Course in the Latin Language
Now Offered Online |
the language, one that is more suited to a
beginning student. By means of this
thorough and well-organized text, the
student learns about the rules and
structure of Latin and of language in
general, which in time he is able to apply
to his own native language. Collins
presents translation both from Latin and
into Latin as an analytical and step-bystep
process, allowing the student a clear
view of the basic, subtle workings of the
language.
“I also keep, while teaching from this
text, a special focus on the connections
between the vocabularies of Latin and of
English. I address individually each Latin
word presented in the text and prompt
the students to come up with the English
words that were derived from it. It is
interesting to the student and also allows
him to learn Latin vocabulary far more
quickly. At the same time students are
now able to achieve a far greater
knowledge of English vocabulary since
they learn to relate modern English words
to these earlier Latin forms. Analysis of
the original Latin words, which in general
were constructed in a way far more logical
to the student’s mind than those of
modern English, makes the student able
to piece together the meanings of English
words by dissecting their Latin precursors.
For instance, if in class we saw the word
absolvo for the first time, I would ask the
students whether they knew any English
words that seemed to have been derived
from this word. They might say “absolve”
or “absolution.” Then I would break the
word down into basic verb and prefix,
pointing out that solvo means ‘set free’ or
‘release’ and that the prefix ab- means
“from” or “away from,” and therefore
when basic verb and prefix are combined,
they logically mean ‘set free from’ or
‘release from,’ which is exactly what the
English word ‘absolve’ means.”
Next, with Collins as a base, the class
moves on to Orberg’s Lingua Latina. This
text, only a few years old, has already
revolutionized the teaching of Latin.
Orberg has chosen to take the bold step
of writing his textbook completely in
Latin, omitting all of the usual guides and
explanations in the student’s native |
Within the past year a new option for
the study of the Latin language has
become available to those in America and
around the world, and it comes by means
of a platform that might seem strange for
an ancient language—the internet. The
Carmenta Online Latin Classroom,
founded and run by Andrew Kuhry-
Haeuser, who also serves as instructor for
all levels of its Latin classes, has begun
offering a course in the Latin language
that is taught completely over the internet
and uses the latest web conferencing
technology. This technology allows for a
live online class meeting through live
group audio and video, permitting a
whole group of students to meet together
with the instructor in a single “online
classroom,” even though each individual
student is in reality sitting before his own
home computer. The instructor and
students are able to converse with each
other through each student’s individual
computer speakers and microphone and
to see each other by way of web cams. In
addition, the blackboard of the traditional
classroom is replaced by a whiteboard
visible to each student on his own
computer screen. At this point in time,
the online classroom setting provided by
Carmenta is as close to the experience of
a real in-person class as can be achieved
through the internet.
The course runs for eight possible
semesters, with three semesters being
offered per year, in the fall, spring, and
summer. Mr. Kuhry-Haeuser, who has a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin from
Gonzaga University, a prominent Jesuit
Catholic institution, teaches all units of
the course. And while this Latin course
is taught over the internet, one shouldn’t
get the idea that it is not serious or that it
is aimed at the mere dabbler. In fact, it is
quite thorough and comprehensive, and
meant for serious students, equivalent to
a good college or high-school level course.
It is an in-depth and ambitious course,
one that wouldn’t be at all out of place in |
any top-flight institution of learning, but
since it happens to be located online, it
comes with certain additional advantages.
Since the Carmenta course is taught over
the internet, it provides for the student
an inherent flexibility and makes the
integration of Latin study into his own
particular lifestyle far smoother,
eliminating the extra travel time and stress
that would be involved in a course taken
at a local university, college, or
homeschool co-op or collective. The
student may participate in class from
home or wherever he has access to the
internet, allowing him much more easily
to fit the course into what may be a very
busy schedule.
The Carmenta course also affords the
opportunity of learning Latin for those
who may not otherwise have been able,
perhaps because there has been no Latin
course offered where they live or in the
school that they attend. Unfortunately,
in many places across the country,
especially in many small towns, there is
not enough “demand” to warrant the
offering of Latin classes in the local
schools. For the people who find
themselves in this situation, their
educations limited by their personal
geography, the online route may be an
excellent option. There are many people
who may have thought for years of taking
Latin but were never presented with an
opportunity to do so. These people may
want to think seriously about learning
online.
The Carmenta Online Latin
Classroom’s course is built around two
separate textbooks: John F. Collins’ Primer
of Ecclesiastical Latin, which is used during
the first four semesters, and Hans Orberg’s
Lingua Latina, used for the fifth through
eighth semesters. “My choice of these two
markedly different texts,” says Mr. Kuhry-
Haeuser, “is indicative of my personal
ideas concerning the effective teaching of
Latin. Collins’ Primer presents a more
traditional, grammar-focused approach to |
language. Thus, with this crutch removed,
the student is now forced to understand
the rules and intricacies of the Latin
language from context, leading for the
student to a far more intuitive
understanding of the language and
allowing him far more easily to learn to
write and speak it quickly and fluidly. In
addition, Orberg’s method is particularly
helpful for the learning and retention of
Latin vocabulary and idiom. “With
Lingua Latina,” says Kuhry-Haeuser, “the
student is able to take the next step, from
a language he has understood structurally
and formally to Latin as a living, breathing
language, one that he is now able to use
conversationally.”
And this is the third pillar of the
course—conversation. Beginning in the
second semester, students in the course
begin speaking and writing in Latin both
in and out of class. In class the instructor
leads group conversations (starting very
simply, but moving in time to the more
complex), while at the same time, outside
of class, pairs of students are assigned each
week a certain amount of Latin
conversation time, chatting with each
other by means of the text chat room on
the Carmenta Online Latin Classroom
web site. This conversational element,
integrated fully into nearly every level of
the course, is, Mr. Kuhry-Haeuser
believes, “key to the students’ long-term
success with the Latin language. Only
through the frequent practice in forming
sentences and recalling vocabulary that
conversation in the language provides are
the students able, in time, to truly master
it. The non-conversational approach that
has dominated most Latin education over
the past century, which focusses on
translation from Latin to the student’s
native language along with tedious
memorization of long lists of vocabulary
words, is generally painful for the student
and, in the end, usually not terribly
effective. Only conversation, which forces
the student to obtain and then retain a
high level of logical and intuitive
understanding of the language, can serve
to take the student from a rudimentary
understanding of Latin to a deep
understanding of the structure and beauty |
Catholic Architectural Beauty: St. Joseph’s Church, Winsted, CT
|
of the language and its literature, and
connectedly, language in general.”
Mr. Kuhry-Haeuser feels quite
strongly concerning the essential nature
of the Latin language in the context of a
broad liberal-classical education and
believes that Latin should be a basic course
for all students, no matter which
particular discipline they may later choose
to focus on. Still, the reality is that, in
this particular time in history, the majority
of teachers and students do not
understand the language’s great value and
even necessity for anyone who wishes to
be truly educated, especially in the context
of the Western tradition. Still, there does
remain a core group of students, teachers,
and educated citizens that keeps Latin
alive and allows it to remain, Kuhry-
Haeuser asserts, “a living language.”
The publishers and readers of this
magazine, as devotees of the Extraordinary
Form of the Roman Rite as well as the
historical music of the Roman Rite,
should certainly have a keener interest
than most in the Latin language, and so
for them this course might be an especially
good choice. Anyone who wishes to
understand the Latin Mass, as well as the
history and traditions of the Catholic
Church, must not only study and become |
familiar with the Latin language, but must
also strive to attain a high level of facility
in reading, understanding, and even
speaking it. The Church and the Latin
language are inextricably intertwined (it
has been the official language of the
Church for millennia and remains so still),
and any Catholic who wishes to approach
the Church in its entirety, in the context
of both past and present, must understand
the language of Rome. Clergy members,
in particular, who wish to offer the Roman
Rite Mass to their parishioners must be
able to understand and use Latin with
uncommon facility. They should be able
to utter the words of the Mass with the
depth and subtlety that only comes with
a profound and fluent knowledge of the
language in which it was written. And
this course, with its built-in flexibility in
regard to geography and time constraints,
may be just what a busy priest or
seminarian may be looking for. At the
same time an interested layperson, busy
with his job or the time-consuming tasks
of childcare and homeschooling, may find
that this course fits in well with his hectic
lifestyle, whether he is interested in
learning the language himself or in having
his children do so.
The Carmenta course is designed to |
be a good fit for children as young as
junior-high age all the way up to adults.
It moves at a reasonable pace and meets
frequently enough (three times per week
in the first two semesters and two times
per week after that) that retention of the
material as well as a smoothly increasing
improvement in the use of the language
over time are, for a devoted student, easy
to obtain. Homework, assigned at every
class period, is an important component
of the course as well, and admittedly, a
student who fails to complete his
homework on a regular basis will likely
have a very hard time excelling. On the
other hand, though, any student who
completes his homework and shows up
regularly for class can expect to do well,
regardless of what his natural aptitude may
be in the acquisition of language. The
primary goal of the course is lofty—the
acquisition of a complete and fluent
knowledge of the Latin tongue—but at
the same time it is quite achievable if a
student maintains his focus and is
sufficiently devoted to the completion of
the small amount of work assigned to him
at any point in the progression of the
course.
It is a solid course, one that might be
utilized quite effectively in a traditional
classroom setting. Yet Mr. Kuhry-Haeuser
has chosen to offer it online instead. We
asked him why he had chosen to take such
an, as yet, fairly unusual step. “I wanted
to bring together a sufficient number of
students so that I could teach a course of
my own,” he told us, “something that
would have been impossible if I had been
restricted to those few who had an interest
in Latin in the small town where I live.
And so, when I learned that technology
had advanced sufficiently so that it was
now possible to conduct classes online
with live audio and video, I decided to
give it a go. I feel that the live audio and
video component is key to the course’s
efficacy. The immediate interaction
between teacher and student is essential
for establishing in the mind of the student
the subtle patterns and idioms of the Latin
language and for helping him to finally
relate to and employ it as a spoken, living
language. Short of this direct teaching |
method, I felt that any course would be
unsatisfactory and ineffective. But since
I have been able to utilize the newest web
conferencing technology, I am quite
happy with the feel of the online class,
and I am now working to grow it into a
lively course with a diverse and interesting
group of students.”
In the process of writing this article,
we also spoke to a couple of students who
are presently enrolled in the Carmenta
course. The first, Jimmy, a college student
and part-time video game enthusiast, had
this to say: “The Carmenta Online Latin
course has been awesome. I’ve completed
the Latin I coursework and I have to say
that I can already see the results in my
everyday life: I have a better grasp of the
English language now and my vocabulary
is broader. Andrew is a great instructor,
very competent and helpful. And on top
of that he has a great sense of humor! I
think my favorite part of the course has
been the vocabulary. Andrew makes
learning the vocabulary fun and easy by
showing us the connection between the
words and their English derivatives. I
would recommend this course to anyone
who is interested in learning Latin.”
We also asked Hilary, a junior-highschool
teacher and Carmenta student who
is presently in Latin I, what her experience
of the course was: “I took Latin because I
hoped it would help me to understand
the English language better and so that in
the future it will be a good springboard
for my learning Spanish. I also was
fascinated by the oldness of it and its
relationship with all the modern Romance
languages. Before I began the course I
was a little concerned that learning Latin
might be too difficult and that I wouldn’t
be able to handle it, but it has turned out
to be far easier than I thought. Andrew is
an exceptional teacher and always very
patient, and while he knows the text well,
he is never afraid to veer from it when he
feels he needs to.”
These students and others, under the
guidance of the instructor, and with
persistence and a reasonable amount of
labor, are led semester after semester
gradually in the direction of the single goal
of the course—the understanding of the |
Latin language. And in time they can
expect to understand it at a high enough
level that its many fruits may become
available to them. For with a good
understanding of Latin a person is able
to accomplish much: a deeper
understanding of the Latin Mass, an
awareness and appreciation of two and a
half millennia of Latin literature, and the
attainment of a myriad insights into the
structure and workings of his own native
language and of language in general. But
no matter what the student’s specific goals
may be, this course is a good choice. It is
designed to give the student all the varied
tools of the language as well as the breadth
of related intellectual and spiritual avenues
to which the Latin language provides
access. By leading the student to a fluid
facility with and an in-depth
understanding of Latin, a variety of doors
are opened for him, directly and indirectly,
that previously were not only closed but
perhaps even invisible. And in opening
and walking through these doors, he is
able in time to fashion himself anew, as
minister or worshipper, scholar or
gentleman, literary enthusiast or
rhetorician, linguist or intellectual light.
The language, while certainly a joy on its
own, is in fact merely a beginning. It is
the start of something quite new, the
entrance to a universe of learning.
The cost of the Carmenta Online Latin
course is $400.00 (US) per semester.
Interested parties can sign up at the
course’s web site,
www.CarmentaLatin.com. The web site
also contains further information on the
details of the course, including sections
on the instructor, scheduling, and policies,
as well as Latin-related movie clips,
newspaper and magazine articles, and
book recommendations, and an extensive
list of links to other Latin-themed web
sites. Also, if you have any questions at
all, Mr. Kuhry-Haeuser invites you to
contact him by email at
instructor@CarmentaLatin.com. He is
always happy to respond to queries or
concerns. |
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