VRoma now speaks classical Latin!
Barbara McManus, Professor Emerita of Classics at the College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY, recently sent this announcement, reproduced here with her permission:
"If you haven't been to VRoma lately, I encourage you to visit, because the site has been enriched with many new educational tools, such as threaded discussion boards and slide projectors, and now with a Latin interface. Thanks to a grant from the Classical Association of the Atlantic States, all of the system messages, menu items, buttons, etc. (the "voice" of the VRoma MOO) have been translated into classical Latin. More information about this exciting development can be found on the VRoma Home Page, located at http://www.vroma.org, including information and photos from the translation workshop and a glossary that explains the underlying principles of the translation (we used words that an educated Roman of the second century CE would have recognized, even if their modern applications would have been incomprehensible). Users have to ask for the Latin (by selecting Language in Preferences), so visitors who do not know Latin can still enjoy a virtual visit to Rome completely in English. Latin students should be able to understand VRoma's Latin voice with the help of the glossary, and it is possible to keep the "tool tips" (explanations that appear when the cursor hovers over a word or phrase) in English or to see them in Latin as well."
Professor McManus continues:
"Of course all the cultural information in VRoma (site and object descriptions, extra web pages, etc.) is still in English. The Help section of the VRoma website contains illustrated guides that explain all the new features and how to use them. There is a new class of players, called "teachers," who have administrative powers, including the ability to create and manage accounts for their students, build classroom complexes, etc. Any real-world teacher with an existing VRoma account can be upgraded to "teacher" status in VRoma by writing to me at bmcmanus [at] cnr.edu. Celebrate the new school year with a visit to (virtual) Rome, and see Latin playing an exhilarating new role!"
Barbara McManus, Co-Director, The VRoma Project
Professor of Classics Emerita
The College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY 10805
Co-Director, The VRoma Project
