The National Latin Exam has announced a new Latin III exam for 2009. According to the most recent issue of the National Latin Exam Newsletter (Vol. XXIV, No. 2, Spring 2008) available at their website, next year's Level Three teachers will have three exams to choose from, based upon their students' own particular needs: Latin III-IV Prose, Latin III-IV Poetry, or the Generic Latin III Exam. According to the NLE Committee, this new exam "will strive to represent the middle ground between the Latin II exam and the Latin III-IV Prose exam." The NLE Committee has placed a copy of the proposed syllabus in the aforementioned newsletter and they are asking for feedback.
While you're visiting the NLE site and getting your own copy of the newsletter, make sure to spend some time checking out the rest of the site. You can download syllabuses and sample exams to help your students prepare for next year's tests and try out some practice questions.
The NLE site is also the official site for the Forum Romanum DVD series, which is a collection of Latin news shows based upon significant moments in Roman history, presented entirely in Latin. These videos allow students to experience Latin as a spoken language and learn about Roman history and geography in a realistic context. Students will probably not understand every word in the videos, but it's likely they will be able to follow along and comprehend the main points. The intention for beginning students is to hear the sounds of Latin, whereas intermediate and advanced Latin students will be more able to pick up the gist of what is happening and understand some of the language. A Companion Book to the Roman Forum, written by John Donohoe, who also plays the anchorman in the series, has been published and it contains scripts, worksheets and teaching hints to help you incorporate the series into your lessons. More information is available at the NLE site. Sample videos and excerpts from the scripts and supplementary activities are also available online for examination.
