LATINA MI: Prîmus Diçs
(file:latn1001\day1; August 15, 2007)
TAKE: syllabus; textbooks/Vocab cards book; chalk; roll; student info. sheets; pronunc./preamble handout;
LVD/LFD/Vocab. Card/CD fliers; Latin pencils
ARRIVE EARLY: greet individual students as they arrive with Salvç
1. A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO LINGUA LATINA
Who's excited? How many freshmen? Who's had Latin before? (If you haven't had before, not
to worry: students without prior study do JUST AS WELL, or BETTER, than those who had
Latin in high school)
You actually know a great deal of Latin already; here's proof:
SALVETE! [wave hello as you say this and ask “what did I say?”]
SALVETE, DISCIPULI! [what did I say?]
Point to individual male and female students and say: Est discipulus. Est discipulus. Est
discipula. Est discipula. Quid est? Estne discipulus? (Est discipulus.--or you can teach them
now ITA VERO/yes indeed and MINIME/no) Estne discipula? (Est discipula.) Estne discipula?
(point to a male: Nôn est discipula--est discipulus.) etc.
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING? DERIVATIVES, LINGUISTIC INTUITION.
Write discipulus/discipula/est on board.
Demonstrate SPECTO/AUDIO [then write those 2 words on board].
DISCIPULI, SPECTATE ET AUDITE ME:
Ego nôn sum discipulus! Sum magister! Quid est "magister" in Anglicâ?
Nômen mihi est "Dr. LaFleur." What did I say? [write name on board]
"Dr. LaFleur" est nômen meum in ANGLICA.
MIHI[emphasize] nômen in LATINA [emphasize] est DOCTOR ILLA FLORA. [write
name on board]
Quid est nômen TIBI [emphasize] in Anglicâ? [to several students; when they reply, say
SALVE + name]
HOW CAN YOU UNDERSTAND ME? (context, gesturing, derivatives of nômen:
nomenclature, nominate, etc.)
WRITE on board, one sentence at a time, and PRONOUNCE (and have students pronounce each
sentence after you, individually and chorally, then ask volunteers WHO HAVE NOT HAD
LATIN BEFORE to tell you what each sentence means)
Latîna est lingua.
Latîna est lingua Rômâna.
Lingua Latîna est magna.
Lingua Latîna est magna et antîqua [antîquissima]
Estne Doctor Illa Flôra antîquus?
MINIME--Doctor Illa Flôra nôn est antîquus!!!!!
Latîna est FACILIS!
Amô Latînam! etc.
You are able to do this because you know a lot about language and about Latin already; ca. 2/3 of
English vocabulary derives from Latin and much of language is intuitive.
2. LEAD INTO A DISCUSSION OF “WHY LATIN?”
Ask the class: Why are you studying Latin, a “dead language” [!!] ? generate a brief discussion
that will bring out some of the following points:
–to improve English language skills: vocabulary (60-70% of Eng. < Lat.), reading
comprehension, writing, speaking, thinking, COMMUNICATION (one of the very most
important life skills): distribute PREAMBLE handout (ASK IF ANYONE HAS
MEMORIZED THE PREAMBLE, have him/her/them recite it; then you repeat it back
with all words of Latin origin deleted).
–improving GRE, MCAT, LSAT scores
–foundation for modern foreign languages, esp. the Romance languages, including Spanish,
which is becoming increasingly important in this country
–MOST IMPORTANTLY: Latin is SINE QUA NON to advanced study of Roman civilization,
history, literature; TRANSLATIONS are never quite satisfactory: if faithful, they’re not
beautiful; if beautiful, they’re not faithful. Americans' keen interest in Greco-Roman
civilization for its own sake and as a major influence on Western civilization (note, e.g.,
popularity of Summer 2000 film, GLADIATOR, with Russsell Crowe in a "skirt," &
Spring 2004 movie, TROY, with Brad Pitt as Achilles–a character who will turn up in our
readings this semester); if more people had a fuller understanding of the cultures of the
ancient Mediterranean–of greece and Rome, of North Africa, Egypt, Tunisia, Iran, Iraq,
Syria, Afghanistan, all these lands that were part of the Roman Empire, we’re might find
ourselves in a happier international situation today.
–teacher shortage, great market for Latin teachers; law, business' interest in Humanities majors,
especially those with strong language skills; great as a second major or minor
3. ROLL/STUDENT INFO SHEETS/EDRESSES:
• distribute stud. info. sheets/call roll;
• tell students they will have LATIN NAMES;
• EMAIL: EMAIL ME TODAY at rlafleur@uga.edu so I can easily add you to my elist for
the class–include SALVE, LATN 1001, and your full name; check your email every
evening or morning.
• OPUS IN TABULA/VOLUNTEERS: I’ll email you almost every day, usually late
afternoon or early morning, with a reminder of assignment, quiz topic, etc., and a request
for VOLUNTEERS to put some work on the board (OPUS IN TABULA): everyone is
asked to volunteer at least five times during the semester; you get +3 quiz points each
time you volunteer and if you do volunteer at least FIVE times, you get to drop your
lowest test grade; helping out in this way gives you some “ownership” in the class, earns
you quiz points, and gives you the opportunity of dropping one test grade, so it’s a win-
win-win activity.
4. SYLLABUS/ASSIGNMENT: Go over at least p. 1 of SYLLABUS and next day's
assignment from the DAILY SCHEDULE, esp. ALPHABET & PRONUNCIATION; distribute
PRONUNCIATION handout.
TONIGHT: study discussion of alphabet, syllabification, and
accentuation in WHEELOCK p. xxxix-xliv, & try
syllabifying and accenting the first 11 words on the
pronunciation handout, filling in the blanks provided; I’ll
ask 11 students to put these on the board, syllabified and
accented, so be prepared–and also go through the handout
and try to pronounce ALL the words AFTER studying
Wheelock AND listening to the
“Introduction” EITHER on the CD “Readings from
Wheelock’s Latin” OR on the WHEELOCK'S LATIN
AUDIO FILES at www.wheelockslatin.com.
5. LATINA IN VERO MUNDO (“Latin in the Real World”): be on the lookout for Latin
in the REAL WORLD: newspapers, magazines, tv, internet, books, songs, around campus, etc.
JEOPARDY: category: 3-word sents.: Caesar uttered this sent. when he was assassinated, acc. to
Shakespeare; DESCARTES made this observation, meaning "I think, therefore I am."
