Sermó Latínus I&II (Desessard 1-101)

English | Español TEACHER: A. Gratius Avitus MATERIALS: The Assimil method by Clément Desessard, Lingua Latina sine molestia, including the sound recordings (on cassettes or CD's). ATTENTION: LATEST NEWS (7/10/2007): After almost half a century of service, Assimil are withdrawing Desessard's wonderful Latin method Lingua Latina sine molestia and substituting it with another one by Isabelle Ducos-Filippi called just Le latin. We remind our prospective students that only Desessard's method is valid to follow this course with us. We have been reassured by Assimil that they will continue to sell Desessard's method for as long as they have stock. In order to get it directly from them, therefore, students now have to go to the "contacts"/"contact us" section of their website and place an order by filling in the "tapez votre message"/"your message" field and specifying that they want Desessard's version (book and recordings), and not the new one. They can also do so by fax. Students can of course also resort to other providers who may still have copies in stock, or look for second hand commerce. We apologise for this inconvenience and deeply regret this turn of events. This is as regards the French version of the method, since the Italian version of Dessessard's can still be ordered with just a couple of clicks through the normal catalogue web pages. The textbook is only available with the explanations about grammar and vocabulary given in French (Le latin sans peine) or in Italian (Il latino senza sforzo), so students are expected to be able to understand one or other of those languages well enough to follow the course. Students who can read neither French nor Italian will be provided with an English translation of those explanations along the course. All students are still required to buy their own copy of the book in one of the two versions available and the recordings that come therewith before they join the course. They are not cheap, but the material is absolutely worth it, and the purchase is a necessary proof of commitment to the course. The best way to get hold of the materials is to buy them directly from the Assimil website. Please note that the audio material (all in Latin) is essential for the success of the course, and the textbook on its own will not do. The method has 101 lessons. On this intensive course, the students will be covering all 101 lessons. They are expected to study one every two days over 29 weeks starting on the 15th of October 2760 (2007). The lessons are very short, and do not require more than one hour to go through; so the established two-day schedule should allow even relatively busy people to follow the course if they are indeed committed. A full calendar, including two three-week holiday intermissions for Sáturnália and Quínquátrús, is available here. The role of the student Every lesson in the book (except the first three) includes a Latin dialogue on the left and a translation with extensive explanations in the vernacular (either French or Italian) on the right. During each two-day period scheduled in the calendar, the student is expected to study the corresponding lesson indicated for it, which will involve: 1. Reading the Latin text, sentence by sentence (aloud if possible), comparing it, word by word, with the vernacular translation. 2. Reading the vernacular notes and explanations until everything in the Latin text has been understood (no need painstakingly to memorise anything). 3. Reading again the Latin text (aloud if possible), until it is understood by itself without looking at the vernacular. 4. Listening to the recording once while following the Latin text in the book, and then again without looking at the text, only checking if it is absolutely unavoidable due to the odd hard word or phrase, again and again until the recording is fully understood just by itself. 5. Listening to the recording, now completely without the book, as often as possible during the two-day period, on any possible occasion (through breakfast, during lunch, in the bath, while cooking dinner, before bedtime...). In order to find out more about the need to understand rather than to memorise, as well as about the radical importance of vocabulary in language learning, see the further information here. The role of the teacher In addition to the valuable information the students will be able to find in their textbook, on the first one of the two days allocated to the study of each lesson, the teacher will post to the students his own commentaries and observations about the lesson, to make sure nothing remains unclear. A Yahoo! Group will be created to this end: Yahoo! Group for Sermo Latinus I&II (Desessard 1-101) for English speakers. Since understanding is essential to learning, the teacher will be available on-line also to answer any questions that may remain after the student has carefully gone through the lesson. The teacher will always attempt to check the Yahoo! Group and answer the students' questions at least on the second day allocated to each lesson. For lessons 1 to 50 the teacher will post his notes in English, and students are recommended to send their queries also in English, although they can also use French or Italian for that purpose. The teacher will reply in English, unless the student putting the question would prefer French or Italian in the answer too. From lesson 51 the teacher will use only Latin, both for his commentaries to the lessons and for his answers to students' queries; students are guaranteed to be able to understand him in this language by that stage. Students are not expected to query in Latin at any point in this course. The teacher will also provide additional written and listening exercises on-line as homework every seven lessons. These will all be in Latin. One sample of the returned homework will be corrected through the Yahoo! Group. As with any real life class, the Yahoo! Group is a public space that will allow all students to profit as much as possible from the questions of the others and the answers and corrections provided by the teacher. All students are there to learn, and no-one should be ashamed to ask what more often than not will also be in the mind of everyone else, or otherwise actively to participate in the learning process. Private messages to the teacher are highly discouraged. Introductory Programme Although there is no prerequisite to embark on this course, prospective students are recommended to gain as soon as possible a working acquaintance with the basic categories of universal grammar (parts of speech: verb, noun, adjective, etc.), and with the concepts of declension (gender, number, case) and conjugation (person, tense, mood, aspect, voice), although the details will of course be explained during the course. Prospective students are therefore recommended to start perusing the following introductory resources and to try and assimilate as much of the information given as possible before starting the course. 1. Basic grammatical categories. 2. Elements of Latin. 3. The declension (nouns and adjectives). 4. The conjugation (present indicative). Assessment There will be eleven pieces of homework set during the course, which will not be awarded a mark, although completing and returning on schedule each of the eleven will be a necessary requisite to remain in the course. Other than that, the final grades for this course will be awarded as follows. A first grade, corresponding to Sermo Latinus I, will be determined by a weighed average of two further assessments: one written test at the end of lesson 28, which will count for 40% of the final mark for this component, plus one final written examination at the end of lesson 56, which will count for the remaining 60%. A second grade, corresponding to Sermo Latinus II, will be determined by a weighed average of two further assessments: one written test at the end of lesson 84, which will count for 40% of the final mark for this component, plus one final written examination after the last lesson, which will count for the remaining 60%. Additional material No additional material is strictly needed, although any committed student should avail themselves of the following as soon as possible: In a living Latin course, getting the pronunciation right is quite essential. All students are therefore advised to buy as soon as possible and peruse the little masterpiece of clarity which is W. Sidney Allen, Vox Latina, A Guide to the Pronunciation of Classical Latin, Cambridge University Press 1992 [1965]. By the second half of the course they should also own Edgar H. Sturtevant, The Pronunciation of Greek and Latin, Chicago Ares Publishers Inc. 1975 [1940]. The only dictionary any English-speaking Latin student needs to have at this stage is the Collins Gem Latin Dictionary. This little wonder will last any beginner for a good few years. Beyond the Collins Gem, the only advice worth giving is to start saving big-time from this very moment in order to be able to buy a copy of the Oxford Latin Dictionary sooner rather than later, as the price will only be higher the longer one waits. Nothing between these two dictionaries is worth recommending, and nothing exists above the OLD. No one will be able to speak Latin correctly without the OLD. The only grammar book any Latin student needs to have is B.L. Gildersleeve & González Lodge, Latin Grammar, Bristol Classical Press 1997 [1867]. No-one has ever written a perfect Latin grammar, but this is still the best. No other substitute will do, and the teacher will be constantly referring students to it increasingly during the course. Of course loads of other study aids can be found, on-line and elsewhere, but the student is recommended not to get too distracted with those. The course as it is will be enough to keep everyone busy until June. Give your all the greatest language ever spoken! Enrolment If you have read all of the above, you will understand that to enter this course you just need three things: a) to be able to understand English well enough to follow the teacher's explanations for lessons 1 to 50 (only a passive knowledge of the language is required); b) to be able to understand either French or Italian well enough to follow the explanations on the textbook (only a passive knowledge of the language is required), although a working translation into English can be provided; and, of course, in any case, c) to have your own copy of the textbook and the audio material. If you fulfill these three conditions, please proceed as follows: 1. Copy the text below: I, [your name here], own a copy of Desessard's "Lingua Latina sine molestia", textbook and recordings, and I want to enrol for Sermo Latinus I&II. 2. Go to the Yahoo! Group for Sermo Latinus I&II (Desessard 1-101) for English speakers, press the 'join this group' button (top right), and fill in the form following the instructions there (if you don't have a Yahoo! account, you will need to create one, i.e. 'sign up'; but it's very easy and it's free, you just need to choose your own user name and a password). When you fill in the form to join the group, in the section called 'comment to owner', just paste the text you copied above, adding your name in the space indicated, and you will be enroled. Remember that the course starts 15th of October 2760 (2007).