new member and content exam question

by **Lupa** » Mon Oct 06, 2003 11:21 pm

salve socii!

I'm new here and new to Latin, though I must admit to being an addict. I'm a double major in Classics and Secondary Education, and studying so that hopefully I'll be able to pass the Illinois Content Exam in Latin. I would be extremely grateful to anyone if they could give me advise on surviving this task. I'm also curious what textbooks are being used in high school Latin classes.

thanks

Lupa

Website · by **benissimus** » Mon Oct 06, 2003 11:58 pm

ave comes nove!

by **mariek** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 4:31 am

Welcome to Textkit, Lupa.

Wow, a double major. You'll have quite a work load. Sorry, I don't know what textbooks are being used in high school. My high school didn't even offer Latin!!! :evil:

Website · by **benissimus** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 4:48 am

Wheelock's is a very common one, but I don't know if it is the most common text. It's designed for first year high school students, but it is used extensively in colleges as well.

by **mariek** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 8:30 am

I was browsing the UC Berkeley Extension course catalog for some other course, but also took a look at their Latin course. They're using the Wheelock book, covering 22 chapters in the first course.

by **MDS** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 8:33 am

Hmmm, only 22 chapters? We cover 27 here, the course runs from September 9 to April 2. Though I assume it is slightly different everywhere.

by **mariek** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 8:39 am

UC Berkeley Extension is slightly different from being enrolled as a full-time student at UCB. Most people are past college, and are just taking something on the side for fun or perhaps working towards their second degree while working. Many of the classes are in the evenings. I was looking for a Wine Studies class, but I missed the enrollement deadline by a month. Oops!

The Latin I course they offer is held on 15 Saturdays, from 9:30m to 12:30pm. Cost is $415. I could never take a course like this... I'm not a morning person!

by **MDS** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 8:51 am

Ah, ok thanks for clarifying what an "extension" course meant in that context. $415 is not a bad price for that course, I pay just over $900 for each of my full-time courses here in Canada. However, thats for about 75 hours of instruction.

Its a shame you missed that wine studies class, could have been very handy mariek!

by **klewlis** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 2:26 pm

MDS wrote:Hmmm, only 22 chapters? We cover 27 here, the course runs from September 9 to April 2. Though I assume it is slightly different everywhere.

The difference is that your class is going for the full year, which is really two semesters worth, in which case I would think you'd be finishing wheelock. It's normal to do only the first 22 chapters in the first course.

by **MDS** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 7:15 pm

Hmmm, perhaps we do finish the book then. I will have to check that!

by **Lupa** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 11:55 pm

It is really very interesting how much I hear about Wheelock's. My own Latin teacher dislikes Wheelock. I just think it is very sad that so many people dismiss Latin because they think it is old and stuffy. And if you look at the bland sort of textbooks that some schools use and they really do look old and stuffy. Yet it is the language of a people who claimed to be decended from Venus and Mars, and so much of the literature reflects that in writing about passion or about war. Aside from the fact that at my school the Classics Majors are truely the craziest people on campus.

Lupa

Website · by **benissimus** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 12:04 am

I agree 100% with you Lupa. Have you looked at Wheelock yourself? What does your teacher have against it?

I think it is heavier on the grammatical side of the scale than the reading side, but it is certainly not old and stuffy. It talks to you frankly and in a casual, friendly tone and uses lame attempts at humor... quite a change from the old-fashioned type. I certainly hope your teacher isn't suggesting the "reader only" type courses - I hate those so much

Mr. Green hates them too...

by **Keesa** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 12:28 pm

Oh, I don't know. I like readers. I'm not sure I would suggest a reader-only course, but I do like readers. Somehow reading something gives me a greater feeling of accomplishment than reading over a grammar lesson and doing the exercises. I think a good balance is probably best.

by **klewlis** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 2:13 pm

Yes, I like a mix of both. Sometimes I sit down and work through wheelock (more so these days since I'm trying to keep up with Phil!). Sometimes I just work on non-wheelock vocab. Sometimes I like to sit and read texts, particularly with my Learn Latin Now cdrom, which has graduated texts. It really depends on my mood! :)

by **Keesa** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 12:15 pm

klewlis wrote: Sometimes I sit down and work through wheelock (more so these days since I'm trying to keep up with Phil!). Sometimes I just work on non-wheelock vocab.

I need to find someone to study Latin and Greek with me. The one friend I know who ever expressed an interest in Latin gave it up about three years ago, and my sister stays very busy.

I've just started working on making some vocabulary flashcards for myself. I use flash cards all the time with English; it helps me to learn fascinating words like muliebrity. (One of those strange words where the English is actually closer to the Latin root than the French intermediary.)

by **Lex** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 3:03 pm

Keesa wrote:I've just started working on making some vocabulary flashcards for myself.

I am in the process of writing a Greek flashcard program using Visual Basic and an Access database. The plan is that it will have separate screens for nouns, verbs, pronouns, etc., showing them in all their various declensions/conjugations, so you can memorize those easier; a "test" feature in these screens where you type a declension or conjugation of a word (i.e. present indicative active, 3rd person plural of "luw") into the appropriate textbox, and it tells you if you got it right; a way to add and save your own vocabulary, etc.

Alas, I'm doing this in spare time, which is rather spare right now, so I haven't gotten very far yet. I've only got the screens for nouns, adjectives, and articles to the point where you can view the database entries, and I have the verb screen laid out, but not functioning. There is no ability to add your own vocabulary to the database yet, and it may take a while to get to such a usable point. But, if anybody is interested, I intend on making it freely available (including code if you're nervous about Trojan horses), and will eventually need alpha/beta testers. (It will only work on Microsoft Windows, and I'm not sure which versions of that.)

by **Lupa** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 3:35 pm

I'd work with you, Keesa or anyone interested, online in Latin (I can pronounce Greek, but that's about it). I'm really just starting out myself (I've had one year, of three intense courses in Latin), But if you and I could agree on a single piece to work on, I think it could be very productive for the both of us. Flashcards can really only take you so far.

Lupa

by **Keesa** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 10:09 pm

Lex, I'd be more than glad to test out your vocabulary program for you, if it will work on Windows 98. Fall is the busiest time of year here, so I've only started on the Latin flashcards...I haven't even thought about Greek yet!

Lupa wrote:I'd work with you, Keesa or anyone interested, online in Latin (I can pronounce Greek, but that's about it). I'm really just starting out myself (I've had one year, of three intense courses in Latin), But if you and I could agree on a single piece to work on, I think it could be very productive for the both of us. Flashcards can really only take you so far.

Lupa

Pronouncing Greek is one of the many things I can't do in Greek, although I'm learning (slowly) to spell it very nicely.

I'm working through Benjamin L. D'Ooge's "Latin for Beginners" right now, and I'm only in the teens in the chapters. (I don't remember which one, exactly, since I haven't done any in two or three days. :oops:

) I'm longing to start reading in Latin, but I'm not far enough yet, and apparently good beginning Latin readers are scarce...

by **klewlis** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 1:33 am

hey Lex, why an access database? Purely for portability?

Remember that a person still has to have Access installed in order to use it, and many, many people do not have that.

by **bingley** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 8:10 am

(One of those strange words where the English is actually closer to the Latin root than the French intermediary.)

According to the AHD, muliebrity came directly from Latin.
http://www.bartleby.com/61/7/M0470700.html

Don't forget there was a huge influx of words into English directly from Latin in the 16th and 17th centuries. Some caught on, some didn't.

Website · by **benissimus** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 8:28 am

That's certainly true... I take words from Latin all the time and then look them up to see if I can use them in my papers, and a lot of the time they are real words, but obsolete

I tried to use "despection" in one of my latest English essays but my teacher wouldn't let me get away with it. I just didn't want to conjure up a word like "despisement". Wah :cry:

by **Keesa** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 1:32 pm

bingley wrote:
(One of those strange words where the English is actually closer to the Latin root than the French intermediary.)

According to the AHD, muliebrity came directly from Latin.
http://www.bartleby.com/61/7/M0470700.html

Don't forget there was a huge influx of words into English directly from Latin in the 16th and 17th centuries. Some caught on, some didn't.

Very possible. I'm using Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (new in which century, I wonder?), which may or may not have anything to do with it. I'll look it up when I have a chance, and make sure that I was reading the right line. :wink:

And Benissimus, I happen to think that "despection" is a much nicer word than "despisement." If I had been your English teacher, I'd have let you "get away" with it.

by **Lex** » Sun Oct 12, 2003 1:59 am

klewlis wrote:hey Lex, why an access database? Purely for portability?

Because it is easy. :oops:

I suppose you would prefer a Java version, with mySQL or something like that?

klewlis wrote:Remember that a person still has to have Access installed in order to use it, and many, many people do not have that.

Errr? I hope that's not true, but I'll investigate, now that you've brought it up. I thought that all you really need is the MS Access Driver for ODBC, but now I'm not sure.

by **Lex** » Sun Oct 12, 2003 2:09 am

Keesa wrote:Lex, I'd be more than glad to test out your vocabulary program for you, if it will work on Windows 98. Fall is the busiest time of year here, so I've only started on the Latin flashcards...I haven't even thought about Greek yet!

Great! My first vict^H^H^H^Halpha tester! :wink:

Yes, it will work on 98, although now I have to make sure that one doesn't have to have Access in order for it to work.

It may take most of the fall for me to get it in shape for initial testing, so don't expect anything from me soon. It doesn't even allow entry of new vocabulary items yet! Not useful as it stands. But I will contact you once I have made more progress on it.

by **Keesa** » Sun Oct 12, 2003 12:36 pm

Great! I'll look forwards to it. And in the meantime, I'll keep working with my little paper flashcards.

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