Another Cool Classics Tool!

Poeta Ex Machina is a cool tool that allows you to listen to Latin poetry chanted, creating mp3s from any text in any meter. Not surprisingly, it was created by Lee Butterman, who also designed NoDictionaries, a wonderful online vocabulary engine which helps users increase their reading fluency! You'll need to provide the scanned meter (directions here). You can toggle macrons and elisions in the passage if you'd like to view them as the Poeta recites.

For those of you just beginning Latin, it is possible to enter just one word in order to hear its proper pronunciation.

Dorothy Sayers and the Teaching of Latin

Those of you who are familiar with Dorothy Sayers and her essay "The Lost Tools of Learning" will enjoy reading the transcript of her Summer 1952 presentation to the Association foR Latin Teaching at the Ley's School in Cambridge, UK, entitled "Ignorance and Dissatisfaction" which ArLT has recently made available.

In this address, Ms. Sayers relates her many years of study of the the Latin language. She shares her own experiences learning Latin grammar and attempting to read the Classical authors and wonders what might have been if only her teachers had been more imaginative and if she'd had the opportunity to read medieval works. She concludes with some "constructive suggestions" regarding methodology and materials. You may not agree with everything she has to say, but it is a thought-provoking article and well worth reading.

Now I Know My ABCs...in Latin!

In most modern language classes, one of the first lessons is how to pronounce the letters of the alphabet. Most teachers teach an alphabet song, much like the English alphabet song most of us learned as children.

A-B-C-D
E-F-G
H-I-J-K
L-M-N-O-P
Q-R-S
T-U-V
W-X-Y-and Z!
Now I know my A, B, Cs,
Next time won't you sing with me.

Here are a few versions taught by Latin teachers...

(Posted with the permission of the authors.)

Jacque Myer's Latin Alphabet Song

Jacque has written her own variation on the English a-b-c song...The tune is basically the same, but the "line" divisions are a little different:

a, be, ce,
de, e, ef
ge, ha, i, ka
el, em, en, o, pe
cu, er, es,
te, u, ix
upsilon, ze-e-ta

Dennis M. McHenry II's Latin Alphabet Song

Dennis' alphabet song goes like the traditional English alphabet song (but without the pauses that normally follow g, p, s, v, x, & z):

a, be, ce, de, e, ef, ge, ha,
i, ka, el, em, en, o, pe, qu,

er, es, te, u, ix, y graeca,
zeta: haec sunt elementa.

quae possumus recitare,
visne nobiscum cantare?

Dennis reports that, "My students at all levels loved it, which surprised me."

He goes on to describe the Elementa.

"...the letters of the alphabet, the elements of the language, and I've worked in a question, a relative clause, some infinitives, cum with a personal pronoun ... what more could you want? I had all of my students learn the song and reproduce it on a test, which nearly every one found to be an easy way to earn some points."

"If it seems like a mouthful without the usual pauses, you can have kids trade off lines by gender, by seating arrangements, by legions, etc."

Ginny Lindzey's Alphabet Song (To the Tune of "The Barney Song")
Also available from The Latin Zone.

(CAPS for long vowels)

A, bE, cE
dE, E, ef
gE hA I
kA el em en
O-pE-cU (fast) er es tE
U et ypsIlon
zEta now our song is done.

Robert Patrick offers 2 alternative endings for Ginny's Lindzey's song:

...zEta carmen factum.

or

zEta carmen factum'st.

Robert suggests really punching the "st" for fun. (Factum'st is a contraction for factum est.)

Laura Higley's alternative ending for Ginny Lindzey's song:

zeta. carmen nostrum iam.

Laura's ending almost makes it rhyme.

Enjoy your singing. Cantate!