Conventiculum Dickinsoniense, Summer 2014, Last Day (Latin)

Die sexto (Iulii 13) Solis die

ultimo die Conventiculi Dickinsoniensis colloquium de rebus scholasticis habebatur. post pausam, omnes ludo fruebantur de "rerum et verborum copia." Terentius Milenaque nobis paucas periodos dederunt, in quibus aliquot verba litteris inclinatis scripta erant. temptavimus alia verba Latine idem declarantia cogitare vel dare. proverbia quoque nobis data sunt. necesse erat nobis Latine proverbia omnia explicare.

fabellae nostrae tandem coram omnibus dabantur. spectatores fabellis fructi sunt; assidue ridebant plaudebantque; etiam tirones mihi dixerunt se totam fabellam nostram intellexisse. finis Conventiculi erat iucunda!

Conventiculum Dickinsoniense, Summer 2014, Fifth Day (Latin)

Die quinto (Iulii 12) Saturni die

cum Tirones de vestimentis dicere discerent, ego et meus grex fabellam scaenicam praemeditabamur. dialogus est tam bene expolitus et iucundus ut, si fabellae Latinae in "Broadway" in Novo Eboraco agerentur, nostrum mitterem. in his pagellis fabellam nostram ipsi legatis si velitis.

omnes perlegimus de loco Vergilii in quo Dido Aenean accusat et Aeneas reginam relinquit.

Grex Musica, "Vickie Vaughn Band," mihi valde placuit!

Vickie Vaughn Band

post prandium perambulavi Collegium Dickinsoniense. ante bibliothecum festum musicum generis musici, "Blue Grass." carmina gregis musicae, nomine "Vickie Vaughn Band," me valde delectaverunt.

postea sermonem cum "Vickie Vaughn" ipsa habebam. habemus amicum communem, nomine Ricky Braddy, cantatorem. Ricky olim canebat in emissione televisifica, nomine "American Idol," sed non erat victor huius certaminis. iuvenis Ricky paulisper fuerat discipulus meus in Carolina Septentrionali. et Ricky et Vickie fuerunt discipuli in eadem schola musicae. quam parvus locus est orbis terrarum in quo habitamus!

haec festa musicae fiunt quotannis

postquam novam amicam (Vickie) inveni, ad sessiones nostras reveni. de modis docendis colloquium habuimus, dein sessionem in qua imagines a nobis describebantur.

fabulam de testudine et cuniculo narravi

in ultima sessione hodierna colloquium de itineribus habebatur. index verborum nobis traditus est. dixi pauca de marito meo, qui erat nauta submarinus in Bello Frigido. multa itinera sub aequoribus fecit. multa arcana fecit; non licet ei (etiam nunc) de his rebus loqui. mihi tamen librum, nomine "Blind Man's Bluff," tradidit. liber est historia navigationum submarinarum in Bello Frigido. post librum legendum, pro certo scio maritum esse et fortissimum et insanum. patriam amat, et ego eum!

Conventiculum Dickinsoniense, Summer 2014, Fourth Day

Die Quarto (Iulii 11) Veneris die:

hodie Tirones de cibo loquebantur cum Peritiores fabellas scaenicas componere pergeremus.  grex meus finem dialogi expoliendi paene confecimus. ad Alannum dialogum per interrete misi. Alannus promisit se ultima verba dialogi expoliturum esse, et chartis diologi luce expressis se quoque rediturum ut noster grex versus scriptos haberet ut praemeditaremur.

in altera sessione, Tirones exercitiis ludisque fruebantur. Peritiores aenigmata antiqua legebamus et solvebamus. postea in gregibus aenigmata nova composuimus. grex meus duo aenigmata composuimus.

Exempla Aenigmatorum Antiquorum

Exempla Aenigmatorum Antiquorum

Milena Minkova in nostro conclave

Cum pranderemus, amicus, nomine Mica, dixit me Latine etiam melius locuturam esse, si Romae in Accademia Vivario Novo aestivem. praesertim si stipendium ullo modo invenerim, ibo.

post pradium Peritiores nostra aenigmata priore excogitata coram omibus recitavimus. omnes breviter solvere conabantur. scripsi duo aenigmata a grege meo scripta. indicium post aenigmata scripta faciam; nolite legere nisi vultis! sed solutionem cupiatis, id mihi narrate!

Aenigma Primum:

catenam habeo, sed vincta non sum

sellam habeo in qua numquam sedeo

aliquando aquam porto, sed numquam sitio

duobus circulis progredior, si quis me dirigat

Aenigma Secundum:

potens sum ferreum

itinera mea sunt longa sicut ego ipsum

olim vapore plenum fui

nunc fulgore aut oleo Diseliano moveor

modo super terra repo, modo sub terra volo

(indicium: ambo sunt vehicula)

Post pausam in greges minores, Tirones Peritiores commixti, divisi sumus ut locum Vergilii explicaremus. Terentius unicuique gregi paucos versus huius loci designavit. unusquisque grex versus summatim descripsit. licet nobis aliquid dicere de vi, metro, ordine verborum, et perinde. aliquis electus a grege coram omnibus recitavit.

vespere plurimi ad praedium rusticum, nomine Dickinson Farm, iter fecerunt. ibi fiebant ambulatio, sermones de situ et de agricultura, et cena communis vel convivium sub divo.
in praedio non adfui, quod ad cenam cum familiaribus mariti mei invitata sum. ad tabernam Asianam, nomine "Issei Noodle," iimus, dein ad tabernam iucundam, quae cremum gelidum bene notum vendit, erravimus. nomen tabernae est "Leo's."

Familiares mei mariti. Sto ad dextram.

Conventiculum Dickinsoniense, Summer 2014, Third Day

Die tertio (Iulii 10) Iovis die

hodie Tirones de rebus domesticis loquebantur et exercitiis ludisque iterum fruebantur cum Peritiores fabellas scaenicas componere pergerent. heri cum ceteri prandio cenaque pausisque fruerentur, diligenter laborabam. consilia nostri gregis in initium dialogi converti.

verba quae scripseram comites meos delectaverunt. nos simul dialogum nunc mutamus, complemus, et expolimus. dialogus noster est de mure barbaro, qui Latine loqui non potest. nomen est ErasMUS. solus est, sed murem venustam videt per interrete et statim amat.

sed est difficultas. mus venusta est doctissima et amicum Latine loquentem cupit. Erasmus loco interretiali "Google Translate" utitur, at Mus Latina eum non bene intellegit. ad eam per epistulas electronicas carmina Amoris a poetis notissimis scripta mittit. versus Murem Latinam delectant, sed nunc de vita Erasmi legere vult. invitat eum ad Conventiculum Dickinsoniense, quo ipsa iter facit ut melius Latine loqui discat. finis dialogi est hilaris. post Conventiculum fortasse in his paginis dialogum perfectum scribam.

post prandium omnes locum Vergilii de precibus iratis Iarbae et Mercurio mandata Iovis legimus. post pausam locum e libro XIII Aeneidos legimus. hic liber a Maffaeo Vegio (1407-1458) compositus est. optime fluit, et vestigia Vergilii bene secutus est. nihilominus celeriter me taesum est huius poematii, quod rixae in eo omnino deerant. gaudebam autem quod Vegius vitae Aeneae finem laetum nobilemque dedit.

postea imagines ex ephemeridibus (Punch et The Saturday Evening Post) deliniatas et iocosas inspiciebamus. primo conabamur animalia, homines, et alia in imaginibus describere, deinde decernere et exprimere quid imagines de condicione animalium aut hominum indicarent, tandem dicere qua de re imagines nobis esse absurdae viderentur.

quid accidit in picturis? cur imagines sunt hilares?

quid accidit in imaginibus? cur omnes ridemus?

post cenam quidam particeps Conventiculi, nomine Stephanus Farrand, vir eloquens, oratiunculam brevem ab hora octava et dimidia habebat. nomen huius orationis erat, "Ludus et Ictus." paucos post menses in Europa orationem similem habebit.

maritus meus familiares in urbe Carlisle habet. me ad cenam crastinam invitaverunt. libenter consensi. nunc necesse est mihi explicare Terentio Milenaeque cur ad convivium (sub divo) in Fundo Dickinsoniensi crastinum non adveniam. debeo aliquid Tulliae quoque, quod credit se me ad fundum autocineta vecturam esse.

Conventiculum Dickinsoniense, Summer 2014, Second Day (Latin)

Die altero (Iulii 9) Mercurii die

in sessione prima, Tirones exercitiis ludisque iterum fruebantur. nos Peritiores in greges minores divisi fabellas scaenicas nostras componere incepimus. post pausam Tirones de caeli temperie locuti sunt, sed Peritiores de versibus Hubertini Carrarae locuti sumus. hi versus epici de Christophero Columbo scripti sunt. Columbus et nautae parati sunt ad navigandum. Columbus contionem habet; nautis suis confessus est de periculis ad Indos navigandi, sed quoque praemia locupleta meritaque promittit. nautae volunt navigare similes equis in carcere stantibus. Apollo ipse celerius per caelum se movet ut sit nuntius Indicis Columbi et nautarum advenientium. Hubertinus Carrara non est auctor notus, et non est solus auctor, etiam poeta, qui de navigatione Christophori Columbi Latine scripsit. Columbus est non solum novus Aeneas, sed etiam heros Christianus.

cum pranderem, colloquium cum socio, nomine Michaeli, habui. ego, quae in agello in urbe habito, quattuor gallinas habeo. sed Michaelis ruri habitat. alias gallinas (fortasse quoque gallos) colit ut consumat, alias gallinas ut ova producant. habet viginti gallinas quae ova producant, et illa ova non solum consumit sed etiam vendit.

confessa sum me esse holerariam; id est, ego nulla animalia consumo; gallinas meas esse mihi delicias, et me eas numquam consumpturam esse. eum rogavi quid cum gallinis faciat cum senescant. ego et Michaelis bene scimus gallinas veteres pauca ova producere. Michaelis dixit se iugulum gallinarum humaniter caesurum esse. gallinae brevissimo tempore exanimatae cadent. caro gallinarum veterum est dura: ergo Michaelis eas lente et longum tempus coquet.

dixi discipulos meos, ubi de sacrificio Romano legerent, primo abhorruisse. saepe eos rogavi num ipsi caronem consumerent et de origine huius caronis cogitarent. eos non culpo, sed exhortor ut intellegant animalia quae consumant olim vixisse. discipuli putant sacrificia Romanorum esse crudelia, sed re vera Romani humaniter animalia mactaverunt. animalia mactare erat sacrum quod vitam animalium honoravit aestimavitque. discipuli nesciunt num animalia quae consumant humaniter educata et mactata sint annon; sed nolunt videre aut scire aut de his rebus cogitare. culpant mores Romanos sed inspicere suos nolunt. saporem caronis sibi placere, et sibi satis esse, mihi dixerunt.

Michaelis addidit caronem quam discipuli mei consumunt re vera saporem malum habet, sed discipulos esse huius ignaros; habitus in quibus haec animalia educata et mactata sunt esse tam malos ut sapor corrumperetur. omnino consensi.

post prandium, nos omnes locum Vergilii legebamus et explicabamus. erat locus de nuptiis Didonis Aeneaeque. iterum pausam habuimus, deinde tres imagines de medicis medicamentis inspiciebamus et describebamus. deinde in greges separati colloquia brevia de his imaginibus scripsimus; postea dialogos coram omnibus recitavimus; hi dialogi spectatoribus professoribusque placuerunt, ut opinor.

quid hic homo putat et dicit et cur?

quid medicus facit in hac pictura? quid omnes dicunt?

Why I Like to Speak Latin

I am a Latin teacher in Southeastern Virginia. There are several reasons I came to try conversational Latin. First of all, I had a very strong education in German in college through the intermediate level. I attended the University of Vermont and obtained a BA in Latin there. While my Latin and ancient Greek classes used a grammar-translation approach, I spent many hours in a language lab for German, plus all our German classes were immersion. German is an inflected language with a different word order from English, and I got a taste of thinking and speaking in a foreign tongue, which I enjoyed.

My travels in Italy have also played a role. I am eternally grateful to the Fund for Teachers and other organizations that made it possible for me to study extensively in Italy in the Summer of 2010. I studied as much phrasebook Italian as I could and found I needed it to get by in the areas of Campania where our group was staying. The less touristy the area, the less English was spoken. The experience of needing to listen, speak, and use every resource at my disposal to understand what was going on around me and to communicate my needs fired up an interest in the active use of Latin in my own classroom.

I also blogged extensively about the 2010 trip at MagistraBurke.blogspot.com. As a teacher, I thus became a role model of someone who creates online content and does not just passively consume it. I continue to blog regularly on various topics up through the present day, a fact which pleasantly surprises my Latin students. These and other experiences have led me to use more technology in my teaching, to create experiences where students can create online content for others to use (district policies permitting), and has provided my class with background information and pictures to share during those "teachable moments" that arise in all classrooms. Like many Americans, I had never heard of the fascinating caves and remains at Sperlonga prior to this trip, for example.

During another, earlier trip to Italy, I was a teacher accepted for summer study at the American Academy in Rome. This was in the summer of 1988. Reginald Foster held his famous summer Latin immersion programs in the same neighborhood where we were headquartered, il Janicolo, where I had the opportunity to overhear participants of the immersion program walking through the streets, talking fluently and confidently in Latin, albeit with an ecclesiastical accent. At that time I wished I could converse with them.

Back then it seemed a bit of an esoteric and flaky thing to do, but the rise of spoken-Latin events in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world since then make it seem more practical and increasingly main-stream. It is something that can be done often enough that one can develop one's skills and use them regularly. If I can get by in non-English speaking areas of Italy with my little bit of broken, phrasebook Italian, why can't my students and I get by in an immersion environment in a language similar to Italian, but one which I have a much more thorough knowledge of, both of its vocabulary and of its syntax, however passively acquired, and even of its history and culture?

Also, if my students develop active Latin skills, there are places of higher learning where they can continue to apply them if they choose. I wish there were more, but at least I don't feel I am teaching my students a skill they can never use again, or never use outside my classroom. 

Since 1988 I have had the privilege of working in a couple of high-poverty school systems with students of diverse ethnicities, mostly African-American. In an effort to reach a broader range of students, I began to experiment with oral teaching methods, starting with Total Physical Response, which I learned from a pamphlet I had purchased through the ACL Teaching Materials and Resource Center. I had strong success in teaching to a range of learning styles and engaging even some students who were, frankly, not all that interested in learning from textbooks. I began to think it would be neat to teach Latin students in something closer to the immersion experience I had enjoyed in German in my college days. Unfortunately, beyond TPR, I was not sure where to proceed. 

I have also done some reading on language acquisition and am convinced that the grammar-translation method through which I had been taught is fundamentally flawed in that it only appeals to a very limited range of learning styles. I also obtained not only a Masters Degree in Classics from Tufts University but also a Masters in School Administration from East Carolina University, where I also was trained as an instructional specialist. It was at ECU that I studied about Howard Gardner's theories of multiple intelligences, and I also learned that many of the students who drop out of U.S. high schools drop out due to boredom and due to the fact that they see little relevance in what they are learning in high school. 

When I returned to the classroom, I wasn't sure what I would do, but I was determined to do things differently and to at least avoid boring my students wherever possible. I felt I needed to find fresh ways of educating and of challenging them. I joined the Latin Best Practices List, a Yahoo group full of wonderful Latin teachers, where I mostly lurk (and still do). There I picked up some other ideas about the importance of Comprehensible Input and its usefulness for language acquisition. I attended my first Conventiculum, Conventiculum Dickinsoniense, in the summer of 2010, but Conventiculum is designed for people who already can read Latin and who already know its grammar passively, but just need to learn to speak it. There are some good ideas that can be applied in my classroom, but I was still at a loss where to start beyond some thematic vocabulary and TPR. 

So from there I took a Blaine Ray TPRS (Teaching Proficiency Through Reading and Storytelling) workshop, and there I got the tools I need to take my Latin classes further in a conversational direction. Our school system uses the Cambridge Latin Course, which is strong on stories, anyway, so I am trying to blend the two approaches at the moment. Right now I am thinking about getting a little further away from the Cambridge in class, perhaps using it mostly for reading homework assignments along with the use of the CLC Online resources. The CLC Online and E-Learning Resources can help my students avoid frustration with the massive vocabulary involved in reading the textbook series. In class I am currently thinking of using made-up stories that involve the Greek and Roman gods, since mythology is a weak point of the CLC, and many of my students want more mythology. I may change my mind; I always have more ideas to try than I have time to implement in a given school year.

I actually joined my first Conventiculum in 2011 because it was an inexpensive way of getting recertification points in my content area, which North Carolina, the state where I was teaching, had recently required. North Carolina is near the bottom in its pay for teachers, I was teaching in one of the poorer districts, there was no money for this kind of staff development, and the Conventiculum offered a quality experience within a reasonable distance that I could actually afford. So I basically enrolled in the first one to keep my job. But I am so glad I did! I attended a Conventiculum Dickinsoniense again last year and followed it up with a Dickinson Summer Latin workshop where we read, under Dickinson's professors, all of Book IV of Ovid's Fasti using a traditional translation approach. 

I intend no offense to the Dickinson professors; they were wonderful! But I found the translation approach so ... boring and sterile, in the wake of the Conventiculum Dickinsoniense's immersion program, that I truly wished I had had more of the immersion experience. Terence Tunberg told me last summer that he felt I was ready to follow up on Dickinsoniense with the Lexington experience, so I signed up for both Conventicula this summer. In the future I would like to attend one of the summer-long immersion experiences available in Italy if I can somehow find scholarship money to attend. 

In my own classroom, I find my Latin I students are much more enthusiastic about the language as a result of their experiences speaking, listening, and acting stories out, so while I feel I am a beginner at teaching this way, I want to continue to improve and move in this direction. I continue to seek out immersion experiences to improve my own command of the language, because it's fun and enriching, and to pick up ideas that I might be able to adapt for my own classroom. What I like about Milena Minkova and Terence Tunberg's program is that I can use Classical pronunciation, participate relatively inexpensively, and learn without leaving the East Coast. Plus they are true experts in the language, and they are both wonderful and caring teachers. I want to take every opportunity I can to study with them while they are still around and willing to do it. I feel I missed a valuable opportunity to enroll in Reggie Foster's programs, and I am not going to waste other opportunities to immerse myself in a language that I love.

I am in a large school system with quite a few Latin teachers and a thriving Latin program. Most of my colleagues think I am nuts to want to speak it. But so far I have been free to experiment with my methods. I have the support of my Assistant Principal of Instruction and of our district's head of foreign languages. Where I have the opportunity, I would like to spread the enthusiasm for the active approach and for comprehensible input both within my school system and in neighboring school systems. I am Vice President of the Tidewater Classical Symposium, a regional group, so I plan to find some non-threatening ways of spreading active methods through that group regionally.

I have had a lot of training in student engagement under the Schlechty Center for Leadership in School Reform through my prior school system, Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools. I often use an engagement meter in my Latin classes to ascertain what is working for students and what is not. I am not sure that that my own immersion experiences led to more use in the classroom as much as my students' feedback is leading to the change. Most really like it. I also use a lot of technology and Smart Board exercises due to their feedback about what works for them. I really try a lot of different methods to try to reach as many of my students as I can. I also realize this is a generation of mostly digital learners.

What I would really like to see, long-term, is for my program to grow enough that we need another Latin teacher at my school. I would like us to attract someone who is trained to or at least willing to use an active approach. I am convinced that it is not only the true "traditional" approach, but the way of the future if Latin is to continue to thrive locally, nationally, and across the globe.