Latin 1 (Class 6): Translation Day, Sight Reading, and Roman Culture!

Previous knowledge required: 1st/2nd declension nouns/adjectives; 1st/2nd conjugations in present, future, and imperfect tenses. You will not need to have mastered these concepts, but at least be familiar enough to recognize them. 

Today's class will be all about translating! You will pick out the verbs, subjects, objects, and prepositions in order to translate the sentences. We will also use intuitive reasoning to determine the meaning of the sentence. We will use previously studied vocabulary (so if I haven't met you in class yet, and you sign up for the class, I will send you a vocabulary sheet prior to class time) and focus on the definitions. Cases are important to know the part of speech, but that knowledge comes by practice. Today is about becoming comfortable in recognizing words and determining the meaning the writer is trying to convey. 

We will spend time during class talking about the writers of the translations, and the historical events surrounding them. We will also look at a couple of carved inscriptions and attempt to translate them! 

Lots of good fun! As for my teaching style, I use slide shows. It is a lecture-based class, but is extremely interactive with the students doing much of the talking (repetition is important in language acquisition). They will write on the screen, and translate, as well.