Friendship Starts in Latin Class

“At that point, we’ve got kind of a little group, a little niche in the school,” said Frank. “We’ve got a set of unusual common interests, so those are very potent potential friends.”

Continue reading: "Friendship Starts in Latin Class" from The Atlantic

Eat like the Romans Do

Latin II students developed Roman banquet menus and even prepared authentic (ancient!) Roman dishes for a panel of judges last Friday morning.

This year's winners of the Roman Banquet Top Chef competition were Christina (Deeaja), Victoria (Julia) and Lucia (Isabel).  Euge!

Coronae Exercitus Romani

After learning about the crowns awarded by Roman army generals to their soldiers, students in Latin III-V set goals for themselves to reach, which would be awarded at the end of each quarter.  These awards ranged from the corona aurelia (golden crown), awarded to the student with the highest marks for the quarter, to the corona muralis (wall crown), awarded to the student making the most significant connections between Latin and life outside the Latin classroom. 

1st Block Latin IV-V students pose in their coronae, next to a poster they drew illustrating their quarter goals.  Pictured (L-R): Iulianna (corona civica), Amelia (corona navalis) et Nausica (corona aurelia).

Not pictured (3rd Block Latin III-IV): Nero (Brendon, corona aurelia), Anna (Ann Audrey, corona navalis), Ionathan Kaleb (Maryam, corona obsidionalis).

Congratulor vobis!

Roman Army Strategy

Latin IV students Ionathan (Maryam A.) and Tranio (Osaze S.) produced the following film sequence to demonstrate Roman army apparel, as part of a 1st Quarter project on the Roman army.  Stay tuned after the video's intro for a presentation by Tranio on the evolution of battle tactics from the phalanx to the maniple...

Roman Army Strategy

Latin IV students Ionathan (Maryam A.) and Tranio (Osaze S.) produced the following film sequence to demonstrate Roman army apparel, as part of a 1st Quarter project on the Roman Army.  Stay tuned after the video's intro for a presentation by Tranio on the evolution of battle tactics from the phalanx to...

Latin I 1st Quarter Review

The following are some practice activities to help you as you review for this Wednesday's test!  These activities are self-correcting, so they will let you know if you are acing it, or if you are missing something.  Remember to assess your preparation by checking the 1st Quarter Test Study Guide, because these activities do not cover all tested material.

Grammar:

1st Declension

2nd Declension
Verb Endings
Present Tense - laudo
Present Tense - servo
Future Tense - 1st Conjugation Verb

Vocab:
Quizlet, Lessons I-VII

Latin III/IV/V Test Review

The following are some practice activities to help you as you review for this Friday's test!  These activities are self-correcting, so they will let you know if you are acing it, or if you are missing something.  Use this in addition to your vocabulary review on Quizlet, and your review of the reading/translation sections you are responsible for.

Omnibus:

1st Declension

2nd Declension

3rd Declension m/f

3rd Declension neuter

3rd Declension i-stem

Mixing declensions - noun/adj pairs

Verb synopsis - 1st conjugation

Verb synopsis - 2nd conjugation

Verb synopsis - 3rd conjugation

Verb synopsis - 4th conjugation

Forming and translating infinitives

Latin IV/V Only:

4th Declension

5th Declension

Present subjunctive

Imperfect subjunctive

Perfect, Pluperfect Subjunctive

Verb synopsis (w subjunctive!) - 1st conjugation

Verb synopsis (w subjunctive!) - 2nd conjugation

Verb synopsis (w subjunctive!) - 4th conjugation

Mixing declensions - noun/adj pairs

Declension of ipse, ipsa, ipsum

Declension of qui, quae, quod

4 Changes to English...

...so subtle we probably don't know they are happening:
http://m.theweek.com/article.php?id=246098

And what's the deal with the phrase "used to": "I used to exercise."  When did that starting being a thing?  #4 in the article above (the "get-passive") sounds like a similar construction.

Stay Fresh! Latin Summer Practice

Want to keep your Latin knowledge fresh over the summer? Great choice!  I hope you will find some of the websites below to be a helpful resource to you.

Vocab

Online Latin Vocab Quizzer: Generate your own Latin Vocabulary quizzes (Uses vocab from Wheelock's Latin text)

Classical Roots Practice: Practice exercises asking the reader to drag & match English word parts with their ancient Latin or Greek root.

Grammar
See the Exam review posts below for further practice links!

Online Declension Exerciser

Online Latin Declension/Principal Part Quizzer: Generate your own Latin Grammar quizzes
Wheelocks Practice Exercises (including crossword puzzles!) 

Self-correcting Grammar Practice Exercises 

Wildcards - Randomized Translation!

Scribax: Random Latin sentence generator, for translation practice

Gilbo: Online Latin storybook (for Latin I)

Twitter Resources

Latin Language

Word Origins

Oxford Words

Latin III/IV Final Exam Review

Grammar Practice

NB: Some of the vocabulary from the following exercises will differ from vocab we have studied!

Personal Pronoun Practice

4th Declension Practice

5th Declension Practice

Present Active Participle Formation (Nominative only)

Present Active Participle Practice

Present Subjunctive Practice

Imperfect Subjunctive Practice

Pluperfect Subjunctive Practice

Passive Subjunctive Practice

Perfect Subjunctive Practice

Infinitive Form Practice

Indirect Statement Practice

Purpose vs. Result Clauses

Demonstrative Pronouns

Expressions of Time

Comparisons
Forming Ablative Absolutes
Subjunctive of Irregular Verbs

Latin IV Only
Indirect Questions w Sequence of Tenses
Gerund Formation
Translating Gerunds
Translating Gerundives
Passive Periphrastics

Latin II Final Exam Practice

Grammar Practice

NB: Some of the vocabulary from the following exercises will differ from vocab we have studied!

Nominative --> Accusative

Nominative --> Ablative

Prepositional Phrases

Nominative --> Genitive

Genitive Nouns & Adjectives

Neuter Case Forms

Nominative --> Dative

Dative Nouns & Adjectives

Identifying Case

Personal Pronouns

Noun/Adj Agreement

Irregular Verbs: Sum & Possum

Adjective Practice

Pluperfect Tense Formation
Relative Pronoun Forms
Translating Relative Pronouns
Principal Part Practice
Ablative of Agent vs. Means
Perfect Passive Tense Practice
Active and Passive Practice

Latin I Final Exam Practice

Grammar Practice

NB: Some of the vocabulary from the following exercises will differ from vocab we have studied!

Nominative --> Accusative

Gender of Nouns

Noun/Adjective Agreement

Singular --> Plural Verbs

Singular --> Plural Nouns

Present Verb Endings

Nominative --> Ablative

1st PP --> 2nd Principal Part

Nominative --> Vocative

Forming Questions

Indicative --> Imperative

Prepositional Phrases

Nominative --> Genitive

Genitive Nouns & Adjectives

Adjectives --> Adverbs

Neuter Case Forms

Nominative --> Dative

Dative Nouns & Adjectives

Identifying Case
1st, 2nd, 3rd Principal Parts
Imperfect Formation
Perfect Formation
Using Imperfect vs. Perfect
Future Formation

Facebook?

We have uncovered the following Roman celebrity "fakebook" accounts!  Take a look at this glimpse of Roman gossip...

2nd Block

Cato the Younger (Anna)
Cicero (Lucius)
Cleopatra (Martha)

Marc Antony (Cloelia)
Caligula (Rufus)

Claudius (Stella)
Nero (Iacobina)

3rd Block

Nero (Minerva)

4th Block

Gracchi Brothers (Stella)
General Marius (Zoe)

Marcus Tullius Cicero (Luna Teresa)
The Optimates (Trajan)

Cato the Younger (Tranio)
Pompey (Examen)
Marc Antony (Flora)

Cleopatra (Tullia)

Octavian (Zamia)

Congratulations, new Latin Honors Society members!

Vobis gratulationes facimus: Erin, Eric, Caleb, Candria, Grey, Michaela et Lillie!

These students were inducted into the ARGS Chapter of the National Junior Classical League Latin Honors Society at our 14th annual World Language Honors Assembly this April.

Euge! Bene! Magnifice fecistis!

Post Iter Italium!

Why Latin?

What makes Latin a valuable language to study today?

Here are some answers from Latin III students, following their 3rd Quarter "Latin for the Real World" project.

"Medicine found it’s roots during the time that Latin thrived. So knowing Latin terms can really benefit you in the long run. The practices of Law also derive from Latin. So if becoming a lawyer is your dream, Latin would really help you."


"Many of our modern words are derived from Latin, and although many think that learning Latin has no real world use, in reality Latin is a tool for understanding the world. Nobody is going to come up to you on the street and demand you decline a verb, but you might see an English word and understand it's meaning  just because of a similar Latin word. If you are fluent in Latin, you may be able to understand another language fairly well, as long as it's romantic in origin. For many people this may be where the uses of Latin end. However, if you go into a field like Law or Medicine, Latin may become invaluable in your understand of jargon."

"The value of studying Latin is to help you get a better understanding of root words."

"Scientists use if when finding a new species: 'binomial nomenclature.' <-- Latin right there! "

"The value of studying Latin is to understand my language (English) better."

"Latin is also used abundantly in 20th century entertainment and can help with figuring out references and allusions."

"From my research, I discovered that Latin and Greek both have strong influences on the naming convention of viruses.  Learning Latin also helps to learn Neo-Latin terms."

"The value of studying Latin for me is to expand my knowledge of other languages by learning one."

"The value of Latin lies in content.  There's a lot to be learned from the Latin in our lives, whether it be the nature of a viurs or the behavior of animals.  It makes Harry Potter exciting and cars more beautiful.  So why not study Latin?  If it makes the world more beautiful, then by all means...learn all the things!"

"I get asked many times, 'why do you take Latin?' Usually I just tell them it's interesting and I like it.  After seeing everyone else's projects and doing my own, I've really seen how important Latin is!  I think people use Latin for things such as automobile names and the scientific names for flowers because of how universal it is."

"Pure Latin is still used in our language for many scientific terms and commonplace phrases like 'nota bene,' which is Latin for 'note well.' Nota bene--Latin is not just good for Latin, it's good for your English."

Link to: Besides the Pope, Who Speaks Latin Today?

Latin Helped Italian journalist get the scoop

"This is a strong argument for culture in training future journalists," Mr Contu said with a chuckle.

Congratulated by her colleagues, Chirri played down her success, tweeting: "Benedict XVI's Latin is very easy to understand."

See full article: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-12/latin-helped-journo-get-scoop-on-pope/4513416

Thanks to Simek for the lead!

Ancient Roman Temples

Minecraft reconstruction

Where in the are these temples?

Which are the most spectacular?

Curious about the Golden Ratio and its connection to Roman temple architecture? Hopefully you're more clever than I am and can follow this mystery:

The Parthenon + Phi

Prefer the basics?

Intro to the Golden Mean

The Golden Mean and the Parthenon

Are these temples tricking my mind?

Don't miss: An Illustrated Glossary of Classical Architecture

Latin Club Movie Parties!

At our January Latin Club meeting, we decided to begin a monthly Roman movie night.  Our first movie will be show after school on Friday, February 1st
We have rescheduled to Friday, February 22nd, due to a conflict with an NHS event.

To decide what film we'll be watching first, YOU need to submit your vote!  You will find the poll on the right column of the screen, with the list of movie options decided on at our meeting!

VOTE NOW

World Language Holiday Party!

Photos from the World Language Holiday Party!

 _________

"Quomodo Invidosulus Nomine Grinchus Christi Natalem Abrogaverit"

(How the Grinch Stole Christmas)

in Latina!

...the Grinch's heart grows 3 sizes!

 __________

...and the dancing begins with the Macarena!