Course Description

Latin 103 is the third and last of the 100-series of beginning Latin courses. Western takes an active approach to language teaching, so our Latin courses focus on using the language rather than memorizing charts or lists in order to forget them immediately after a weekly quiz. We shall spend much of class conversing with each other in Latin, which makes class attendance very important: this isn't a class with lecture notes to get from a friend or powerpoint slides upon which to meditate, but one that builds skills through practice and experience.

BCOM GUR Credit

A passing grade of C- or better satisfies the BCOM Communication requirement of the General University Requirements (GUR). The university requires that the following be noted on the syllabus:

Communication is the foundation of your academic education and essential for your professional and personal success. These GURs develop your ability to generate, assess, and express ideas accurately, clearly, and creatively in a range of modalities and using a variety of technologies. Through ongoing learning and practice in different contexts, good communicators acquire skilled expertise in designing information effectively in different ways for different audiences. This area includes courses in writing, speaking, and information literacies.

This course most specifically addresses "Communicative and Interpretive Literacies":

These literacy practices focus on reading, interpreting, and communicating information through oral, print, and digital media and genres for audiences, both specialized and general.

Language Skill Objectives

Communcation

Students will be able to talk about:

• animals and pets;
• family relationships;
• Roman gods;
• health, illness, medicine, and drugs; and
• food, cooking, and dining.

Students should be able to 

• express opinions, agree, and disagree,
• give advice,
• compare and identify things,
• order food in a restaurant, and
• write a recipe.

Vocabulary

Students should know how to discuss:

• animals and pets;
• family members;
• foods, cooking, dining, and restaurants;
• gods, monsters, and spooky things;
• illnesses, remedies, and drugs; and
• pagan and Christian temples and personnel.

Morphology and Syntax

Students will use:

• pronouns, especially the reflexive;
• verbs (thematic and athematic, all voices)
  • in the indicative, active and passive, including the future perfect tense;
  • in the imperative, including the future imperative;
  • in the present and imperfect subjunctives;
  • perfect infinitives;
• participles (present, past, and future);
• basic indirect discourse;
• final clauses;
• hortatory subjunctive; and
• multiplicative numerals.

Pronunciation

Latin was pronounced many ways during the thousands of years it was in use, from ancient Rome to scientific and medical dissertations of the nineteenth century, and in many different lands. In this class, we shall adopt the restored classical Latin pronunciation. For more on the restored pronunciation, see

Allen, W. S. 1965. Vox Latina: A Guide to the Pronunciation of Classical Latin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Active Language Use

Ancient Latin is a language, like French or Spanish. The fact that Latin is an older language does not make it a code or logic puzzle instead of a language: it is still a language, and you should approach learning it as you would any other language. You wouldn't try to learn Spanish by reading some grammar instructions, memorizing a list of vocabulary, and taking a quiz—you learn Spanish by using the language to get increasingly more complex points across to another human being, and by reading authors with an eye to imitating them. The same applies to Latin: the more you use the language to express your thoughts, both in speech and writing, the better you will get at it.

Do not try to translate Latin into English, or your thoughts from English into Latin: you'll just introduce an unnecessary step that gives rise to over-thinking.  You don't translate from Spanish into English or vice-versa in your Spanish classes, so you shouldn't in Latin either.  

Class Meetings

LAT 103 meets every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in the spring quarter, from April 3 to June 7, from 11:30 AM to 12:50 PM. The class does not meet on Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day).  The class meets in Miller Hall 103 123, next to the Miller Mart.

Instructor

Miller Krause ( miller.krause@wwu.edu )

Office: Miller Hall 122D

Office Hours:

• Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays: 10:00–11:00 AM
• Tuesdays and Thursdays: 2:00–2:30 PM

Grading Scale

Course Requirements

Presence and Participation (20%)

Classes will give you time to interact with other students in Latin, and this will be the primary way that you learn Latin. You need the practice in interpersonal communication, including listening and speaking, that class provides, so you need to come to class. I understand that sometimes problems do arise, so Canvas will automatically excuse three absences; after three, it will slowly take points away from the presence and participation grade.

If you plan to miss class to undertake military service, observe religious holidays, or travel for sports or other University-sponsored activities, let me know in writing during the first two weeks of class, so that I can excuse your absences and work with you to change due dates for your assignments.

Daily Assignments (Pēnsa cottīdiāna, 20%)

There will be short, daily pēnsa or assignments to turn in, some written and some spoken, to give you individual practice.

Turn in written assignments on paper in class. You wrote assignments by hand the first quarter; you might want to try typing them now, but feel free to continue writing by hand.  Whether you type or write by hand, please double-space the assignments.

Record and submit spoken assignments (marked "vīvā vōce") using Canvas. They give me a good opportunity to check on individual students' pronunciation.  Illustrated instructions on recording and submitting video are available at https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-submit-a-media-file-as-an-assignment-submission/ta-p/279.

Canvas will excuse two pēnsa cottīdiāna.

Weekly Compositions (Commentāriī hebdomālēs, 20%)

Most weekends, you will have a writing prompt for compositions, relating to the subject matter we covered that week. Write your commentāriī in the pugillārēs, dedicated notebooks that you will be given to use just for these assignments and to continue using in future quarters. You should be able to judge your own progression in using the language by looking back at what you have done.

You are not obligated to tell the truth in your commentāriī—I don't really care what you like to do after class or what you did during the summer, and you don't have to tell me your secrets. In fact, lying may be better, because it lets you adapt your response to your own proficiency and comfort zone.

You'll keep your pugillārēs for use in future classes: as you continue through future Latin classes, you (and your instructors) will be able to look back to see how much progress you've made.

Letters (Epistulæ, 10%)

This quarter you'll also send epistulæ (letters) in Latin to each other, via the arcāna arca epistulārum, located on the first floor of Miller Hall near Miller Mart.  You must write eight letters, but you can write more if you like.  As last year, you'll be given code names to hide your identity, but you can write to anyone you want in class.  Epistulae are meant to be interpersonal communications between yourself and other students, so that you're writing to another human being for a purpose and to be understood and even to receive a response.

Don't seal the first two letters, because I'll want to check their formatting; after that, feel free to seal your other letters.  I'll read over the first two letters when you send them, and I'll read the rest at the end of the quarter to see how much progress you're making in writing.

At the end of the quarter, give me the letters you've received (which will have been sent by other students), and I'll arrange them by sender and look over them during the last week of classes.  On the last day, we'll all look at them and see how brilliant you are.

Tests (Probātiōnēs, 20%)

Each unit will have one probātiō (quiz/test/assessment).  It is possible to finish these by oneself, but they are meant to be collaborative tasks: you may talk to each other during the tests and about the tests, so long as you speak only in Latin. You may use your notes, books, and other resources, but do not use translation apps—you should be reading and responding in Latin with no English intermediary. I suggest studying together with other students.

Final Examination (Probātiō Ultima, 10%)

There will be a final examination, to be taken in class on paper. The final exam will be collaborative like the regular tests: you may talk to each other during the exam and about the exam, so long as you speak only in Latin. The final examination will be administered according to the Registrar's schedule for final examinations:

• Tuesday, June 11, 2024: 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity means more than not copying answers, a negative definition that only tells you what integrity is not. Think of what academic integrity actually means in the positive sense: put into your classes in the work that your studies demand, so that you grow in your knowledge and skills. Explore the University's Academic Honesty website for more on the University's philosophy and regulations.

Course Schedule

This schedule is subject to change. Changes, if any, will be announced in class. Students will be held responsible for all changes.