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Several years ago, we bought Latina Christiana, from
Memoria Press [1].
Imagine the wild excitement one day in January, when the
much-anticipated parcel arrived. The box was opened, and we found books and
tapes wrapped in discarded Latin workbook pages. The children pounced on these,
and bore them off to discover something of the delights in store for them.
Before long, the noise level rose, and kept rising. When we went to investigate,
there was much laughter, and a chorus of "CLAMO, CLAMO, CLAMO",
recited at the tops of several healthy pairs of lungs. One of the children
hastened to explain to us, "Clamo means I shout!"
Although only our four oldest children (ages 13 down to 8) followed the full course,
Latin was very much a family study. At one stage the baby would not sit in his
high chair at the table unless one of his brothers or sisters said "Sede"
(meaning sit), and on more than one occasion he was heard reciting Latin
verb forms to himself! Our three-year-old would ask "what is the Latin for my
finger hurts?" while the five-year-old wanted to know "what is I'm
hungry in Latin?" and the seven-year-old enjoyed learning about Latin
and Greek roots of English words. All of the younger children joined in singing
a number of Latin songs, learning the Lord's Prayer (Pater Noster), and
picked up an amazing amount of elementary grammar and vocabulary, just from
hearing their older brother and sisters reciting their lessons.
The lessons each include a Latin phrase to learn, and the Teacher's Manual often
includes extra information about these. Then there are the new vocabulary words
for the lesson, English derivatives from these words (wonderful for dictionary
practice), and grammar: both Latin and English. Interestingly, the children have
all found English grammar easier to comprehend in the context of their study of
Latin, than they ever did before. Greenleaf Press's Famous Men of Rome is
an integral part of the course, and history questions appear on the tests,
which are given after every fifth lesson (though if you prefer to use a
different history course, you could just skip those questions).
Recently we bought the new edition of Latina
Christiana, to use with our younger boys. The set now comes with a CD of
Cheryl Lowe and a couple of children reciting the vocabulary and grammar forms
for each lesson, as well as beautiful recordings of all of the songs learned in
the course [2]. I hadn't been altogether
sure whether to buy the CD, as we hadn't
been particularly impressed with the original recording. Having listened to it,
though, I am very pleased with it, and believe it will be a welcome addition
to our Latin programme.
Copyright © Ruth Marshall 2004
[1] Memoria Press materials may
be purchased in Australia through Adnil
Press.
[2] The words to Adeste Fideles are different on the CD to those in the book.
See here for the words to the sung version.
Adeste,
fideles,
Laeti
triumphantes,
Venite,
venite in Bethlehem.
Natum
videte
Regem
angelorum.
Refrain
Venite
adoremus,
venite
adoremus,
Venite
adoremus,
Dominum.
Deum
de Deo,
Lumen
de Lumine,
Gestant
puellae viscera,
Deum
verum,
Genitum
non factum.
Refrain
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O
come, all ye faithful,
Joyful
and triumphant,
O
come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come
and behold him
Born
the King of angels;
Refrain
O
come, let us adore him,
O
come, let us adore him,
O
come, let us adore him,
Christ,
the Lord.
God
of God,
Light
of light,
Lo,
he abhors not the Virgin’s womb,
Very
God,
Begotten,
not created
Refrain
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