It is in our shared successes that we can find the strength to keep on keeping on. Jeffery, no stranger to the muck and mire of transitioning to comprehensible input based instruction, recently sent us an excellent report:
Today, in my Latin I class. I was working on creating a fictional family. We had a mother and a father and 4 kids, two sons and two daughters. I was one of the daughters and I was wearing a wig that a kid brought in. I’m just like that. I enjoy having fun with the first year kids. One of the kids was trying to help me put the wig on, and she said in perfect Latin, “Veni huc: Come here!”
I never circled that structure. I never wrote in all the board. I never even gave the definition. I just said it in class when I wanted someone to come forward as an actor. I was completely stunned. Incredible! I would also say that this kid is not the strongest in the class, yet she said it naturally and correctly. I guess this stuff does work!
Jeff
Then Bob Patrick responded to Jeff:
Yes, it does. And the more you do this the more examples like this you will have. She got it because when you used it, whenever you used it, it was an understandable message. That’s CI. That’s how we learn language, any language. Latin is a language. (can you hear the mantra I’ve created?). Outstanding. Celebrating with you. And then Dan Navar added:
Agreed! Eugipae! Sounds like you’re getting some buy in over there.
Me again: We celebrate this victory. None is too small. David’s recent video, this report, John’s video, Bob’s recent posts, Team Latin, all that we get and share with our Latin teachers on this site, is a gift and we are all happy to be in the Latin loop here. And what was all that noise about Latin being a dead language? How silly! Latin didn’t die. It only took a really really long snooze.