Latin

Pre-College Issues Home Schooling and College
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<p>Um, I'm a new member to CC, and I'm a homeschooler in a public charter program (I think I'll be sticking around this forum, since it seems less...scary than the others). I think I want to at least start learning Latin while I'm in high school (I'm currently taking French and Spanish, and can read and write quite well in Hebrew). I'm trying to figure out how, though. I think I'm not going to do it as an actual class that I put down on my transcript, though I might take a University Latin class at some point in high school.</p>

<p>Basically, my program reccomends Powerglide, but I've listened to the French ones before, and I don't think they'd be right. I want to focus more on the reading and writing part of it, and that seems to make more sense for Latin. I'd mainly be self teaching it, though my dad took four years of Latin in high school so he might be able to help some, with what he remembers. I learn languages easily, and I have a REALLY good grammatical base.</p>

<p>Does anyone have reccomendations for books that they've used? Have they worked?</p>

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<p>For Latin, I would recommend two books: Wheelocks Latin Course and Henle
Either of these courses would probably be a good fit. I personally have used Wheelocks before; let me say, though, that it is challenging. It is often used as a college book so could be considered AP level. I have never used Henle, but know of many homeschoolers who have used it with great results. By the way, welcome to CC's greates forum, the Homeschool and College forum. Have a great day! :)</p>

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<p>Do they have books for Latin I, though? And thanks for the welcome. :)</p>

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<p>When I used Wheelocks, I believe they had a 1 and 2 course. You can purchase Wheelocks from Barnes and Noble for certain. Henle, indeed, has separate levels of their language. Hope this helps!</p>

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<p>I think I'll look for the Wheelocks next time I'm at B&N. Thanks for the help!</p>

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<p>Other possibilities are Artes Latinae (<a href="http://www.bolchazy.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.bolchazy.com&lt;/a&gt;) or the Cambridge Latin program. But definitely check out Wheelocks. You will need to get the study guide because that has answers to its own exercises, while you can't get the answers to the exercises in the regular text.</p>

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<p>Wheelock's is an excellent book, which they actually use at the university I will be attending, though it does leave gaps and leaves one hanging for a while when thrown into the deep end with actual literature. But, it is probably your best bet.</p>

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<p>we use the cambridge latin book in school. it has a lot of stories to translate/practices etc, but I know it doesnt cover as much as our teacher teaches us in class.</p>

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<p>I forget exactly what I was using... I think it's called Ecce Romani or something... I could find it if you'd like.</p>

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<p>Yes, that would be Ecce Romani - and it leaves more gaps than does Wheelock. </p>

<p>As a Classics buff myself, may I recommend the study of Greek as well? :)</p>

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<p>There are extensive online resources to support Ecce Romani and Wheelock's. If you Google you'll find quizzes, practice exercises, vocabulary lists, etc. There are also study groups out there for Wheelock's if you would like the support of working with a group. Ecce Romani is the most commonly used Latin course for public schools in the United States. It is very straightforward and easy to use. Wheelock's would be more of a challenging college level course. I think either are legitimate options it just depends on what you are looking for.</p>

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<p>I used (and am still using) Henle. I enjoy it. :-)</p>

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<p>What do you experts think of using Artes Latinae? My younger son wants to study Latin -- but with an already overloaded schedule, my thought is that Artes Latinae would be basically self-teaching that he could work on at a slow pace. He will be in 7th grade next year. We were thinking that he could do Artes Latinae for the next 3 year (it has 2 levels) and then have him take an online or community college class in Latin. </p>

<p>My older son tried Wheelocks and Henle -- and they will just be too overwhelming for my younger son. He likes computer program type stuff and he has had 2 years of Latin in a classroom (Latina Christiana). He does struggle with grammar -- but we are working on it.</p>

<p>My older son would love to study Greek -- but I am making him wait. He is working on Arabic, Mandarin and Latin right now and I won't let him add another language until he is fluent in at least one of those.</p>

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<p>We used Artes Latinae. But once my daughter got maybe a third to a half of the way through the second level, we realized she didn't enjoy studying Latin anymore. It seems you reach the point where there are much longer translations and more words to simply memorize all at once rather than spread out. So we switched to Wheelocks, which was largely review but still something she needed. I guess it reached the point where having a book to review would help.</p>

<p>For people not wedded to a particular pace and/or those who like computerized learning, AL would be great at least in the beginning. Frankly, I haven't heard of anyone going through both levels. They must exist, but the folks I've heard from over the years (admittedly not a great many!) have all gotten bogged down in the same place we did. Still, we thought it was an excellent program for most of the time we used it -- and I doubt my daughter would have enjoyed Wheelock's just starting out.</p>

<p>hsmomstef, what is your son using for Arabic? My daughter is planning on her college junior year in Cairo (one year away). She will study Arabic there but some introductory study next summer would be useful, I think.</p>

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<p>DianeR -- thanks for the info on Latin. My younger son actually goes to public school, but they don't offer Latin and he wants to continue. My thought is that if I let him take it slow and am flexible, he will continue to enjoy it and later on (in high school) we can step up the pace with an online class or a community college class. I have Artes Latinae I, so we will give it a shot and see how far he gets. since he is only 12, Wheelock's just looks like too much for him. I considered Cambridge or Oxford -- that would also appeal to him, but I needed something more self-teaching (I go to school too!). He may end up repeating beginning Latin materials through several different venues for a few years, but I don't think that will hurt him too much.</p>

<p>I will let you know what my son ends up using for Arabic. Right now, he is just studying the alphabet (reading and writing characters) and some intro travel stuff. We got Pimsleur the short course at the library and it seems pretty good -- but very much the basics. We picked up a book at the library on the alphabet that was recommended by several people -- The Arabic Alphabet: How to Read It and Write It by Awde and Samano.</p>

<p>We are also going to give rosetta stone a shot (it is at the library) when he gets back, but as a supplement. He is either going to do private lessons or a college course when he gets back, but we haven't decided.</p>

<p>If she isn't going to take it in school, you might check out <a href="http://www.arabacademy.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.arabacademy.org&lt;/a> It seems to be the main source for good online classes and has been recommended by many people --some colleges use it and I think you can even take it for credit (depending on your school). </p>

<p>From what I have learned so far, she should at least know the alphabet, both how to read and write it, very well. That is something that is basic to the rest and really slows the kids down at first because it is so different. After that, some basic phrases and grammar would help. there are some other college texts that are used, but I don't remember what they are -- they are probably not self-teaching.</p>

<p>A year in Cairo would be awesome, will she be studying at the American University in Cairo? I will report back after my son gets back and let you know if there was anything really important he wished he had known.</p>

<p>Also, since we are busy packing and such, I came across this really neat product for purifying water that my son will be using while in Egypt. The Aqua Star water purifier. It uses UV light to sterilize the water in a 1 liter nalgene bottle -- very simple to use. Also, I would recommend that she get her rabies vaccination. They do have a problem with rabies and since she is staying for so long, it would be a good idea. it is a series of 3 shots and it isn't cheap -- but well worth it!</p>

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<p>My understanding is that students show up a few weeks before classes start at AU Cairo and get an intensive intro to Arabic. Then they study the language during the year. Or that semester -- dd's boy friend is only planning on one semester there, so I don't know how that will work itself out!</p>

<p>I'm hoping she won't have a problem getting in. I really don't know how much competition there is. But I can't imagine anywhere else an Egyptology major would want to go. UAC is about a block away from the Egyptian museum -- she is saving the Egyptian archaeology classes until she is there.</p>

<p>She figured a little introduction before she goes would be useful. Right now she is self-studying French using Assimil -- I think they have Arabic as well. Rosetta Stone is also a possibility. But I think it would be useful to get something to learn the alphabet first. I'll look into the book you recommend. </p>

<p>So many languages she has to get! She wants to take some more German this next school year, get to the point she can read academic literature in French, and has to continue with ancient Egyptian, too.</p>

<p>You'll have to say later how well the UV light thing works. When we traveled in Egypt we just lived on bottled water. I saw the device in getting things for Bolivia (where she is now, doing a dig -- the field schools in Egypt were half as long), but ended up getting tablets.</p>

<p>She's had a bunch of shots for Bolivia (and is taking stuff for malaria, has antibiotics on hand, etc.), but rabies is the one she didn't get. I guess we'll see what all is required or recommended in a year for Egypt. (When we were looking into colleges and considering UAC [couldn't do because they said they don't accept homeschoolers without diplomas from accredited schools], I remember they require HIV testing for one thing.) I didn't realize you needed a series of 3 shots for rabies; maybe that is why my daughter didn't do it. She started too late? What is the spacing required?</p>

<p>Ah, a segue from Latin to rabies shots!</p>

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<p>I will definitely let you know about the UV light bottle and anything else that my son discovers is pertinent in Egypt. </p>

<p>I know what you are talking about with the languages -- my son is thinking of pursuing an academic career in philosophy or religion, and so far he has been told by multiple people and schools that he will need both german and french in order to pursue a doctorate. In addition to that, he will need any language connected to his specialty in religion (Koine, Hebrew, Arabic, etc). Good thing he likes languages!</p>

<p>If I remember correctly, the rabies is a series of 3 shots given over 28 days. Here it costs $115 per shot -- so quite expensive! On the other hand, if you need treatment after a bite, it can cost several thousand. The reason it is recommended for Egypt (and India and many other developing areas) is that animals are not vaccinated (including dogs and cats) and they roam the streets. My son was told to avoid all animals, even pets, and that if any animal (particularly monkeys, dogs and cats) bit or scratched or even licked him he would need the after rabies treatment. A school year in Egypt is a long time -- if she gets the shots and an animal does bite, she is protected (they usually recommend you get two more doses of the vaccination after a bite -- but you don't have to do the very expensive IG Rabies shots). i got the shots a long time ago and they didn't hurt or make me sick. The protection lasts for a lifetime I was told. Might be worth considering, even if it isn't a required vaccination.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/vis/vis-rabies.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/vis/vis-rabies.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/907109508.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/907109508.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>A year at UAC sounds great -- especially for any Egyptologist! My son really wanted to do a high school exchange program in Egypt, but we couldn't find any good ones offered until you get to college. He may volunteer at a dig instead next summer -- depends on what else he has on his summer schedule!</p>

<p>Let me know how the Assimil works, that might be something we try. I find the Rosetta Stone to be ok as a starting point, but my son doesn't feel like he learns with it.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the information. Sounds like the rabies shots would be a good thing.</p>

<p>So far the Assimil has seemed good. Of course, this is only several weeks into it! My daughter's advisor is the linguist in the Egyptology department and he is the one who recommended the Assimil, saying he learned some languages that way. I think you would need experience actually speaking the language with others for fluency, but for French and German all dd needs is to be able to read it. Unfortunately, the "French for reading" class at her school is only offered in the summer when she wants to do other things, and the only correspondence course I could find like this is for grad students and college seniors. I guess if she still can't read what she needs to when she finishes we can always ask the school offering the course -- the indication of level may be a self-selection thing, not a firm rule.</p>

<p>With previous Latin, I have a feeling the French won't be that difficult. She could often get quite a bit of what was being discussed (in writing) even before learning any French. German seemed trickier -- hence her desire for a followup class next year. Written German seems to have a lot of grammatical trickiness.</p>