Matthew Keil from Long Island City High School is quite the awesome Latin teacher

Monday, September 28, 2009

Here's a video I found on YouTube of a pretty great Latin teacher:



In the classroom you'll notice that he comes across not so much as just a person teaching Latin to the students but rather almost like a teacher from another country on an exchange program, who then is able to impart what he knows of the language and ancient Roman culture to the students. The focus on conversation is very important here, and he makes sure to always throw in a little Latin here and there even when explaining concepts to the students in English.

The solo interview isn't quite as rapid-fire as the conversation in class, but this is the case with any language when one is talking alone as opposed to having a give and take with someone else. Real conversation between two or more people is not so much about individuals making full statements one after another but rather a kind of collaboration in which everyone has a part, and from this comes something completely different than that produced by a single individual. Here's one example of a few people talking with/over each other; note how many incomplete sentences there are.



Compare that to the pattern one sees in a speech, with much more length and complexity in what is being said.



Also a bit of news: Latin mass returns to Seattle, with 500 people gathered at St. Alphonsus Church (among other locations) to hear it.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Vero optimus magister !

Olivarius

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