this podcast. I found it challenging and inspirational. His words struck home. I would live nomadically if I could, I always told myself. But, I have five kids, and am on restriction. 🙂 Then, Greg and his family show up with six kids... and...
Hippiatrist
Hippiatrist: a horse healer. A hippiatrist is someone skilled in the treatment of horse diseases. This word comes from the Greek word for horse ιππος, (hippos), and the old Greek word for doctor ἰατρός, (iatros). According to Gary Larson, you may not want to visit a...
Cavalcade
Cavalcade: A procession of riders on horseback. Or, a cavalcade might also be a ceremonial procession, as in, a parade. Cavalcades no longer require horses. These days, a cavalcade could be a procession of vehicles, as in, “the presidential cavalcade.” Several years...
Classical Latin was not everyday Latin.
"The language which diffused throughout the provinces of the empire was not the classical Latin of Tom Brown's schooldays. It was the Latin spoken by the common people. Ever since Latin had become a literary language (in the third century B.C.) there had been a...
Caballus
So, I have run out of “equus” words. The Latin word “equus" was not the everyday word for horse. Instead, equus was the classical word for horse. The average Roman citizen in the street had a completely different word, caballus. There is a dirty little secret among...
Eohippus
Eohippus: according to the current wisdom, the eohippus is the ancestor of the modern horse. Based on fossils discovered in New Mexico in the late 1800’s, the eohippus was a small, horse like creature. This little herbivore had four toes on his forelegs, and three...
The Alien
I usually do not post anything on Sundays. But, I thought I would share this with you all. My son is a budding film maker. He entered a film festival about a month ago. Long story, but, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. He thought he had no chance. Yet, at...
Use the Right Word!
Think Outside the Border Tip #11 - Use the Right Word! If you are not sure about the meaning of a word, do not use the word. People notice. Consider this example from the book, How to Sound Clever: Master the 600 English Words You Pretend to Understand When You...
How do online classes work?
I received this question: "When do you start your next henle online latin class? How are classes structured? We have never done online classes before. I was hoping to count it as high school foreign language credit. Do you set it up as...
Is my son getting it?
I received this email: "Hi, I have a visual latin question for you. We own Visual latin and have been using it for about 7 weeks. I am feeling a bit uncertain about my son's mastery level. What should each child master in each lesson before moving on to the next and...
Sigh. More mistakes.
I received this email: "We are working through your Latin Lessons 1 -30. On the lesson 22 chart it has listed that "illi" is the plural masculine form of "these", "liiae" as the plural feminine form of "these" and "illa" as the plural neuter form of "these." We...
What is the Henle 2 class like?
I received this inquiry: "I will be tutoring CC henle 2 class next year. I have 2 students of my own who have finished henle 1 and are far better in latin than me. I will be studying Henle 1 intently through the next couple of months. What will your online Henle 2...
Test 25: Errata
A Visual Latin user has identified several errata. I received this feedback... Hi mr. Thomas! I had a few questions about test 25: Question 2 sounded like a personal question as in some people may find it easy and some not. Question 3 I put answer A B C to find the...
Equerry
Equerry: a personal attendant of a member of the royal family. Historically, the equerry was the royal stable. The equerry was also the name of those in charge of the horses of a nobleman. This word looks like it desperately wants to derive from the Latin word equus,...
Turn television time into You time.
Do you spend a lot of time watching television? Turn it off. 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...
Equestrienne
Equestrienne: a horsewoman; a female horse rider. There is not much else to say. Equestrienne comes from the Latin word for horse: equus.
Hippophile
Do you love horses? If so, you might be a hippophile. After all, a hippophile is a lover of horses. Hippophile comes from the Greek words ἳππος (hippos), horse, and φίλος (philos): fond, loving, beloved.
There is a better way.
If you have followed my blog for any amount of time, you know I am a fan of the e-zine, Early to Rise. You can check out the site here: http://www.earlytorise.com/ In a recent article, the editor, Craig Ballantyne, reminds us that we can use our time, though...
Equestrian
Equestrian: All things horse. This word goes in various directions, but remember, each definition has something to do with horses, or life with horses. 1. Pertaining to horses or horsemanship; as equestrian feats. 2. Being on horseback; as an equestrian lady. 3....
Hippology
Hippology: the study of horses; equine knowledge. Whenever I teach my students new words, they start to get the hang of it. There is always one kid who attempts to create a new word by simply adding, -ology. This creates rather ridiculous words. Coffeology, Bugology,...
Can I skip Henle 1?
I thought some of you might find this series of exchanges interesting. A reader wants to know if he can join Henle 2 after Visual Latin.... "Is Visual Latin 1 and 2 designed to only cover Henle 1? Same question I guess, is the online course only to cover Henle 1...
Is the Henle class for you?
I received this inquiry: We currently own years 1 & 2 of Visual Latin. My daughter is enrolled in Classical Conversations where we use Henle. She is struggling and I am now wondering if we should hold off the Henle and complete years 1 & 2 of Visual Latin...
Why did I learn Latin?
Why did you learn Latin? Now and then, someone will ask me, “Why did you choose Latin?” I’ve always been fascinated by history. When I was younger, I read avidly. For the most part, I read biographies. I particularly enjoyed the biographies of early American...
Equine
Equine: Pertaining to a horse or pertaining to the equus family. The “ine” ending is a Latin attributive feature. Equine describes items related to horses. Porcine has to do with pigs. Ovine refers to sheep. Feline refers to cats, and canine describes something...