Getting close to the end of the summer. I am kind of looking forward to starting school again. Thinking of courses I am going to teach next year, classes, students, etc. How is foreign language going? - you might ask. I answer, "which one?" As for all of you learners of a foreign language, I need to work hard to keep up my skills when it comes to summer. Since I went to Rome in June, I was working on my Italian a little bit. Then, I needed to read in Hungarian so that I don't forget literary language. As far as "kitchen Hungarian" goes, I get plenty of that during the summer. I am visiting my sister in England and my parents will be there. Wonderful opportunity to talk in my native language!
But back to Latin. When August rolls around, I start looking at my books and read Latin authors. This time it is going to be Pliny about the eruption of Vesuvius.
How did you spend your summer? Did you exercise your language skills?
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Latin Dominus Search
You take Latin for a year. At the end of the year you can read and understand what you are reading. You are patting yourself on the shoulder: "I actually notice the different endings and know which one is which!" You feel you have made a big step forward mastering Latin. Then comes summer vacation. You might occasionally remember your Latin classes watching the new Harry Potter movies, but by the end of the summer all that fades. Why don't we have a Latin country so that you could go there and talk to people? Well, there are many people who find speaking Latin their hobby but they live in different parts of the world and not in one country.
You say Latin is challenging? It is true. Latin is going to challenge your logic, memory, and most of all, persistence. You need to overcome the gaps of not using the language by having the will power to sit down and study vocabulary, read and translate anyway. Ask anyone who has learnt a second language. Is there vacation or breaks from studying a language? If there is one, it only slows the learning down. If you want to be a Latin Dominus, you need to fill in the gaps.
Summer vacation is not the only gap, but it is the biggest one. There are little gaps between Latin classes. During the Latin class you use the language, afterwards you don't. Remember how you learned your mother tongue. Did you have a special time of the day when you spoke English to your mother for one hour? Did you stop talking when that hour was over? Did you not speak during the summer? This is the key. You cannot stop using the language if you want to learn it.
Knowing a language is different than knowing how to swim or ride a bicycle. If you don't swim one summer you will still swim the next summer and you won't be afraid you forgot how to. Knowing a language is not in your muscles but in your brain. The two things function differently. Your muscles will remember the movements of swimming after a few strokes, but speaking a language will require much more time to be active and eventually you can lose your knowledge. You use it or lose it, says the old saying.
What is your goal for this year? Are you ready to read Latin like you read English? Are you ready to understand how Cicero or Caesar was formulating their thoughts?
You say Latin is challenging? It is true. Latin is going to challenge your logic, memory, and most of all, persistence. You need to overcome the gaps of not using the language by having the will power to sit down and study vocabulary, read and translate anyway. Ask anyone who has learnt a second language. Is there vacation or breaks from studying a language? If there is one, it only slows the learning down. If you want to be a Latin Dominus, you need to fill in the gaps.
Summer vacation is not the only gap, but it is the biggest one. There are little gaps between Latin classes. During the Latin class you use the language, afterwards you don't. Remember how you learned your mother tongue. Did you have a special time of the day when you spoke English to your mother for one hour? Did you stop talking when that hour was over? Did you not speak during the summer? This is the key. You cannot stop using the language if you want to learn it.
Knowing a language is different than knowing how to swim or ride a bicycle. If you don't swim one summer you will still swim the next summer and you won't be afraid you forgot how to. Knowing a language is not in your muscles but in your brain. The two things function differently. Your muscles will remember the movements of swimming after a few strokes, but speaking a language will require much more time to be active and eventually you can lose your knowledge. You use it or lose it, says the old saying.
What is your goal for this year? Are you ready to read Latin like you read English? Are you ready to understand how Cicero or Caesar was formulating their thoughts?
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