Latin Helps Archives - Family Style Schooling

Latin with Andy Code Breakers

By Betsy on July 29, 2019

When we started making Latin videos for Latin with Andy in 2017, we had no idea what we were in for! We have learned so much on our journey, and we're excited to share a new branch of the Latin with Andy resources: Code Breakers.

Andy had the opportunity to work with some younger students and loved seeing how quickly they picked up on the concepts when they imagined they were breaking a code. In truth, they were, because that's what translating is: code breaking.

So we've come up with a way to share the basics of the Latin language in a fun and manageable way for our younger friends to get their feet wet without drowning in the abyss of Latin grammar.

Code Breakers Videos

The best part of this resource is that all of the videos are FREE to watch on YouTube, or you can find them all organized here!

LWA Code Breakers consists of five longer lesson videos, each followed by six shorter videos that break up the main ideas into small bites to practice. At the end of each video, students are rewarded with a little outtake clip that we had way too much fun making.

Along with these videos we've created Video Companion Guides (a free download) and Daily Practice Worksheets to purchase for $10, which will transform these videos into a more formal curriculum.

LWA Code Breakers Supplemental Materials

This 88 page resource includes worksheets that take students step-by-step through the concepts presented in the Lesson overview video. They break the work down into quick, easy steps to start building those Latin muscles without wearing them out.

In addition, extra helps are included which give teachers an overview of what is introduced in each lesson, as well as a lesson plan for completing the material in a year, a semester, or even a week, depending on the age of your student.

The final aspect of this resource includes a full color answer key for teachers who aren't familiar with Latin to help walk their students through the basics with success. It can be intimidating to lead someone else down a road you haven't walked before. Answer keys are a great tool to help you get where you want to go!

Who Could Benefit from Code Breakers?

4th - 6th Graders

We recommend that a student has had some formal English grammar study. So if you're in Classical Conversations, they could start Latin with Andy Code Breakers along with Essentials, or even better, after their first complete year of Essentials.

7th and Up

Anyone preparing for a more intense Latin course like Henle Latin could benefit from working through these videos. Think of it as an on-ramp where they can get up to speed without going from zero to sixty in a blink.

Parents

Parents who would like to know how the Latin memory work transfers to their student's future studies could get a grasp of the importance and value of really learning that well.

So what are you waiting for? Check out the videos and get excited about Code Breaking with Andy!

Purchase your Latin with Andy Code Breakers Supplemental Materials here:

$10

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Classical Conversations | Latin Helps

10 Ways to Practice Latin Vocabulary

By Betsy on June 17, 2019

Latin vocabulary is the bear that you don't want to hibernate over summer. Just like any muscle, if you don't use it, you will lose it. Therefore, taking some time to keep that vocabulary refreshed over school breaks will be one of the most fruitful endeavors you can pursue. Here are 10 ways to keep it fun and fresh:

1 - Flashcards

Flashcards are a simple yet effective method for review. If you just focus on 10-15 flashcards over the 10 weeks of your summer break, you can have anywhere from 100-150 vocabulary words fresh for the school year to start back up again.

You can make your own flashcards, or download and print the Latin with Andy flashcards (included in a membership).

If you've been studying Latin for a while, take this time to focus on the vocabulary that you struggle with the most. It will really pay off when you're back into translations again.

2 - Flashcard Videos

Latin with Andy has videos on YouTube that walk through the Henle 1 Vocabulary cards. Watch a video each day to keep the vocabulary fresh and learn tips and tricks for how to remember the words.

3 - Memory Matching

There are other ways to use the flashcards to help you practice. Print them off single sided, cut them out, and play that old fun matching game with them!

4 - Hangman

Classic games like hangman work well because they involve attention to spelling as well as vocabulary review. You can play hangman by choosing any of the possible forms of nouns or verbs. This expands your game play by having to sort through all of the possible endings they know.

5 - Spoons

Spoons is a fast paced card game that requires players to pass cards around in a circle until they have four that match. When they get those four matching cards, they try to subtly grab a spoon as the others keep searching for four cards. Once someone grabs a spoon, the other players can grab one even if they don't have four matching cards. The one who is last is out.

You can play this game with Latin vocabulary with those same one-sided vocabulary cards you used in memory matching. Just grab some friends/family and start looking for two complete sets of vocabulary words, like this:

I don't like the idea of getting out of the game because that means that you'd stop practicing vocabulary, so I usually just have the same number of spoons as players, and the spoon grabbing just livens up the vocabulary review!

When one person finds matches, they grab their spoon, then lay down their vocabulary words to announce their success. Then they draw four more cards and everyone else keeps playing with the same cards they had.

6 - Pictionary

Another fast-paced and playful Latin vocabulary review game is Pictionary. Students can draw one of their vocabulary words and see if their friends can guess it and then translate it into Latin.

7 - Word Pictures

Sometimes the Latin vocabulary word is just a little more challenging to memorize, so drawing pictures to help them remember the forms of verbs or the Latin word for a particular noun can be a great way to review vocabulary.

8 - Vocab Quizzes

A quick way to get in a little review is to offer a vocabulary quiz. Focus on one lesson at a time and have your student take the same quiz every day. They can complete as many as they know and then use the answers to add two or three more answers to their list.

As time passes, they will get faster at taking the quiz and eventually master it. At that point you can move on to the next lesson. Every once in a while, you can bring the old lessons back as a review.

9 - Make a Dictionary

One of my favorite ways to really practice the forms of your Latin vocabulary is make your own personal Latin Dictionary. This isn't so much for actually looking up words when you're translating, even though you could definitely use it that way.

The beauty of copying all of these forms and translations over and over is that you build muscle memory. As the forms become familiar, it makes translation work faster.

10 - Word of the Week

If all of these vocabulary review ideas just feel like too much work, you'd be surprised at how many words you can really internalize by just focusing on a word of the week. Write it on the family chalk board, or post it on the fridge to get it out in front of your family. Make it a point to bring attention to it throughout the week.

If you can find ways to keep Latin vocabulary fun it will make it easier to keep reviewing. The rewards of your efforts will be worth it!

Henle 2 Resources on Latin with Andy

By Betsy on July 14, 2018

To finish out our week of Latin with Andy Christmas in July, we're sharing with you our latest undertaking: videos to complement Henle's Second Year Latin text. This summer we've been working to extend our Latin learning resource library for those who want to continue to pursue learning this ancient language. You can preview the first two lesson resources below for FREE!

Make sure to grab all of the freebies we've been giving away this week (free through July 28th, 2018):

Latin Vocabulary Quizzes
4 Principal Parts Tests & Quizzes
Jona et Piscis Grandis (A Big Fish translating adventure)
Maxima Vipera (An original adventure story in Latin, written by Andy)

Also, read the story behind Latin with Andy, and take advantage of the last few hours of the big giveaway of 10 - One year subscriptions to Latin with Andy!

Lesson 1: 3rd Declension Review

Download the Lesson 1 Video Companion Guide to follow along with Andy.

For review:

Exercise 3

Fill in the blanks and translate. (Henle 2, p. 307)

For review:

Exercises 4, 5, & 6

Translate. (Henle 2, p. 307)

For review:

Lesson 2: Review of Adjectives

Download the Lesson 2 Video Companion Guide to follow along with Andy.

Decline the phrase. (Henle 2, pp. 309-310)

For review:

Exercises 8 & 9

Translate. (Henle 2, p. 311)

For review:

Exercises 10 & 11

Translate. (Henle 2, p. 311)

For review:

Governing Adjectives

Exercise 12

Translate ideas not words. (Henle 2, p. 312)

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Challenge | Classical Conversations | Latin Helps

Mental Horticulture: Writing an Original Story in Latin

By Betsy on July 13, 2018

I've joked with Andy over the last year as we've developed Latin with Andy that all along, my maniacal mom plan was to get Andy to work Henle's First Year Latin book a fourth time—and you always learn something in a deeper way when you have to teach it. The training and toiling Andy invested in his Latin studies inspired an original story written by Andy in Latin: Maxima Vipera.

Working on Precision of Thought

In his book Climbing Parnassus, Tracy Lee Simmons walks his readers through the vast benefits of learning Latin which includes composition in Latin. It challenges us towards precision of thought.

"The procedure elevates us above our slack habits, transporting us out of our loose, lazy ways. We utter not what pours forth haphazardly in awkward spurts of inarticulacy, firing scattershot in the general direction of a target hoping we'll get points for proximity. Instead we think through the idea and then we convert it into the right words. We strain through an intellectual exercise; we're sweatier for wear, but stronger." (p. 176)

While this idea is inspiring, the story Andy has written is the beginning of his journey, not the culmination of masters like Caesar and Cicero. But I love it. I love that even if one doesn't continue their studies in Latin throughout the rest of their lives, the exercise in precision will be a skill that applies universally.

Lessons in Logic

Simmons continues to argue that: "Every lesson in Latin is a lesson in logic." It is rigorous to study Latin and wears students out because each sentence requires so much of the student. Here's an example:

Taking the simple two-word Latin sentence Vellem mortuos ("I would that they were dead")...understanding this sentence aright requires fourteen intellectual turns. A student must know (1) the person, (2) tense, (3) voice, (4) number, (5) mood of the verb vellem; (6) that it comes from volo, meaning (7) "I wish"; and that (8) the subjunctive has here a particular shade of meaning. As to mortuos, he must know that it is (9) the accusative, (10) plural, (11) masculine, from (12) mortuus, meaning (13) "dead"; (14) the reason why the accusative is necessary. (p.177)

That is some serious work! The next time you grade your student's Latin work, keep in mind how many different ways they could go wrong. Because there are so many ways to go wrong, it can be very frustrating and overwhelming to even try. Simmons encourages:

"But the faultless moments, the ones when the winds fill our sails and the words blow perfectly in all their weight and beauty, are the ones we come to live for. They take us halfway up the mountain. We begin to look down on clouds." (p. 177)

It's so tempting to spare our kids from pain in their studies, but in doing so, we can inadvertently spare them from the view from the mountain top.

Mental Horticulture

When you've soaked in enough grammar, vocabulary, and translation experience, you are ready to Climb Parnassus, the ancient Greek mountain that required discipline, training, and effort to climb. He states:

"For such training and toning, either with translating or composing, is more than the sum of "framing sentences." It's mental horticulture. We plant, and even weed, a small garden patch of the mind when we compose in this taut, conscious way, placing words and clauses with the same care we might expend on planting delicate seeds or transplanting mature stalks. The care becomes not only an exercise in exact thought, but also a loving act. We know we're doing something worthwhile. For one fleeting moment, we push back the chaos and make way for order. Ad astra per aspera [through hardship to the stars]." (p. 179)

While the journey will be difficult, as it has been for us, it is most definitely worth it.

An Original Story in Latin

The fruit of Andy's labor presented itself in a story form one night. We were working through the One Year Adventure Novel curriculum and deeply immersed in story, and a Latin story started forming in his mind. His desk in his room has a glossy white top, which allows him to write with a dry erase marker, so he started writing.

Where did this come from? It wasn't an assignment or a task he was required to do. He wrote because he's cultivated a love of Latin. It's the truest expression of amateur (from the Latin word "amo" which means "to love). Creation for the sake of enjoyment. That is a beautiful thing.

The story is an adventure tale about a brave soldier, an ancient beast, and a deadly battle. There are four short chapters, and includes more challenging grammatical forms than Jona et Piscis Grandis. This story would be great for students who have made it through most of Henle's Second Year Latin.

Maxima Vipera PDF

What to expect in the Maxima Vipera PDF download:

35 pages
An original adventure story in Latin by Andy
Notes on translating
A vocab word bank for the whole resource
Andy's literal translation
Andy's artistic translation

$5 for the complete resource. Use the code: FREE4ME to get this resource for free through July 28th, 2018! If you're a Latin with Andy member, this resource is free in the printables zone.

Other resources you might enjoy that are all available in a Latin with Andy membership include:

$15 - A set of printable vocabulary cards that go through the entire book of Henle's First Year Latin. It amounts to just under 500 vocabulary cards!

$8 - Full color charts for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Conjugations with black and white charts copies of the conjugation charts for easy printing.

$5 - Set includes: Full color charts for 1st-5th Declensions. Full color charts for 1st - 3rd Person Pronouns, as well as several other Pronouns to practice declining. Full color charts for 1st - 3rd declension Adjectives. Black and White versions of the declension charts for easy printing. Blank charts to fill in.

Jona et Piscis Grandis – A Big Fish Translating Adventure

By Betsy on July 12, 2018

From the time students start learning their first vocabulary words and noun declensions, they are itching to translate something in Latin. The challenge is that even once they've spent years soaking up the grammar, it can still be very challenging to head to a text originally written in Latin and feel confident about translating it. Andy struggled with that when he first started trying to translate Caesar's writings about his battles. In hopes of helping others hurdle this obstacle, he's worked up a practice story that you just might be familiar with...

Two Challenges When Translating Caesar

We found we faced two challenges when we started attempting to translate Caesar's battles. First, we were unfamiliar with the story. The names, places, and events were foreign to us, so figuring out what was being said in the midst of trying to figure out what was even happening was a huge challenge.

Secondly, there is a big gap between the literal translation and the artistic translation. You've probably experienced this when you meet someone who is not a native English speaker. They use strange constructions and foreign sounding usages of English vocabulary that can sometimes make you scratch your head in wonder. What exactly are they trying to say?

The same thing happens when trying to translate something into English that wasn't originally written in English. Sometimes the constructions are odd, and you have to shift those words into the best way to say the idea in English—thus an artistic translation.

A Big Fish Story Solution

Andy noticed that the book of Jonah is a great place to start if you're interested in trying to translate some from the Vulgate. However, even with the simplicity of it, there are some challenging grammatical constructions that can trip up the Latin translating enthusiast.

Therefore, Andy simplified the Latin a bit for beginner translators. He also included notes to help identify the tricky spots. Additionally, since students are most likely to be familiar with the story of Jonah, it should be fun to try to discover the story in Latin.

You'll enjoy his awkward "literal translation" of the story as a way to track if you're headed the right direction, and then read his artistic translation of the concepts.

Jona et Piscis Grandis PDF

What to expect in the Jona et Piscis Grandis PDF download:

31 pages
A simplified version of the book of Jonah in Latin
Notes on translating
A vocab word bank for the whole resource
Andy's literal translation
Andy's artistic translation

Other resources you might enjoy that are all available in a Latin with Andy membership include:

$15 - A set of printable vocabulary cards that go through the entire book of Henle's First Year Latin. It amounts to just under 500 vocabulary cards!

$8 - Full color charts for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Conjugations with black and white charts copies of the conjugation charts for easy printing.