What is the Spanish class like?

I received this question: I have 2 students who have taken Spanish I in a class setting. Is your Spanish class for a first-year student or will the 2nd year students benefit?   Here is my reply: I’ll do my best to answer this, though I am not sure my classes are...

How to catch up in the Spanish class.

During the live classes on my site, we simply read.  Currently, we are in chapter 18 of the book and are just slowly moving forward.  I don’t know how long it is going to take.  A while, I am sure.  Another school year, at least.  Over two hundred pages to go. Since...

Spanish 2?

I received this question: I have 2 students who have taken Spanish I in a class setting. Is your Spanish class for a first-year student or will the 2nd year students benefit? Here is my reply: I’ll do my best to answer this, though I am not sure my classes are what...

Latin 1, 2, 3 and beyond…

I received this question: Hi! My son is going into 9th grade and will be taking VL1 this year (along w/LL) for 1 HS credit, then VL2 (w/LL) next year for a 2nd HS credit. He would like to get at least 3 credits in Latin for HS. What should he do afterward for his 3rd...

Classes resume tomorrow. Here’s what you need to know.

Classes resume on my site tomorrow, and I want everyone to know what’s going on. So, here’s what’s going on. Classes resume tomorrow morning. Inevitably, something goes wrong during the first week of classes.  So, I am expecting things to go wrong.  If you expect...

Compass Classroom Back to School Sale

Compass Classroom is having a Back to School sale right now.  You know what to do.  Click here: https://compassclassroom.com/bts-sale/ Just so you know… If you are heading over to Compass Classroom to buy Visual Latin… Visual Latin is more designed for...

Tip of the Week #206: Trust the Process

When it comes to languages, I sometimes remind my students to “Trust the Process”.   Learning a new language (or skill) can be a frustrating experience.  Personally, I am pouring a lot of energy right now into learning French.  Some days, it feels like nothing is...

Lingua Latina this fall

I received this question: When the live classes resume for Lingua Latina on August 10th, will you be starting at the very beginning of the book? Here is my reply: The short answer is… no. I have taught Lingua Latina for decades and have filmed and left classes up on...

Before you apply to college…

Every few months, I edit, or add to this post, and then re-post it.  Here we go again. College, for me, was a waste of time.  I naively did what I was told.  I did what every high school graduate was supposed to do.  I went to college. It was a four-year delay of...

Does Duolingo Work?

If you’ve been around my site at all, you know that I’ve dedicated my professional life to learning languages.  I just like learning languages.  Can’t really explain it.   Lately, I’ve been doing everything possible to learn French.   I’ve been listening to podcasts,...

What the Spanish and French “classes” are like.

I received this question: I have 2 students who have taken Spanish I in a class setting. Is your Spanish class for a first-year student or will the 2nd year students benefit?   Here is my reply: I’ll do my best to answer this, though I am not sure my classes are...

Duo Lingo French

This summer, I am pushing myself aggressively through DuoLingo French. I’ve decided to blog about the process. My guess is… some of you may be interested.  Some of you may have questions. Does DuoLingo really work?   Can you become fluent with DuoLingo? ...

Tip of the Week #192: Coffee Break Languages

In April of 2020, I sent out the following tip of the week: I don’t know how long I have been listening to language podcasts.  Since the beginning of podcasting, I think.   Podcasts are free audio programs.  There are thousands of podcasts covering thousands of...

Tip of the Week #204: Stop Acting Rich

A few weeks ago, I read the book Stop Acting Rich: And Start Living Like a Real Millionaire.   You may remember the author.  Thomas J. Stanley also wrote The Millionaire Next Door and The Millionaire Mind. I had read his earlier books years ago.  This month, when Stop...

Visual Latin Confusion: Lesson 15

I received this question: Can you help us understand the answer to worksheet 15 B? 21. Agricola quem canis audit non in silva est. The farmer, whom the dog does not hear, is in the forest. Or, The dog whom the farmer hears is not in the forest. Or, The farmer, whom...

Still the greatest defect in Latin education…

Dorothy Sayers passed some wisdom on to Latin educators years ago. She had a simple plan.  Why not read the easier books in Latin, like the New Testament, before moving on to the tremendously difficult authors of the Augustan age? Fat chance. They ignored her then,...

Lingua Latina and Exercitia Latina

On my site, I take students through two Lingua Latina books. Here is the difference. There is the main book, Lingua Latina.  It’s the one you are reading.  Familia Romana.  I have taken students through all of that book, and those classes are up on my site.  They are...

One Shot

I published this post back in January of 2017.  Can’t sleep tonight.  So, I am updating some blogs.  Here is the updated version: ================================================= On Thursday, I drove to Birmingham, Alabama.  There, my cousins and I carried my...

Tip #203: How to hit goals

It’s was too hot and humid in Tennessee, so I left.   Right now, I am in Nebraska.  This morning, I’m headed to the Agate Fossil Beds in Harrison, Nebraska… because I am fascinated by that kind of stuff.   There are fossil graveyards all over the world, as it turns...

Tip #202: Don’t be a digital potty mouth

This tip seems pretty obvious.  At least to me.    Evidently, it is not obvious to everyone.   Here’s the tip: Don’t be a digital potty mouth.   If you have a blog, a YouTube channel, or if you are on any form of Social Media, keep it clean.   I heard Seinfeld make...

The kind of education that matters

Entrepreneurship is the American way.  It is what makes us rich. We are told that education makes America rich. By that, the education promoters mean tuition-funded, tax-funded, classroom education taught by risk-aversive salaried bureaucrats with tenure or seeking...

What that degree stands for….

“A degree based on bureaucratic classroom instruction does not prove anything except this: the ability of tenured bureaucrats to promote the myth of classroom education, and the gullibility of the American public.” – Dr. Gary North...