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Latin Study Help

The document provides information for parents of students learning Latin. It explains that studying Latin improves English vocabulary and helps students understand other cultures. It offers tips for helping with Latin homework, such as having students read aloud and explain concepts in English. For struggling students, it suggests ensuring they understand word meanings and endings, as word order is different in Latin. It also recommends developing broader English language skills to aid Latin learning.

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Frank Garret Yeats
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108 views

Latin Study Help

The document provides information for parents of students learning Latin. It explains that studying Latin improves English vocabulary and helps students understand other cultures. It offers tips for helping with Latin homework, such as having students read aloud and explain concepts in English. For struggling students, it suggests ensuring they understand word meanings and endings, as word order is different in Latin. It also recommends developing broader English language skills to aid Latin learning.

Uploaded by

Frank Garret Yeats
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Latin Study Help

Caris parentibus familiisque discipulorum Latinitatis magister Yeats salutationem dicit! Si valetis, valeo! Mr. Yeats says greetings to the dear parents and families of his Latin students. If you are well, I am well! (This is how the Romans began their letters.) Dear parents/family/guardians, Im thrilled your child decided to study Latin! Its a fantastic language with a rich history, and I promise that at some point this year, your child will be excited to share something they learned in my class. I can also guarantee that at some point they will find my class tough. I do know, however, that they can achieve excellence! The biggest direct benefit Latin study gives to English speakers is an improvement of vocabulary. Latin isnt where English comes from (English comes from another ancient language called Germanic, and originated in modern-day Denmark), but Latin does give us a lot of vocabulary. Latin helps a lot with vocabulary in English--or to put it another way: Vocabulary is directly ameliorated by the study of the ancient Latin language. Every underlined word comes to us from Latin. You can really tell if you see that same sentence written in Latin! Vocabulary is directly ameliorated by the study of the ancient Latin language. Vocabularium directe fit melius studenda antiqua Latina lingua. The real benefit to studying Latin, as with any language, is getting students to see and understand another culture. Too often, we tend to get in a mindset that our culture is the best, and others are somehow lesser than ours. Exploring a foreign culture in depth is one of the best ways to help us get out of that mindset, and appreciate the differences between one culture and the next. That all said, the next several pages are a quick breakdown of why Latin is a tricky language to master, and what you can do to help when your child is having difficulties.

Latin Study Help

Helping Your Child with Latin Homework Reading Latin One of the best things you can do is let them read it out loud. They dont have to read it out loud to you, but having them speak it will help in the long term with comprehension. Asking them what the reading is about is a great way to approach it, too. Ask them to explain to you what they understand in English. They dont have to translate it word for word, but the big concepts are all they need. Latin texts are usually pretty interesting! If They Just Arent Getting It If your student is struggling and not understanding it, chances are good that he or she is unsure of what is doing in the sentence. This likely will boil down to a few different issues: They arent sure of the exact meaning of a word. Latin is a language with a relatively small vocabulary. The trade-off here is that one word can mean a lot of different things. For example: the verb agere can mean to act, to pass time, to spend time, to do something, to drive something onward, or to lead. The noun studium can mean a study, a pursuit, zeal, or a bias, and its meaning depends on what you are talking about. If your child is struggling with what a word means, make sure they look at all the different possible meanings of a word. The textbook has a vocabulary section in the back, and all of them are required to get a Latin dictionary, so that can help, too. They are incorrectly depending on word order Latin is very different from English. In English, you know what a word is doing because of the order of the words. In the sentence, The dog sees the cat, its known that dog is doing the action (seeing) because it is said before cat. Latin doesnt do that at all. If I change the order, I change who sees whom: The cat sees the dog. Latin doesnt do that at all. In Latin: canis = dog videt = sees felicem = cat Canis videt felicem. Felicem videt canis. Canis felicem videt. Videt canis felicem. All these mean the same thing (The dog sees the cat). The reason is because the ending of the word changed to express what was being seen and who was seeing. To change it to The cat sees the dog, the ending of the words change:

Latin Study Help

(The dog sees the cat) Canis videt felicem. Felicem videt canis. Canis felicem videt. Videt canis felicem. (The cat sees the dog) Canem videt felis. Felis videt canem. Canem felis videt. Videt canem felis. If a child is struggling, it may be because their brain is trying to apply an English rule to a Latin sentence. Remind them to check the endings. The book has a summary of forms that tells all the different endings and cases that a word can be. If they are unsure, have them look at all the different endings it can be. If they are still stumped, they can go to the following website: http://archives.nd.edu/words.html There, they can enter the Latin word and it will give them all the information they need on what various meanings the words have. Id recommend this as a last resort, however. Language Skill Development Another thing that helps students is to encourage their English skills in reading, grammar, etc. There are piles of educational research that show language skills, such as reading, writing, grammar, etc, go across languages. If spelling is a skill you child struggles with, helping them improve their spelling in English will pay dividends in Latin, or whatever language they pursue. If you have any questions about Latin, or what exactly your child is studying in my class, please feel free to send me an email: [email protected]. Together, well accomplish some great things! Sincerely (or better yet, Valete, Parentes!), Garret Yeats

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