by Dwane | Feb 23, 2015 | Education, English, Latin, Vocabulary
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,...
by Dwane | Feb 23, 2015 | Education, English, Greek, Vocabulary
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...
by Dwane | Feb 21, 2015 | Education, English, Latin, Vocabulary
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:...
by Dwane | Feb 21, 2015 | Greek, Vocabulary
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...
by Dwane | Feb 21, 2015 | Education, English, Greek, Latin, Vocabulary
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...
by Dwane | Feb 21, 2015 | Tip of the Week
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…...
by Dwane | Feb 20, 2015 | Education, English, German, Vocabulary
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...
by Dwane | Feb 19, 2015 | Education, English, Latin, Vocabulary
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?”
by Dwane | Feb 19, 2015 | Education, English, Greek, Vocabulary
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...
by Dwane | Feb 18, 2015 | Ebook, Motivation, Vocabulary
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...
by Dwane | Feb 18, 2015 | Education, Latin, 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...
by Dwane | Feb 18, 2015 | Education, Latin
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....
by Dwane | Feb 17, 2015 | Ebook, Education, Motivation
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,...
by Dwane | Feb 16, 2015 | Uncategorized
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...
by Dwane | Feb 14, 2015 | Latin, Tip of the Week
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...
by Dwane | Feb 14, 2015 | Education, Motivation, Tip of the Week
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...
by Dwane | Feb 13, 2015 | Ebook, English, Latin
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....
by Dwane | Feb 12, 2015 | Ebook, Education, English, Latin
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...
by Dwane | Feb 11, 2015 | Uncategorized
If you have started a blog… good for you. Many start. Few finish. Keep...
by Dwane | Feb 11, 2015 | Education, English, Greek, Latin, Visual Latin, Vocabulary
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...
by Dwane | Feb 11, 2015 | Education, Greek, Latin, Visual 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....
by Dwane | Feb 10, 2015 | Education, Latin
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...
by Dwane | Feb 10, 2015 | English, Greek, Vocabulary
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...
by Dwane | Feb 10, 2015 | Education, English, Latin, Vocabulary
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...
by Dwane | Feb 9, 2015 | English, Greek
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.
