Beginning Latin I

Gravestone of a Roman family at the end of the Republic

Instructor: John Gruber-Miller, College Hall 312, x4326 (O), 895-4326 (H); jgruber-miller@cornellcollege.edu

Class meetings: M - F 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m.

Office Hours: M W F 11-noon and always by appointment.

Required Materials:

• Maurice Balme and James Morwood. Oxford Latin Course, Parts I-II. 2^nd Ed. Oxford University Press, 1996.
• Jo-Ann Shelton. As the Romans Did. 2^nd Ed. Oxford University Press, 1998.
• CAN-8 audio materials (available in the Humanities Lab)
• John Gruber-Miller, Scriba: Software to Accompany the Oxford Latin Course, 1994.

Recommended Materials:

• 3-ring binder for homework, notes, and paradigms (it is best not to do homework in textbook).
• digital audio of vocabulary and readings available from the links on the Daily Schedule

The major goals of the course:

Latin 101-102 is designed to help you develop proficiency in listening, speaking, writing, and especially reading Latin. Obviously, such a goal means that you will acquire certain linguistic knowledge and skills (e.g. pronunciation, vocabulary, morphology and syntax). But it also means that you need to understand the culture that produced texts in Latin and used it on a daily basis. Third, it means that you will learn not only to observe, abstract, and analyze linguistic and cultural information, but also to synthesize it, to put it into a context, and to sympathize with people of another time and land. In short, 101-102 will improve your ability to communicate, both in Latin and in English.

Preparation for class:

The most important thing to remember about a language is that it is a cumulative process, one set of forms and concepts building upon another. It is quite normal for someone new to a language to make lots of mistakes and not to master new material in a single day. Be patient with yourself. The important thing is to use the language as much as possible. At the same time, since you will be learning nearly all of Latin morphology in two terms, it is important not to fall behind. Therefore, every day spend time reviewing vocabulary and grammar. Second, spend time reading connected prose, re-reading it, listening to the tapes. Third, practice by asking a partner questions in Latin, by composing sentences that use new vocabulary, new sentence patterns, new grammar, and by doing Scriba exercises and other homework. If you are an active learner, using all your senses and motor skills, you will learn Latin much more easily, and best of all you will retain it!

Steady, daily progress is the best way to assure retention and mastery of the Latin tongue, and consequently good grades. Cramming for quizzes and tests, though it may seem to work in the short term, will inevitably hurt you during the second and third terms.

CAN-8 Materials and Digital Audio:

You'll do daily work with the CAN-8 VirtualLab. You can access the lab from any computer in the Humanities Multimedia Classroom (HMC), College 102. Each chapter consists of several types of exercises that are meant to be done for homework after the new grammar for a particular chapter has been introduced in class.

There are recordings for each chapter of OLC, Part I. Listening to the audio (available on-line from the daily schedule page) will assist you with your pronunciation, help you recognize vocabulary, allow the patterns of the Latin sentence to become intuitive, enhance your reading comprehension, and encourage you to perceive Latin not as a series of puzzles, but as a flowing, connected, contextualized language. Experiment with the reading passages, sometimes following with the book, sometimes alternating listening and speaking the passage aloud, sometimes listening for comprehension without looking at the printed page!

Scriba and other on-line exercises:

Scriba exercises for Latin 101 are available in two computer labs on campus (Humanities Multimedia Classroom, Library) and across the campus network. If you own your own computer, I will make you a copy of the exercises for yourself. Scriba runs only on PC's, not Mac's, and it is keyed to the first edition of the Oxford Latin Course. The advantage of using Scriba instead of writing out homework exercises is that you will receive instant gratification. You will learn immediately whether your answer is right or wrong. In the case of wrong answers, Scriba often provides hints or tutorial screens that will point you toward the correct answer. Scriba also lets you work at your own pace. It doesn't mind how long you take to answer or how many times you do an exercise. It is best, however, not to try a Scriba exercise until after you have read and studied the grammar in your textbook first. Other on-line exercises are available on the Latin links page.

Oral class presentation/story writing:

Once this term I will ask you to put your oral and written skills into practice: one class presentation and one story. The oral class presentation (done in pairs) may take several forms: it may be an oral summary of the reading for class; it may be an activity that integrates new vocabulary or grammar into a dialogue or task for the entire class; it may be leading the class through a reading passage by asking questions about a reading passage; it may be a description of something you did or a "news broadcast" version of a reading passage. Try to catch the phrasing and meaning of the Latin in your presentation. Don't be afraid to be expressive! You may use notes on index cards, but it is not meant to be simply reading aloud. The best presentations are ones that engage the rest of the class. Each pair will be assigned a particluar chapter to focus on. Please practice your presentation in preparation for class.

The story writing will be graded on comprehensibility (e.g. is the grammar reasonably correct) and coherence (does the story flow from one paragraph to the next, use the proper transitional words, etc.). Try to write the first draft looking up only a minimum of words. Put it aside, and then come back to it later. I expect you to use the vocabulary and grammatical structures that are currently being studied. Remember to write and think, as much as possible, not in English, but in Latin! Each story should include a title in Latin. The final draft should be typed, double spaced, and use one-inch margins.

Story-writing will be due the tenth day of the term at 5 p.m.

Latin Skit:

You (in groups up to four people) will perform a 5 minute skit in Latin for the rest of the class on the last class day before the final exam. A written draft of the dialogue is due on the fourteenth day of the block so that I can give you feedback on the Latin before you perform. Successful skits in the past have re-told traditional fairy tales, enacted episodes from Roman mythology, or spoofed the story-line and characters in our textbook. You may use your script, but the more you have memorized, the easier it is to act your part(s)!

Testing:

There will be two midterms and a final. Since language is a cumulative process, after each midterm I will ask you to correct your test and hand it in. In the process of revising your test, you will have a chance to review your notes and textbook, confer with others, and learn from your mistakes. As a result, hopefully your knowledge of the previous material will be more secure and you will be able to add new information to a firm foundation. Please use a different color to mark your corrections.

Grading:

• homework and preparation for class, including CAN-8 exercises; oral class presentation, story writing, skit 20%
• frequent quizzes (1 of which can be dropped) 20%
• 2 midterms, each worth 20%
• final exam (comprehensive), worth 20%

Since one quiz can be dropped, there will be no make-up quizzes. There will be an oral component to the exams in the course.

Letter grades will be assigned according to the following pattern:

Final Note: Do not get behind at any time. Ask for help before you feel you are slipping. Carpe diem!

Photo Credits: Gravestone of a Republican family, photo courtesy Kathyrn Andrus-Walck, Dept. Visual and Performing Arts, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs