Friday, January 20, 2017

Additional Exercise in Latin for the New Millennium, 2nd Edition

Second Edition Coming Soon

Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers prides itself on anticipating classroom needs and responding to teacher feedback. In order to develop an effective second edition of Latin for the New Millennium, Levels 1 and 2, B-C reached out to a group of teachers who had enjoyed teaching from LNM. B-C was particularly keen on responding to the need for some additional exercises in both texts. Teachers expressed a desire for two kinds of exercises—ones that featured additional drill and manipulation and others that assisted students learning a complex concept by providing a laddering or scaffolding exercise. For the latter, they regularly suggested the inclusion of a Latin to English exercise. We have to note, of course, that had we incorporated all the suggestions from these enthusiastic LNM teachers, we would have been adding far more pages than what would be practical!

In the end, authors Milena Minkova and Terence Tunberg developed nine new exercises for LNM 1 and six additional exercises for LNM 2. For example, the Level 1 text now includes in chapter 3 a Latin to English exercise for practice recognizing genitive. In anticipation of the revolutionary introduction of the indirect statement in chapter 7 (since Latin for the New Millennium’s readings are adapted passages from Roman authors and the Romans regularly used the indirect statement, the authors introduce the concept at this early stage—LNM students soon become very comfortable working with the indirect statement , Level 1 chapter 6 now includes a Latin to English exercise with the infinitive that gives students additional practice with recognizing infinitives. For LNM 2 the authors constructed a new Latin to English exercise for chapter 10 that gives students practice with forms of the irregular verb īre. Chapter 12 now a scaffolding exercise that has students first write out conditions that use the same verb for the different tenses and conditions.

Each chapter in the student text has seven to nine exercises for the language facts that flow from the authentic readings from Roman authors. The reviews that follow every three chapters also contains exercises that drill the new language facts. In addition, each chapter in the student workbook offers reinforcement with an additional five to six exercises. And, of course, teachers regularly create their own exercises and a number have shared these in the Latin for the New Millennium Teachers’ Lounge.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Derivative Update in Latin for the New Millennium, Second Edition

Second Edition Coming Soon

The second exercise in each chapter
 of the student text has always
 included a derivative recognition exercise.
Students and parents consistently cite “enhancing one’s English vocabulary” as one of the key reasons they have chosen or been encouraged to choose Latin for their second language study.

In the first edition of Latin for the New Millennium, the second exercise in each chapter requires students to use their knowledge of Latin vocabulary to recognize English words derived from Latin. In addition, the test banks that teachers can access through the Teachers’ Lounge contain derivative exercises to help build students’ English vocabulary. Each review in both LNM 1 and LNM 2 features a Mīrābile Audītū section that presents a set of Latin phrases, abbreviations, mottoes, and terms used in English.

When creating goals for Latin for the New Millennium, Second Edition, we decided to enhance the derivatives component of the series. To that end, each chapter in the student text ends with a list of English derivatives for that chapter’s “Vocabulary to Learn.” The Teacher’s Manual provides teachers word histories, etymologies, and sample sentences showcasing the derivatives. Teachers can use this material as they wish to prepare their classroom presentations on derivatives. Exercise 2 in every chapter in the student workbooks feature work with English derivatives.


We are pleased to affirm that the LNM Second Edition builds on the First Edition and features a richer set of derivative-based resources. 

Friday, January 06, 2017

Aural/Oral Activities in Latin for the New Millennium, Second Edition

Second Edition Coming Soon


When our late founder Dr. Ladislaus “Lou” Bolchazy decided to commission an introductory Latin series, he chose Terence Tunberg and Milena Minkova not only for their expertise in Latin pedagogy but also for their international renown as proponents and practioners of active, spoken Latin. For nearly two decades they have offered a summer seminar, the Conventiculum Latinum Lexintoniense, at the University of Kentucky, designed to introduce enthusiasts to the use of spoken Latin. Variations on the conventiculum are offered at various locations across the United States. Tunberg and Minkova thoroughly enjoy serving as instructors for such programs and regularly present on the subject of actively using Latin in the classroom. When chatting to one another, their language of choice is Latin!

Latin for the New Millennium celebrates active Latin. Each chapter of LNM 1 includes a conversation among a group of American high schoolers who chat about an everyday topic like “discussing homework” and “in the cafeteria.” These dialogues present a rich vocabulary of everyday terms and invite students to act them out. In LNM 2 the same students now converse about the chapter reading or the chapter’s unadapted Latin passage from Nepos’s Life of Atticus. These dialogues grow longer and more complex as the students build their confidence in reading Latin.

The Teacher’s Guide offers a bounty of aural/oral activities and exercises. Tunberg and Minkova took pains to make the exercises and activities teacher-friendly with special care for the teacher less confident about incorporating spoken Latin in the classroom. Dictations enhance students’ listening skills, drills build their confidence with a grammar concept, and activities and dialogues encourage spoken Latin. The authors have crafted four to five aural/oral exercises for each chapter of the student text.

Dicīte Latīnē!

Tuesday, January 03, 2017

December Answer for Roman Calendar

If you have not already done so, check the inside back cover of our 2016–2017 Roman Calendar for a reproducible worksheet that asks students to engage with the derivative-oriented artwork included in the calendar.

For those completing the worksheet, here is December's image, question, and answer.


Question:
Nōn enim tam praeclārum est scīre Latīnē quam turpe nescīre. Cicero makes this famous remark in Brutus, his dialogue about oratory. Can you think of any English derivatives in this Ciceronian line?

Answer:
The adverb nōn provides English with words such as "nonchalent" or "nonsense."  Praeclārum helps bring words such as "clarify" and "clear" to the English language. Est, the third person, present, active, singular form of the verb esse, meaning "to be," has given English words such as "interest" and "present.The verbs scīre and nescīre both yield words such as "science" and "omniscient." Latīnē, from Latīnus, is the word from which all things "Latin" derive! The adjective turpe, from turipis, has brought words such as "turpitude."

To add your name to our mailing list for the 2017–2018 Roman Calendar, email orders@bolchazy.com with the subject line “Roman Calendar”; be sure to include your name and mailing address in the body of the email. Also, let us know by email if you have not received your calendar yet!

Think your students know the answer to the January question on the worksheet? Tweet @BCPublishers the answer by January 25th for a chance to win five of our new buttons. We'll announce our answers, as well as the winner, at the beginning of February. Submit an answer for your class, or better yet, encourage students to participate individually.