Thursday, September 29, 2011

National Classical Etymological Online Exam

There's still time to register for the National Classical Etymology Online Exam, but the October 15th deadline is quickly approaching. The National Claassical Etymology Online Exam is sponsored by the National Junior Classical League.

The exam will be administered in November 2011. To register visit http://quia.com/nceeorder. There is a school registration fee of $15 ($25 outside of the United States) in addition to the $3 per student exam fee. Schools that have an NJCL chapter receive a $10 discount on the school registration fee. The payment deadline is November 1, 2011. For additional details visit the National Junior Classical League.

Thursday, August 04, 2011

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!"

Thursday, July 07, 2011

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?




Tuesday, June 21, 2011

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.

Monday, June 06, 2011

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!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

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)