Phineas and Ferb know Latin!

Tomorrow is the Disney Channel premiere of the full-length movie "Phineas and Ferb Across the Second Dimension." If you already have Friday plans or don't subscribe to cable television, the DVD release is August 23rd.

As it turns out, Phineas and Ferb apparently are Latin students, because one of the songs on the soundtrack (already available on Amazon.com and presumably, iTunes) is entitled "Carpe Diem!"

The Controversial Macron

Should Latin teachers insist that their students memorize macrons?

Professor Richard LaFleur, editor of Wheelock's Latin, emphatically says YES!

Cheryl Lowe, author of First and Second Form Latin, responds with a resounding NO!

Two very interesting articles! Who knew macrons could be so controversial?

Scala Sapientiae

The creative and energetic Laura Gibbs has just established a brilliant new blog, Scala Sapientia. If you are teacher or student of beginning Latin or a fan of Latin proverbs, you will love this site! Laura has organized hundreds of proverbs using a 'stair step' structure. As you progress from proverb to proverb, there is only one new step you need to learn to progress to the next. Each proverb is annotated with helpful vocabulary and interesting grammatical and literary or cultural notes.

May CANENS Newsletter

The latest issue of CANENS, the Classical Association of New England's newsletter, is now available for download. There are some great articles in this one, notably a feature by Brian McCarthy about his adventure running a marathon in Athens. You can also read about a JCL team that hosted a trivia contest as a very successful fundraiser!

Teaching Classical Languages

The latest issue of the journal Teaching Classical Languages, edited by John Gruber-Miller of Cornell College, has now been made available for download.

Articles in this issue include:

• Rebecca Harrison, "Exercises for Developing Prediction Skills in Reading Latin Sentences" (describes more than 20 field tested exercises to help beginning and intermediate students become more efficient readers of Latin)
• Peter Anderson & Mark Beckwith, "Form-Focused Teaching for the Intermediate Latin Student" ( introduces teachers to form-focused instruction, a pedagogy that integrates grammar instruction within a communicative context)
  
• Albert Watanabe, "The 2010 College Greek Exam" (an analysis of students' strengths and weaknesses on the 2010 College Greek Exam)

LET'S LEARN LATIN: A WORKSHOP FOR ES/MS TEACHERS!

LET'S LEARN LATIN: A WORKSHOP FOR ES/MS TEACHERS!
the Latin language - Latin vocabulary - word roots - ancient Roman
culture - Greek & Roman mythology - techniques for incorporating these
topics into your classroom

August 1-3, 2011 / 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Clara Byrd Baker ES, Williamsburg, VA
co-sponsors: WJCC Schools & Ascanius: The Youth Classics Institute

Let's Learn Latin will introduce elementary and middle school teachers to the world of Latin and the ancient Romans through three days of engaging lessons. Teachers get to play the role of students, learning the material through the same activities and lessons that they will be able to use in their own classrooms. Participants will enjoy learning the basics of Latin, using a colorful, interesting, kid-friendly text called Minimus, richly supplemented by effective and innovative activities to practice the material. Other topics include Latin vocabulary, word roots, and Roman culture and mythology. No previous experience with Latin is needed!

In addition, participants will explore ways of teaching about key vocabulary terms and cultural topics that integrate with the various chapters and language topics of Minimus. Participants will receive myriad classroom-ready materials on all topics studied. CEU's are available; all participants will receive a certificate documenting their 16.5 contact hours. One graduate credit is optional via Ashland University.

Register: by mail or online.
Deadline: 7/1/11. Limited to 15 participants.
Cost: $150 (includes registration, all workshop materials and resources, and light breakfast with coffee). Lunch is available for a separate nominal charge.

Visit the Ascanius Youth Classics Institute (http://www.ascaniusyci.org) website to get additional workshop details, to purchase publications, or to find out about and schedule other professional development opportunities or student programs.

Conventiculum Bostoniense

It's not too late to apply for the Conventiculum Bostoniense, July 30-August 7, 2011, a week-long Latin immersion program sponsored by UMass Boston and held on the campus of UMass Darmouth, near the south coast of Massachusetts.

Participants take one of two courses for two or three graduate credits:

1) Newcomers to spoken Latin take "Active Learning Methodologies for Teachers of Latin," in which they are introduced not only to speaking Latin but also to second language acquisition theory and its application in the Latin classroom.

2) Experienced speakers take "Living Text", which focuses this year on the poems of Catullus, and also includes the development of classroom materials that incorporate active methods (speaking and writing).

Further information and application materials are available at: http://www.conventiculum.org.

Gaudete, Gaudete! Latin Christmas and Holiday Songs!

Rejoice, all ye who seek Latin Christmas Carols! Laura Gibbs is continuing her Latin Holiday Songs Project this year at Gaudium Mundo! Visit each day for new songs and lyrics in Latin, Latin-English and Latin-Polish!

Need more holiday ideas for your Latin class? We've got 'em! Here are just a few from past years!

Christmas Teaching Ideas and Carols

St. Nicholas and the Legenda Aurea

O Abies! O Christmas Tree!

Yummy Chocolate Saturnalia Mice!!!

CAMWS Latin Translation Contest 2010-2011

The Classical Association of the Middle West and South Latin Translation Contest 2010-2011 is a competition open to advanced Latin students anywhere in the United States and Canada, who are either enrolled in secondary schools or attending homeschool. The contest is intended for students with at least three years of Latin, but superior second-year students are also eligible to participate.

Students must show an affiliation to CAMWS in one of three ways:

1. Their teachers must be individual members of CAMWS
2. OR their schools must be institutional members of CAMWS
3. OR their school libraries must subscribe to The Classical Journal.

Teachers should note that the examination must be administered by a school official other than the Latin teacher during the week of November 29-December 3, 2010. Deadline for registration is November 5, 2010.

The Translation Contest consists of a one-hour examination with an annual alternation of Prose and Poetry. This year's contest consists of a Latin Prose selection, as exemplified by Caesar, Cicero, et al. According to the contest rules, students should translate as literally as possible without violating English idiom and they should know the relevant vocabulary presented in Colby's Latin Word Lists. (A copy of the list is available to all contestants FREE upon request when registering!)

Writers of the ten most outstanding papers written will receive a $250 cash prize. An additional twenty outstanding contestants will receive a book prize relevant to classical antiquity. Meritorious examinations will receive letters of commendation.

There is a $2 non-refundable fee for each contestant entered.

To view copies of the most recent prose exams, you may visit CAMWS. You may also view a list of previous winners.

For more information, please contact: Robert White c/o Shaker Heights High School, 15811 Aldersyde Drive, Shaker Heights OH, 44120-2505, Tel. (216) 295-4200.

Calling All Latin Poets!

VATES, the occasional journal of contemporary Latin poetry, is looking for contributions of original Latin verse. Electronically published and available free to anyone with an interest in new Latin poetry, VATES needs your submissions in order to continue its mission of promoting the reading and writing of new Latin verse.

Labor Vincit Omnia!

Check Out Laura Gibbs' compilation of Latin Labor Day proverbs!

Give Yourself a Competitive Edge with Latin!

Aiming to attend an Ivy League school? Selective colleges and universities take notice of high school Latin scholars, according to Bloomberg News in Lingua Latina Introitum in. Vniversitatem Harvard Multo Faciliorem Reddit ("The Latin language renders an easier entrance into Harvard University"). Though study of the Classics is no guarantee of admission, it can give some candidates an edge.

Reaping a "Total Latin Harvest"

Lou Bolchazy on reconciling viewpoints regarding the perceived conflicts between literature/culture/history; grammar-oriented pedagogy method; oral/conversational method; and reading method in our Latin curricula:

"I believe that all four themes are desiderata in our teaching method. There is no conflict among them. Living in an increasingly global and multi-cultural community, we must know each other's history of ideas, beliefs, and culture to have the respect, empathy, and sympathy for other people. By reading an original passage, we learn all these things to a degree, and that is the humanistic value. When we come across an unknown word or an unknown syntactical-grammatical point in a reading, that is the time to teach the grammar and vocabulary, and to reinforce the vocabulary and grammar by means of transpositional exercises. Teachers and students can indulge in oral Latin drills and exercises to understand the word and its connotation, and using the materials in the original reading itself. (So far we have not deviated from good pedagogy-because we are learning grammar and culture, and reading passages, all in the original language.) The question is: how best to learn this grammar and vocabulary? By talking about it and doing drills in it, which are not connected to the original reading? That I do not recommend. Oral exercises based on the original reading allow students to review vocabulary and to practice the grammar they just learned. You can call it fusion or amalgamation of all these four desiderata, to be learned almost simultaneously.

Let's not forget to get beyond the borders of antique Latin language, culture, or conversational ability; we should move towards including post-classical Latin as well. Thus we will expand our horizons, increase our literacy, enjoy a total Latin harvest, be exposed to more forms of Latin communication, and project higher perceived value of Latin curriculum.)"

Free Latin Fable Books for Everyone!

Euge! Laura Gibbs has just released her new book Mille Fabulae et Una: 1001 Aesop's Fables in Latin. You can get your very own copy in Adobe Acrobat PDF format right now -- for free -- by visiting Millefabulae, where you will also find online indexes and other useful ancillary materials. The typography of the book is clean and simple, and looks great on the iPhone, iPad and Android. If you have a smartphone or handheld device that is capable of reading PDF files, download a copy, go grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea, and start reading!

For those of you who prefer reading a book the old-fashioned way, and love the idea of a brimming bookshelf, but don't feel like splurging on printer ink (the book is 440 pages long!) Mille Fabulae et Una is available in paperback on Lulu.com for only $19.95. However, Laura encourages you to download as many gratis copies as you like and to let your friends know where to get their own free copy too!

Read Laura's Overview on her blog for more information.

Back After a Hiatus

It's August and time to get back to blogging!

Professor Terence Tunberg has just written to announce a wonderful new documentary, presented entirely in Latin and available on Youtube, which chronicles the highlights of Conventiculum 2010. This is must-see TV for everyone who loves Latin!

Bestiaria Latina: Zoo

Take a virtual field trip to a Latin language zoo! Laura Gibbs has done it again, creating an online bestiary of animals. Each entry in this menagerie includes the Latin name of the animal, alternative terminology, a photo, plus links to Latin language stories and proverbs! You can even add a Latin Zoo widget to your blog or website!

London Mayor Wants More Latin in State Schools in England

A couple more articles about Boris Johnson's call for a resurgence of Latin in English state schools:

"Call for Latin Lessons At Schools"

BBC News, March 17, 2010

"Teach More Latin in Schools, says London Mayor"

Yahoo News/Reuters, March 17, 2010

"More State Schools Should Teach Latin"

Daily Telegraph, March 17, 2010

"Boris Johnson Lobbies Tories to Add Latin to State-School Curriculum"

The Guardian (UK), March 17, 2010

"Boris Johnson Hits Out at 'Absurd Decline of Latin in State Schools'"

London Evening Standard, March 17, 2010

Mr. Johnson studied Latin and the Classics as a student and is a graduate of Eton College secondary school and Balliol College, University of Oxford. A product of private education, he is a critic of Latin being reserved for tuition-based schools only.

The Mayor of London Defends the Teaching of Latin in England

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, wants to "weep with rage" over the disparagement of Latin and Classics education by Edward Michael Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in Britain.

Pompeiiana, a Rich Resource for All Latin Teachers and Students

Andrew Reinhard, Director of eLearning for Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, recently announced the completion of the Pompeiiana Newsletter blog project. The Pompeiiana Newsletter was a publication for Latin students which enjoyed a nearly twenty year press run, with 229 issues released betwee the years 1974 to 2003. Material published in the newsletter included both Latin and English language comics, stories, games, and articles. As a gift to the Classics community, Bolchazy-Carducci has digitized all the extant issues of Pompeiiana Newsletter and made them available for all to enjoy in Adobe Acrobat format (.pdf) at the Pompeiiana Newsletter Blog.

Classics and Careers

Three timely articles for aspiring students of the Classicson the Psychology Today Career Transitions blog!

"Classics Majors Find their Future in the Past"

"Branding and Marketing the Classics Major"

"Careers in Education for Classics Majors"