Blog
I hope you are doing this.
Yesterday, I slept in. Sleeping in is a luxury I try to deny myself every day. When I sleep late, bad things happen. If I lose an hour in the morning, I will spend the rest of the day searching for it. So, why do I rise early every morning? I rise early to read....
Paraphernalia
Paraphernalia: belongings; the stuff you need for a particular activity; equipment. From the Greek παρα (pará): beside, and φερνή (phernḗ): things in addition to a dowry. Φερνή derives from φέρω (phérō): I carry. Paraphernalia, which now means “stuff”, once upon a...
Adequate
Adequate: sufficient; equal to the requirement, okay, passable, satisfactory, mediocre. Though it not longer carries this meaning in English, adequate once meant to equalize. The old meaning is closer to its Latin roots. In Latin the preposition ad means, to or...
Abeyance
Abeyance: a temporary halt, a temporary suspension. A temporary period of disuse. Abeyance shows up in English for the first time in 1528. Initially, it has a legal meaning. This makes sense. After all, the word comes from the old French word abeiance. The French...
Order of the cases
I received this inquiry: "I really enjoy your videos in your web site and YouTube. I am confused as for example nouns Nom, Gen, Dat, Acc, Abl in every other source I use it is in a different order for example www.nationalarchives.gov.uk uses Nom, (Voc),Acc, Gen,...
What kind of Genitive?
Oh, the questions kids ask these days. I received this inquiry: "Also, I had a few questions about the chapter. In line 110, it says nec vallum ascendere. I get the point that the Germans aren't climbing the walls because the Romans are throwing spears at them, but...
Never Stop Learning.
Yesterday, I announced all of the upcoming classes I will be teaching this Fall. Naturally, this announcement generated some questions. I was surprised by the theme. People wanted to know, "Is this class only for students? As an adult, may I also join the class?"...
Choose your words carefully.
Instead of a word today, some negative inspiration. Pay attention to the words you use. People notice. "A couple of years ago, I was in a meeting trying to persuade some people of the merits of a business idea. The presentation seemed to be going well: the three...
Do not stop learning!
Yesterday, I announced all of the upcoming classes I will be teaching this Fall. Naturally, this announcement generated some questions. I was surprised by the theme. People wanted to know, "Is this class only for students? As an adult, may I also join the...
After Visual Latin?
I received this inquiry: "If we strive for passing the NLE Level 2, which I am hope translates to a level 2 language equivalent in French, Spanish, etc (?), what additional materials may be necessary, if any, once a student has completed your Lesson 60? I have another...
Live Online classes…
I am working on the live online classes today! If you stop by, you will notice changes hourly. Trying to work out all of the issues. Feel free to contact me if you spot any problems!
Metaphor
Metaphor: a short similitude; a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object. For example: The soldier was a lion in combat. From Greek μεταφερω (to transfer), which further derives from μετα (over) and φερω (carry). Mixed metaphors are fun. ...
Abate
Abate: To decrease, or become less in strength or violence; as pain abates; a storm abates. Once upon a time, this word meant, ”to put an end to, or to destroy” Over time, abate came to represent something diminishing in power, or diminishing in strength. Abate passed...
Acrophobia
Acrophobia: fear of heights. There is nothing to fear, but fear itself. And heights. And public speaking. And spiders... especially spiders. Acrophobia comes from Greek ἄκρον (height, summit, peak), and and φοβία (fear).
Assimilation
When Latin went out of business, many Latin prepositions got jobs as prefixes in English. For instance, the Latin preposition "ad" meaning, "to, toward" became the English prefixes ac-, ad-, af-, ag-, al-, an-, ap-, ar-, as-, at-. This process is called assimilation....
Should I join the Henle Latin class?
I received this inquiry: I previewed your Visual Latin program. I really like what I see. We are in Classical Conversations and will be doing Henle starting in the Fall. What is your recommendation to help us as we go through Henle with Challenge A? Getting Visual...
What to do when you fall behind
I received this email: Dear Dwane, "My son has fallen behind in your online Lingua Latina class. I didn't realize how far he'd fallen behind until late last week. He's working hard to catch up, though. I'm going to have him continue watching the recorded class videos...
Agony
Agony - extreme physical or mental suffering. Or... A one armed man, with an itch, hanging from a cliff. Or... a waiting room with one tv looping old episodes of the Knight Rider. Or... Learning Latin from most textbooks. From Greek ἀγωνία (competition, struggle),...
Adult
Adult: a person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle. From Latin adultus (mature, ripe, fully grown).
The National Latin Exam
I received this inquiry: Hello Dwane, "Your class is awesome and my 8th grade daughter is still with it! We are close to completing your first 30 lessons and are considering the NLE to gauge how we're doing. My hope is that she will complete at least lessons 31 to 60,...
Online Class enrollment
Learn Latin, Greek, or English vocabulary derived from Latin and Greek. That is a mouthful. Online class enrollment begins this Friday! Just like HealthCare.gov, enrollment will remain open for a while. UnlikeHealthCare.gov, I will not force you to join a class...
Acuity
Acuity: sharpness of thought, vision, or hearing. The ability to think accurately and clearly. Penetrating intelligence. Acuity is insight, perception, sagacity, or astuteness. Pronunciation: Acuity We often use this word in the phrase “mental acuity.” In idiomatic...
Pedagogue
Pedagogue: A teacher of children; one whose occupation is to instruct young children; a schoolmaster. These days a pedagogue carries a negative connotation. A pedagogue is a strict teacher, or a pedant. Dolores Umbridge. Pedagogue comes from the Greek παιδαγωγός...
Online Greek Class
Ignore at your own risk.
My16 year old linked this article to me this morning. I found it helpful. Thought you all might enjoy it as well. Incidentally, I sometimes hear from readers that I ought to stick to Latin and Greek. I disagree, and I will let author Robert Heinlein help me with...
Acute
Acute Oh, man. There are so many definitions for this word. Here we go... 1. Sharp at the end. An acute angle in geometry, is one which is less than a right angle, or less than ninety degrees. An acute angled triangle is one whose three angles are all acute, less...
Exodus
Exodus: a mass departure. Exodus is also is the name of the second book of the Bible, which, of course, describes a mass departure. Sick of lousy working conditions, the Hebrews head for the beach. Exodus comes from the Greek ἔξοδος, pronounced éksodos, which further...
Dozen
Dozen: The number twelve of things of a like kind; as a dozen of eggs. Dozen comes from Old French dozaine, meaning: a dozen. Dozaine derives from and earlier word doze, meaning: twelve. Doze is from Latin word for twelve, duodecim. Duodecim is a combination of duo:...
Parable
Parable: A story in which a lesson is expressed in terms of something else. A story illustrating a lesson using analogy. A short story that teaches a lesson. A simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson. Parable comes from a combination of two Greek...
Word Up
Some time ago, my interest in Latin took a sharp turn. Actually, I ran of the road. Instead of studying Latin, instead of reading books in Latin, instead of reading books about Latin... I started tracking down the English words that had come from Latin. On google...
Car time = Learning time.
Do you spend a lot of time in the car? According to Anne Lutz Fenandez in her book, Carjacked: The Culture of the Automobile and its Effect on our Lives, Americans spend eighteen and a half hours a week in their cars! That’s more than two and a half hours in the car…...
Sledding
Sledding: the perfect disruption of productivity. It has snowed here in middle Tennessee for the first time in forever. I don't mind, since the cold never bothered my anyway. My productivity, though, has plummeted. There are five kids living in my house, some of...
Cui bono
Cui bono: A Latin phrase meaning “to whose gain,” or “for whose good”. If someone stands to gain from a crime, or a government stands to gain from war, someone else may question their motivation with a short, “Cui bono?”
Hyperbole
Hyperbole: extreme exaggeration of overstatement. Hyperbole derives from the Greek ὑπέρ: above and βάλλειν: to throw. A figure of speech which express much more, or much less than the truth, or which represents things much more or much less, much better or worse than...
Help me get back on track….
One of my goals this year is too blog every day (except Sunday). Today is day 45. So far, it is working. What is not working, however, is the "word of the day." From 2010 to 2013, I posted a "word a day" almost daily. Late in 2013, after my father passed away, I...
Lingua Latina Vocabulary
I received this inquiry: From what we can tell, the vocabulary list provided for us doesn't have all the words that are in the Lingua Latina book. The kids are having a hard time knowing for sure if they are answering the questions at the end of the chapters...
Roman Dates
Yesterday, one of my Online Latin classes reached chapter 13 of Lingua Latina. In chapter 13, Hans Ørberg introduces students to the Roman dating system. The dating system has nothing to do with romance, match.com, or eharmony.com. I am referring to the calendar....
Stop saying you are “too busy”.
Last weekend I finally published my ebook, Via. Via, in Latin, means: the way. I wanted to show students how to learn Latin, instead of telling them why they should learn Latin. Part of the game of learning Latin is a time management game. A childhood friend of mine,...
Snow Day
Turns out I am not good at all on snow days. Tennessee doesn't get that much snow. At least, the Nashville area doesn't. So, when it does snow, the state shuts down. So do I, as it turns out. I have five kids, four daughters and a son. For the most part, they, like...
Start reading.
Chances are, someone in town teaches Latin. Sign up. Learning from an expert has its advantages. Be careful with this one, though. Find out the style of teaching the teacher is using. Interview former students. Can they read in Latin? Can they speak Latin? Do...
Joining a local language class
Chances are, someone in town teaches Latin. Sign up. Learning from an expert has its advantages. Be careful with this one though. Find out the style of teaching the teacher is using. Interview former students. Can they read in Latin? Can they speak Latin? Do...
Via…The book is done!
Dear Student, Do you want to learn Latin? Good. You have chosen a good goal. Unfortunately, choosing the goal is often harder than reaching the goal. I am sure you know this already. I have taught Latin for nearly two decades. Latin is one of my favorite subjects....
Why I forgot to blog today.
Yesterday, I posted a video with Seth Godin and Tom Peters. I named the post, Why I Blog Everyday. Then, today, I didn't blog. Well... almost. I am blogging now, right? So, what is my excuse? Just this. In 2013, I started gathering everything I had learned about...
Why I blog every day.
If you have started a blog... good for you. Many start. Few finish. Keep blogging. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=livzJTIWlmY
Word Up!
Some time ago, my interest in Latin took a sharp turn. Honestly, I ran of the road. Instead of studying Latin, instead of reading books in Latin, instead of reading books about Latin... I started tracking down the English words that had come from Latin. On google...
How I grade in Latin
I received this inquiry: Hi! I am wondering how you grade our work in the online Latin class. Could you explain the process? Thanks! Here is my reply: My main goal when grading is to encourage kids to keep going. I have seen teachers crush students with grades....
Henle? Rip the Band-Aid off!
I received this question: Hi! My daughter is homeschooled and has been working through Henle Latin 1 through Classical Conversations and on her own. I feel that she needs more guidance at this point and am unsure what her options are. She is pretty comfortable with...
Euphoria
Word: Euphoria Pronunciation: yo͞oˈfôrēə Meaning: a feeling or state of intense excitement, a feeling of deep happiness; exaggerated elation. Etymology: Euphoria derives from the Greek preposition ευ (well) and the verb φερω (I carry). In this sense, euphoria is a...
Deport
Word: Deport Pronunciation: dəˈpôrt Meaning: to expel someone from a country; to banish Etymology: Deport derives from the Latin preposition de (from, down from) and the verb portare (to carry). Usage: Words change over time. These days, to deport someone is to send...
Esophagus
Esophagus: The gullet; the canal through which food and drink pass to the stomach. From Greek οἰσέμεν, future form of φέρειν (to carry), and φαγεῖν (to eat). A snake is just an esophagus with fangs.