There are so many good reasons to learn Latin. Latin helps students build vocabulary, a real plus when it comes to college entrance exams. Latin also helps students to lay a firm foundation before learning other languages. Students will be able to more easily launch into learning one of the romance languages like Spanish, French, Romanian, Italian, or Portuguese after taking Latin. 

This class will help students learn Latin via comprehensible input aka CI. Comprehensible input is language input that can be understood by learners even when they don’t understand all the words and structures in a given text or bit of audio they are listening to. It doesn’t have to be 100% comprehensible. It has to be mostly understandable, with the means to gain a greater level of comprehension by looking up words, reading again, or listening again. It is sometimes described as being just one level above the level of the learner. 

This course will work through the first four stages of the Cambridge Unit 1 Latin book. Students will need to have a copy of the book, fifth edition. 

Each week the class will work through approximately one-third of a stage in the book. Students will learn vocabulary and practice translation exercises. Students will use already acquired knowledge to make educated guesses about Latin words. Students will learn Latin grammar through learning parts of speech. Students will also learn about the Roman culture in Pompeii before Mt Vesuvius erupted. 

Week One: Stage One. Introduction to Latin. Students will learn about family and jobs around the house. They will learn about verbs and to be verbs. 

Week Two: Stage One continued. Students will continue to learn about verb use in Latin. They will continue to learn vocabulary. They will begin to answer questions about Latin in a short story. 

Week Three: Stage Two. Students will learn about cases in Latin. They will learn about daily life in Rome. 

Week Four: Stage Two continued. Students will continue to practice the Latin cases. They will concentrate on transition exercises. They will also learn about food in ancient Rome.

Week Five: Stage Three. Students will learn what a declension is. They will practice translating and answering questions while listening to Latin. They will learn what a Roman city was like.

Week Six: Stage Three continued. Students will continue to memorize the first declension noun endings. They will also learn about the town of Pompeii. They will continue to practice Latin using translation exercises. 

Week Seven: Stage Three continued. Students will look more in-depth at verb usage in Latin. They will also learn how to use "I" and "you" in Latin. They will learn how to ask questions using "what?" They will tour Pompeii in video. 

Week Eight: Stage Four. Students will continue to practice Latin using translation exercises. They will learn how to ask "Who are you?" They will learn about the role of the forum in Roman times. 

Week Nine: Stage Four continued. Students will work on building vocabulary and comprehension. Students will continue to learn about the forum. 

Week Ten: Stage Five. Students will practice present tense endings and declension endings. They will focus on subject and verb agreement. They will learn about the Roman Theatre. 

Week Eleven: Stage Five continued. More focus will be given to the present tense while students work on building vocabulary. They will continue to learn about the Roman Theatre. 

Week Twelve: Stage Five continued. All material up until now will be reinforced. There is no cultural lesson so that students spend time on vocabulary and tense ending.