self introduction

[Kalailan]

hello,<br />my name is Ronen and i am almost sixteen, and recently i have started teaching myself latin. (greek is the target.) <br />i am an unschooler (hope you know what it is...)<br />and i learn violin.<br />yours sincerely,<br />Ronen

[Clemens]

Welcome!<br /><br />I hope you will find help or whatever you search for here...

[Keesa]

[quote author=Kalailan link=board=6;threadid=720;start=0#6923 date=1064578418]<br />hello,<br />my name is Ronen and i am almost sixteen, and recently i have started teaching myself latin. (greek is the target.) <br />i am an unschooler (hope you know what it is...)<br />and i learn violin.<br />yours sincerely,<br />Ronen<br />[/quote]<br /><br />Welcome, Ronen! I do, indeed, know what an unschooler is! I myself am homeschooled, but we follow such a loose curriculum (all except for math- ) that we are almost unschoolers ourselves. <br /><br />Textkit is the perfect place for independant learners to study Greek and Latin. I've been here-wow. Is it two months already?! and I'm farther ahead than I ever dreamed I would be. <br /><br />I hope you get as much out of it as I have! And remember to post your questions about Latin or Greek. The people here are really good at coming up with answers! (Although, the answers may not always agree. ) <br /><br />Welcome!

[mingshey]

Now'ere is there a more 'appier crew than them w'at sings sum, sum, serii, sum, sero.<br /><br />Welcome to textkit! Have a nice time here!<br />

[mariek]

<br />Hi Ronen, welcome to Textkit! I'm happy to hear we have another Latin learner on board. Have you found the Latin books available for download on this site? Click on Learn Latin to go there. You'll find lots of Latin grammar books and readers.<br /><br />What does "unschooler" mean?<br /><br />

[klewlis]

Welcome here, Ronen! Let us know where you are at with your latin studies and if we can help you with anything (or if you can help us with anything, since we're all just learning too!)<br /><br />Marie: "unschooling" is a form of homeschooling in which the studies are self-directed by the student. So the idea is that rather than being told, "you must spend this much time on these particular subjects", the student is free to explore and study those things that interest and excite him. <br /><br />Personally, I'm not a supporter. Had I learned in school only those things which I *wanted* to learn, I would have missed whole areas which I am now extremely glad to have--for example, I had one teacher in a private school who made us outline all of the chapters from our history book. I absolutely detested this and never would have done it on my own... however, I sure did learn how to outline, and when I went to college that proved invaluable--not only in writing papers but in writing essay exams and the like, as well as simply learning how to think in logical structures (and now I am a programmer!). This same teacher also made us memorize grammar rules and diagram sentences, both of which were tedious but invaluable for language studies. <br /><br />But anyway... I don't want to put off our new member! Ronen, please take the above as my opinion--I am not meaning to insult your education! I'm sure that there are many "unschooled" students who do receive a well-rounded education, as you demonstrate by your study of classical languages, which is always healthy! :)

[Raya]

Greetings, Ronen!<br /><br />A violinist! I do not play myself, but the instrument holds a certain significance to me... <br /><br />Do post your Latin-related queries and rants on the Learning Latin board... this the Open Board is the place to get to know everyone (or else through the Private Messaging system, if you are so inclined)... try your hand at Latin chat in The Agora, or philosophise with the rest of us at The Academy.<br /><br />All the best to you, and feel free to send me a message should you need any help at all with the system.<br /><br />See you!<br />~(* Raya

[Emma_85]

Hi Ronen! Welcome to this forum! <br />I didn't actually know what unschooling is, but now I do .

[Keesa]

And I'm in favor of unschooling, so you have two conflicting opinions from equally knowledgable members of the Textkit forum. <br /><br />Actually, I'm more in favor of what I do; math, a very structured subject, has a structured place in my life (every morning, nine o'clock, rain or shine), which helps me to form habits of discipline and punctuality. My other subjects, I study on my own, at my own leisure, as I please...so far, it's worked very well. Of course, there was the time when I thought that the island of Capri was in the Carribean...but then, when I realized that I was a tad weak on geography, I was able to fix it on my own and at my own pace. <br /><br />I'm all in favor! <br /><br />Keesa

[mariek]

<br />I don't know anyone who has been homeschooled on unschooled. How exactly does this work? I mean, do you have to report or check in with someone to show you've made progress in certain topics? Does this mean you have no instructors to turn to when you have questions?<br /><br />

[Puella Parva]

Hello Ronen!<br />I, like my sister Keesa, am homeschooled, and I know what unschooling is.<br />I play the guitar and piano, but also one day hope to learn the violin-or rather, the fiddle. <br />I hope you enjoy textkit!<br />

[Keesa]

I've often thought of taking up violin, but I've heard that the sounds produced by inexperienced beginners are reminiscent of the wailing of souls in torment...listening to something like that would be bad enough, but I don't have the courage to create it! ;D <br /><br />(I'm not saying that you're a bad violinist...just that I'm afraid I would be!)

[klewlis]

[quote author=mariek link=board=6;threadid=720;start=0#7012 date=1064618685]<br /><br />I don't know anyone who has been homeschooled on unschooled. How exactly does this work? I mean, do you have to report or check in with someone to show you've made progress in certain topics? Does this mean you have no instructors to turn to when you have questions?<br /><br /><br />[/quote]<br /><br />It really depends on where you live. We had a lengthy discussion on the matter here: http://www.textkit.com/greek-latin-forum/viewtopic . php?t=548<br /><br />Most cities now have support groups for homeschoolers as well, which provide some of the social and educational *group* activities otherwise missing... they go on fields trips and do activities together, have guest speakers, put on plays, etc. But the assumption is that between child and parent, enough direction and knowledge can be attained to achieve an education whose quality (often) surpasses that of public school. I think the results depend on both the child and the parents. :)

[mariek]

<br />Thanks for the link to the other discussion. I don't recall ever seeing it. It's very interesting. I don't think we have homeschooling in my area, and if it exists in my area, it definitely isn't ubiquitous. Homeschooling sounds like a challenge because the success really depends on the student. You really have to have a lot of self-discipline.<br />

[klewlis]

It's true that it takes a certain amount of motivation and self-discipline. However, I think that the experience of homeschooling often fosters these qualities as well. And of course it helps to have parents directing you too ;)

[Episcopus]

Self discipline it does take. But so much more is needed to write a book, so relatively latin is not difficult. Unless I be tired after school (awaking at 7 am! not the work) it does be hard. But today is Saturday and I awoke at 11 am! <br /><br />

[Kalailan]

Hello!<br /><br />first of all, thanks for the warm wellcome!<br /><br />I am a begginer. i also advance slowly, as english is not my native tongue, and remebering all the grammar definitions and words is not an easy task.<br /><br />As klewlis said it depends on where one lives, i will tell you more about that.<br /><br />In my country my family is one of the first familys to unschool ever. we are pioneers in that matter... <br />But the family that introduced my family to that idea and my family started up a paper about that and other subjects, and today there are about 350 subscriptions to it, and more and more familys are not sending their children to school.<br />Hopefully in the future the permission from the government to unschool will be something easier to acheive, as now it is very hard.<br /><br />We do not report to anyone what we know or don't know,<br />and we don't have tests, as they simply lack the ability to truly tell what someone knows. As a result of stress and other factors one might forget every thing one knows, as Dickens so beautifuly describes in "David Copperfield".<br /><br />And we don't believe in the government's right to decide what we know and don't know. <br /><br />Because in school what happens is that the natural curiosity of a child is being oppressed, sometimes to the level of it disapearing completely. Unschooled kids are a lot more curios and interested in various subjects that are sometimes <br />subjects that will never be learned by an ordinary schooled kid, such as Latin and Greek.<br /><br />Well, <br />i will continue this another time,<br />best wishes to you all,<br />Ronen<br /><br /><br /><br />

[klewlis]

where do you live?<br /><br />I am in Canada and I really find that some neighbourhoods have excellent schools (and I have several friends who are teachers), and some just do not. So I think when I have kids it will have to depend both on the child's disposition and on the availability of good schools nearby. :)

[mariek]

[quote author=Kalailan link=board=6;threadid=720;start=15#7079 date=1064676296]<br />In my country my family is one of the first familys to unschool ever. we are pioneers in that matter...[/quote]<br /><br />I'm curious... which country are you from?<br /><br />

[mingshey]

[quote author=Kalailan link=board=6;threadid=720;start=15#7079 date=1064676296]<br /><br />Because in school what happens is that the natural curiosity of a child is being oppressed, sometimes to the level of it disapearing completely. Unschooled kids are a lot more curios and interested in various subjects that are sometimes <br />subjects that will never be learned by an ordinary schooled kid, such as Latin and Greek.<br />[/quote]<br /><br />So my signature says what it says. ;D<br />Good luck to you in your study!

[Kalailan]

Hello!<br /><br />i will give you a few hints to where i am from... <br /><br /><br />the prime religion is not christianity, but it is a monotheistic one.<br /><br />the climate is desert in the south, and the north is much cooler, but i don't know the word for it in english. (not a desert at all - it is mostly green)<br /> <br />the situation in the region is very difficult and<br />i completely disagree with my governmet's way of action, <br />which is in my opinion a violence orientated government.<br /><br />Well, i will leave some more for next time. <br /><br /><br />how do i quote?<br /><br />mingshey, <br />what did you mean in this?<br /><br />So my signature says what it says. <br />Good luck to you in your study! <br /><br />Best wishes to all of you,<br /><br />Ronen<br /><br />

[Keesa]

Israel? Or somewhere around in there? <br /><br />Up in the right-hand corner of each post is a link that says "Quote;" clicking on it will take you to a screen similar to the regular reply screen, but with the other person's post already in it. You'll probably want to delete all but the part you're quoting, so as not to confuse people, then just go down to the bottom of the message field and type away! (Whatever you do, though, don't delete the part in brackets [ ], because that's the part that tells the computer that you're quoting someone.

[Emma_85]

Israel was my first thought, because of the name Ronan...

[mariek]

<br />I'm guessing Irish?<br /><br />

[mariek]

<br />To answer your question about how to quote...<br /><br />You can reply to a message by clicking on the "quote" button at the top of the message you want to reply to.<br /><br />You'll see a text box which will automatically include the text from the message you are replying to. The text is surrounded by a beginning quote tag and an ending quote tag. You should remove any text you don't want in the quote. Just make sure the text you want quote appears between the quote tags.<br /><br />[ quote] <-- this is the begin-quote tag; no space before 'q'<br />quoted text<br />[ /quote] <-- this is the end-quote tag; no space before 'q'<br />type your response here<br /><br />The begin-quote tag takes arguments in it, and it will include the author's name and other info by default. You can leave it as-is or you can strip it down to just the word "quote" surrounded by square brackets.<br /><br />It's probably easier if you just go to the Help page on posting, located here:<br />http://www.textkit.com/greek_latin_forum/YaBBHelp/posting.html <br /><br />

[MDS]

[quote author=mariek link=board=6;threadid=720;start=15#7265 date=1064862202]<br /><br />I'm guessing Irish?<br /><br /><br />[/quote]<br /><br />I don't believe Ireland has a desert to the south....<br /><br />I would guess Israel or Pakistan or something around those.<br /><br />We will probably all be horribly wrong but don't leave us in suspense here too long!

[mariek]

<br />I think you guys are probably correct with Israel or thereabouts. Irish came to mind because I knew someone with a similar sounding name whom I thought was Irish. <br /><br />Ok, Ronen, we're all waiting with bated breath for you to return...<br /><br />

[Episcopus]

south africa?

[Keesa]

[quote author=Episcopus link=board=6;threadid=720;start=15#7282 date=1064871730]<br />south africa?<br />[/quote]<br /><br />Does South Africa have a desert in the south? <br /><br />I also know an Irish Ronan, but the other clues led me to believe Israel or one of the middle east countries. I considered Afghanistan, but rejected it because if I remember right, it's all mountainous there.

[Kalailan]

Hello!<br /><br />the correct answer would be - Tera sancta.<br />though i am not from Ilia Capitolina...<br /><br />my name is actually Ronen, not Ronan. i doubt that there is any connection between tho two. <br /><br />thanks for the explenations about qouting... i just didn't look in the right places.<br /><br />Good weekend,<br />RonEn!

[Emma_85]

Sorry Ronen, seems like I started all that by typing your name wrong...

[Episcopus]

<br /><br />isti terrae esse sanctam non credo. <br /><br />or istam terram esse sancta (m?) non credo.<br /><br />not really to spark a debate, it is only that this sentence confuses me. Does the terra not be dative as with infinitive esse, or stays-it dative with credo?<br /><br />I don't quite understand the whole case thing with infinitives.

[Emma_85]

You need a double accusative if you're using credo.

[Episcopus]

Even if it takes dative in simpler ways (huic credo, I believe this girl)

[Emma_85]

Non credo terram sacrum.<br /><br />No need to make it all complicated .

[bingley]

Quibus terra sancta est? Utrum terra quae sancta Christianis et Iudaiis an terra quae sancta Muslimibus?

[Episcopus]

cette terre-la elle n'est sainte á personne.