Homework for Week 6 (Class April 10-11)

Nota bene: There will be no Latin class meeting during the Sacred Triduum, so the next time we will meet will be on April 10/11).

Since it will be two weeks before our next class, you would be well advised to spend some time during Holy Week practicing everything we've been reading and discussing in class, to get it really well ingrained in your memory, before concentrating on the current lesson, Lectio Secunda in Capitulo Secundo (vv. 25-61 in Cap. II). Then, in the week after Easter Sunday, you should complete the following:

• Cap. II, lectio II (vv. 25-61)
• Exercitia 5-9 for Capitulum Secundum
• The relevant portions of the instructions for Chapter 2 in Latine Disco (this will be everything for Chapter 2 except the last two paragraphs).

Just a couple of reminders to help you keep up or catch up during the next two weeks:

• You will learn more easily -- and more permanently -- if you use the "slow drip" method: a little at a time, with plenty of mental repetition and practice. Therefore, it is better to study and practice for twenty minutes a day over six days than to cram in 2 or 3 hours of intense study the night before class.
• But don't simply do the same thing every day; vary your activity and build from passive familiarity (reading the lectio) to active use (making up a little dialogue or monologue about the contents of the reading). Active use will be more challenging, but if you can spontaneously produce a correct and complete answer to even a very simple Latin question (such as, "Cuius filia est Iulia?") you will know that you are mastering the material.
• Give as much time and attention (or even more!) to learning and using case endings (or other relevant grammatical constructions) as you do to learning new vocabulary. Since Latin creates meaning through inflection (word endings that vary according to how the word is being used) rather than through word order, accurately use of word-endings will be more and more important as we progress in our study.
• Have fun with your study. See if you can find ways of practicing Latin that will make your time with Latin interesting and pleasurable rather than letting it become tedious drudgery. If you come up with any fun study techniques , let the rest of us know! You might be able to inspire others to do likewise.