Latin CLASS SYLLABUS
INTRODUCTION TO LATIN, QUARTER I
Class website: www.theodrama.art
This Introduction to Latin course offers an opportunity to build language acquisition skills, and introduces the history, function, and application of the Latin language in the humanities and sciences. This course also helps students understand that formal conventions of language in its many written and spoken dialects are historically, culturally, and socially produced; that the use of these conventions may intentionally or unintentionally contribute to the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of a piece of writing in a particular rhetorical context.
Key goals of the course:
1) To build a comprehensive vocabulary of Latin & Greek derived words common in the English language, and those rooted in the humanities & sciences.
2) To strive for a deeper understanding of the Liturgy, by studying its Hebraic-Greco-Latin origins.
3) To build language acquisition skills through studying elements of Latin syntax; i.e., comparing "big picture" and microscopic perspectives in problem solving; observing the power of order, classification and prioritization in grammatical action; discovering creative language applications, thus expressing thoughts through words with eloquence, succinctness and clarity.
CLASS GRADING RUBICS
Class participation: 40%
The class participation grade will be posted on each day's scheduled class.
Exams: 60 %
Written exams this quarter will cover Latin cognates* and derivatives** in English, originating from Latin nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and suffixes. Oral exams will cover All exams will be announced in class and posted on the class website.
*Cognates: words that share common origins.
**Derivatives: words that have been borrowed from one language to another.
CLASS RESOURCES
Latina Christiana, Fourth Edition
Cheryl Lowe, Memoria Press, 2015
Lingua Angelica, Fourth Edition
Cheryl Lowe, Memoria Press, 2001
Greek and Latin Roots for Science and the Social Sciences
Peter Smith, Pressbooks by University of Victoria, 2016
Ossa Latinitatis Sola ad Mentem Reginaldi Rationemque: The Mere Bones of Latin According to the Thought and System of Reginald Foster
Reginaldus Thomas Foster, Catholic University of America Press, 2015
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TOP 10 REASONS TO TAKE LATIN
Students study Latin as part of the middle school curriculum because the benefits of learning the language transcend their Latin classroom. The Top Ten Benefits are:
1. It helps students to better understand the structure and grammar of their own language;
2. It increases their problem solving abilities as they decode word meanings.
3. It increases their vocabularies as 60% of the English Language is derived from Latin.
4. It complement their study of French or Spanish;
5. It reinforces the importance of precision in all academic studies;
6. It remains the language of the sciences, medicine, and the law.
7. Students of Latin score dramatically higher in the SAT, ACT, GRE, LSAT exams.
8. Latin looks great on your transcripts: colleges WILL look at you.
9. You get to read some great literature and chant in its original language.
10. Most importantly: Latin is the universal language of Christ’s Church. [Exorcism prayers are all in Latin, because as the Church’s leading exorcists proclaim,“The Devil hates Latin.”]