I want to keep the Latin discussion front and center. I am beginning to see that there is some unique stuff going on right now. Churning beneath the waters. In a small part of the ocean. That few have noticed yet. But will.
There are about seven vocal Classicists in our group and they are impacting how people view and relate to the Classic writers and the Classic languages in ways we cannot know yet, in my opinion. They are gadflies. Pucks.
About twenty five languages disappear each year on the planet. I find it interesting, however, that when we say disappear, we mean simply that no one is speaking it. It didn’t disappear, it’s just asleep. We have talked about this in relation to the Sauk language, which is a category here, if you want to pick that up. Languages cannot die, in the above sense.
Latin never died. It’s waking up from life support. Those seven EMTs of language discuss stuff all the time but I can’t seem to fit in all their discussions here in our list of articles due to other articles in the cue and so much time and space cramping. They have their own online Latin forum where most of the heavy lifting takes place.
John Piazza gave me a hearty laugh this morning when I read something he had written in a recent thread (cibum capere) which I will publish in its entirety in the comment fields below – he called himself a “Recovering 4%er”. That is a very accurate term for many of us and describes why many of us have to gnash our teeth so hard every day just to make this change. Thanks for the term John – I think it’s going to make its way into our lexicon.
I just think it is beyond exciting that the most well defined language group in our PLC in terms of articulation (read “fighting with teeth bared and knives out”) of the change toward CI is a bunch of Latinists. Rebirth of the Roman Army. Third coming of the Alexandrian Pleiad. The Latin rumbling.
In that spirit (and also because the more we mention and stay focused on Krashen’s ideas in this war, the better we fight), I republish this thread from when I recently (in February) asked Krashen about Latin and CI. Here is his response:
…Latin: Oh yes. The problem is finding easy and interesting texts. Cambridge Latin Course latest edition is a big improvement over earlier ones, but not nearly enough. It’s a job for TPRS. Thanks to the internet, Latin teachers can create and share lots of interesting texts they create with their students….