by Dwane | Apr 1, 2015 | Education, English, Latin, Vocabulary
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...
by Dwane | Mar 31, 2015 | Education, Vocabulary
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...
by Dwane | Mar 31, 2015 | Education, Latin, Motivation, ScreenCasts
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...
by Dwane | Mar 31, 2015 | Education, English, Greek, Vocabulary
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.
by Dwane | Mar 31, 2015 | Education, English, Latin, Vocabulary
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...
by Dwane | Mar 30, 2015 | Education, English, Greek
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...
