Language of the Catholic Church and Western Civilization
This post details an "old" memorization method, one used by St. Thomas Aquinas, among many others, "back in the day." (So you know it has to be good!) It's not just for medieval scholastics, though: it will help your Latin studies in A.D. 2020 and beyond. I first learned about it from Dr. Kevin Vost's... Continue Reading →
This post is another excuse to mention and help you all use Fr. William Most's amazing textbook series Latin by the Natural Method. I highly recommend making the lists of vocabulary words in your notebook as he suggests in the Teacher's Guide. I certainly advocate using idea-mapping when studying each lesson. And I also think... Continue Reading →
This is my favorite Latin study-aid of them all, so we will begin this series with it today. And actually, I already have an example of a "mind map" or "idea map" on this blog, explaining jobs the endings of Latin verbs do. (It's here if you want to see it.) An idea map is... Continue Reading →
Don't groan--this is a highly-powered mega-vitamin for your Latin skills! There is no better way I know to feel like Latin is a spoken language than having a repertoire of pieces in your mind that you can hear with your "mind's ear." You've learned some Latin words with your textbook--very good. But you probably didn't... Continue Reading →
Learning Latin often feels like swimming in a strange sea of grammar. It's tricky, but persist, persist! Soon you will surf the waves of that ocean with joy, I promise, just keep at it! In the meantime, to help make it easier, here's a diagram for you. This picture illustrates things the forms/endings of a... Continue Reading →
(Latina pro Parvulis--Latin for Kids, pt. II) I like to get students working to read real Latin as soon as possible. Thanks to an ancient book called the Disticha Catonis, this is really possible after only a few Latin concepts have been introduced. Here's a project I've done with a roomful of 40 fifth-graders, and... Continue Reading →
From Easy Latin for Sight Reading for Secondary Schools by Benjamin D'Ooge (1897) COMMON LATIN IDIOMS. The following idioms occur so frequently that it will be of much subsequent advantage and a great saving of time for the student to memorize them thoroughly early in his course. ad unum, to a man. aequo animo, contentedly,... Continue Reading →
Catholics have accepted some of the worst distortions of their Faith in the order of music, art, and literature without a shiver of discontent because they never really heard the "Tantum Ergo" or the "Ave Maris Stella" --not for lack of faith, but because there had never been ordinary music in the home to have... Continue Reading →
Everybody thinks of Latin as hard to learn. And it is-all languages are. But what sets Latin apart for its difficulty in our minds is not the what--it's the how.
