Goldman/Szymanski,
English
Grammar for Students of Latin (Olivia & Hill Press,
1994)
On-Line Resources:
All
of these are free; the product is of varying quality. Caveat
araneo-fluitator! (Let the web-surfer beware!) Let me know
about any broken links you find.
Here, in one indigestible block, are all those
handouts from Fall Semester.
Latin
YouTubers are all over the place lately. Carla Hurt's Found in
Antiquity: Latin is one of the best channels.
She's an energetic and charming teacher of Latin; she's great
on pronunciation and strategies for learning the language; she
uses and is not crazy about the Latin textbook that we're
using (which I think is the correct attitude). Her series
of videos using Minecraft to teach Latin vocabulary is
weirdly funny. She has a
series of Latin songs (a great way to get the sound of
the language into your brain). If you have studied (or are
planning on studying) Greek, she has a
channel devoted to that, too. I recommend her text
of Aeneid Book 4 if you want to try reading
Latin on your own.
Versions of Whitaker's WORDS, a superb freeware program that
parses and briefly defines Latin words, can be downloaded from
Sourceforge (for Mac OS X, for Windows of various flavors,
Linux, DOS, and OS/2). It's probably archived at many other
places online if you search for it.
There's a
great cross-platform program (freeware versions available for
Mac, Windows, & Linux) called Diogenes, generously created by
Peter Heslin. It's a great dictionary and parsing program for
Latin and Greek (should you need it).
This might be
more useful later on, but the National Latin Exam has an online
practice app that can generate quizzes of varying
lengths for various levels of Latin.
In
addition to the above free programs/sites, there are various
not-free options (which you can seek out for yourself at the Mac
App Store, Google Play or what have you). These aren't
necessary or required. Read the assignments; do the homework;
come to class. That's the secret to doing well in this course.
You know that voice in your head? The one that's saying, "That
is the old way. I can work smarter, not harder, and do just as
well or better AS LONG AS I BUY THIS SHINY NEW THINGLET!" That
voice? It's trying to destroy you.
However: all practice is good, and if you actually make use of
these things, they might be useful for you.
There's
an okay pair of programs for mobile platforms (one for iOS,
one for Android) by a guy named Joel Gwynn. They're designed
to go along with Wheelock's Latin, rather than our text, but
there's a free demo for each where you can work through the
first few chapters and see if it's useful to you without
plonking down any coin.
Liberation Philology has a
simple interface (suitable for phones) for review and
self-quizzing of Latin vocabulary and grammar. It's pretty
cheap, very reliable, and there are versions for iOS and
Android. If you like the format, they have equivalent apps for a lot of
other languages: Ancient Greek, Old Norse, Italian,
Russian, etc.
The popular
(and free) language learning app Duolingo has added Latin
to their languages. It might be of some kind of use. Anything
that helps you practice Latin is inherently good for your
Latin, but this app isn't designed to go with our course (or vice
versa).
Format:
Electrifying
grammatical lectures; exercises and readings in Lingua
Latina and its Companion as assigned. Balloons!Prizes!!EVERYONE A WINNER!!! (Your
results may vary. "Balloons" is used here in a metaphorical
sense. Prizes consist of nuggets of pure incorporeal knowledge.
Void where prohibited.)
2. Expectations
for Learning: This is a 2-part, nine-month-long course divided
into two semesters for administrative convenience. At the end of
it, you'll be able to read the Latin language. That's the
target, and you will hit it if you persist. Along the way we'll
get practice in speaking, listening, maybe even writing Latin.
But the ultimate goal is to be able to read Latin.
Sidebar: Why read Latin? It will improve your grasp of English
vocabulary and grammar. It will enable you to travel through
time and speak to some of the greatest minds in history in their
own language. It will enable you to read people's Latin tattoos
and spot the mistakes.
Grading:
Attendance/Participation Daily attendance and
participation are required.
30%
Quizzes
(vocabulary & memorization)
30%
Tests
(translation & parsing)
40%
FINE
PRINT:
The lowest of the five tests and quizzes will
drop except for the final quiz and exam, which must receive a
passing grade for the student to pass the course. No one can
pass the course without taking and passing the final exam.
Re attendance: I
realize that we're still in a pandemic, and may be facing
a new one, and there may be other legitimate reasons not
to make it to class; there will be ways to earn back
attendance points (e.g. pop quizzes on low-attendance
days). But: the default should be attendance, not absent
with an excuse.
The peculiarities of our semester schedule mean
that this class has two final exam periods. The first (Wednesday
April 30; 11:30-1:30) will be a voluntary review session, at
which we'll go over a practice test. The true and genuinely
final exam will be on Friday May 2; 11:30-1:30.
There will be no class on the following days: Monday January 20
(MLK jr. Day) and the week of March 3-7 (Fall Break)
No one can pass the course without taking and
passing the final exam.
The maximum level of extra credit that will be
counted toward the final grade = 5% of the total course points.
Missed assignments may not be made up, except
by prior arrangement with the instructor.
Ducunt volentem fata, nolentem trahunt.--Seneca
The instructor reserves the right to recognize
significant improvement (or decline) in student performance when
awarding the final grade.
The syllabus is subject to change at the
discretion of the instructor; changes will be announced in class
and posted on-line.
No incompletes will be issued, except for
pressing reasons and by prior arrangement with the instructor.
