Holy Cow! I Can Read Latin (First Year, That Is)!

The other day, I was reading a story from Stage 8 (Chapter 8 of 12) in Unit 1 (book 1 of 4) of David's Latin curriculum. Subito, I mean suddenly, it hit me! Holy Cow! I am reading Latin. I am not to the point of thinking in Latin and, if I ever reach that point, you can have me locked up! fabula haec est "pastor et leo"--This story is "The Shepherd and the Lion." David, filius meus, and I, et ego, are enjoying the Cambridge Latin Course, North American, Fourth Edition (textbook and tests) for the following reasons:

• They make free resources available online.
• The tests are very well-written and focus on what is important (not minutia).
• You read lesson from the very first sentence in the very first chapter!
• They slowly introduce you to tedious parts of grammar (declensions, cases, conjugation) and phasing it in so gradually that it feels almost effortless.
• Every book focuses on a period of history and geographic area(s) in the Roman Empire. The books include articles about the culture and history.
• The first book grips your attention with its stories about a Pompeian family whose house was preserved by the fallout of the Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD.
• Some of the stories are funny and make us laugh. David calls the son, Quintus, a bum because he wrote graffiti and broke the nose of a statue when his discus slammed into it.

One reason this period in history fascinates me is that Jesus and the early church was born then. Understanding the Gentile culture helps me better understand the struggles of the Jews struggling to accept the Messiah, the Jews who became believers, and the Gentiles who joined in that belief. For the past few months, the books I read for "mother culture" are mainly historical fiction from that era with a Christian perspective:



I hope by the end of Unit 4 of the Latin curriculum to read this:

Why Teach Latin?

David and I are learning Latin together through the North American Cambridge Latin Course. We are half of the way through the first book, which focuses on a family who lived in Pompeii when Vesuvius blew its top. I prefer this program to others because it is about as close to a Charlotte Mason approach as you can get. They even offer an audio CD for those of us who do not know any Latin native speakers (wink, wink). From the very first lesson, you are reading stories and deducing the grammar and syntax before the book explains it. Of course, one great reason to teach Latin is to enrich one's vocabulary. Plus, the stories in this course are entertaining with the bonus of learning more about Roman culture. We look forward to reading about Britannia and Egypt (Unit 2), Britannia and Imperial Rome (Unit 3), and Emperor Domitian and an anthology of ancient prose and poetry (Unit 4).

That all sounds great, but here is the REAL reason to teach Latin. Whenever we expect upsetting news, we prefer not to share it with Pamela until it is a known fact. Steve just called from an airplane, in which he has sat on the ground for the past few hours, and told me he might come home. Ordinarily, that would thrill Pamela, except for the fact that he will have to leave tomorrow, which adds one more day to the trauma of him going on a business trip. You see, she loves her daddy and misses him terribly when he travels.

David overheard my conversation on the phone and asked me what happened. If I say too much, Pamela, who has bionic ears, might get upset over nothing, for the plane may very well leave tonight. So, I told David that something might happen because Steve is getting "Jet-Blued." Then, I added, "pater ad villam venit." Later, Steve called again to let me know where he was staying overnight (a change in plans which Pamela hates), so I told David, "pater in Atlantam dormit." And, he got it without "big ears" having an unscheduled meltdown!

That may not convince you to learn Latin, but it works for me!