February 28, 2011

Libri sunt magistri qui nos instruunt sine virgis et ferula

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Libri sunt magistri qui nos instruunt sine virgis et ferula. In English: "Books are teachers who instruct us without rods and the whip."

Yesterday's proverb told us that books are silent teachers. When you learn from a book, it is just you and the book, one on one, very different from the classroom environment. Many people do have fond memories of teachers whom they respected and even adored, but what today's proverb reminds us of is that there can be a dark side to the teacher-student relationship as well, either the literal punishments inflicted with rods and whips, or the metaphorical blow that can be struck by a harsh word or by silent contempt. Teachers face an almost impossible task in the classroom, with so many different students to attend to, and so little time in which to do that. It is no wonder that teachers often fail in this impossible task. I am someone who always found it safer and more reliable to learn from books; I am guessing there are other successful learners out there who might agree with me.

The Latin is an adaptation of a longer quote by the medieval scholar Richard de Bury: Hi sunt magistri qui nos instruunt sine virgis et ferula, sine pane et pecunia. Si accedis, non dormiunt ; si inquiris, non se abscondunt ; non remurmurant si oberres ; cachinnos nesciunt si ignores. "These are teachers who instruct us without rods and the whip, without (the reward of) food or money. If you come to see them, they do not sleep; if you have a question, they do not hide; they do not grumble if you make a mistake; they know not how to mock you if you are ignorant of something."

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Librī sunt magistrī quī nōs instruunt sine virgīs et ferulā.



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February 27, 2011

Libri muti magistri sunt

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Libri muti magistri sunt. In English: "Books are silent teachers."

I thought this would make up a good follow-up to yesterday's saying about how writing allows those who are absent to be present via the written word. When someone's words of wisdom are recorded in writing, that allows the person to become your teacher, even if you are not in a classroom together in the same place, at the same time. You can learn from listening to a teacher's spoken words, but you can also learn from the written words recorded in a book, which is how that book can become your silent teacher. For me, this has been profoundly true: even in school, I learned more from books than from listening to teachers in the classroom, and now as an adult, I do almost all my learning directly from books, especially the treasure-trove of GoogleBooks. That is why I consider reading to be a fundamental skill, essential for all students to learn: when you can read, the whole library becomes your teacher.

In terms of Latin grammar here, the trick is definitely in separating the subject from the predicate. As you read long, you find the word libri first, "books," and then the next word, an adjective, muti, "silent," could go with books, grammatically speaking, but that really does not make sense: libri muti would imply that there are some books which are not muti, talking books as it were. Since that really does not make sense, you need to place a mental pause there, taking libri, provisionally, as the subject, and muti, provisionally, as part of the predicate. Then, sure enough, the next word lets everything fall into place. Libri, subject, are muti magistri, predicate.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Librī mūtī magistrī sunt.



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February 26, 2011

Litteris absentes videmus

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Litteris absentes videmus. In English: "By means of writing, we see those who are absent."

Yesterday I invoked the saying, Litteras disce, "Learn your letters," which is to say, everyone should learn to read. Today's saying reminds us of what a magical thing this is. When I read, I see in my mind's eye people who live in distant times and distant lands. Because they committed their words to writing, it is as if these people are present to me, even though they are absent. The end of life is a great loss and a sadness, but if people are able to take the best of themselves and put that into writing, a part of them does live on. As the Roman poet Horace said, Exegi monumentum aere perennius, "I have built a monument more lasting than bronze." This was no idle boast. Horace's poetry does live on. Writing lets us reach out across space and across time, allowing us to be present, virtually, even when we are physically absent.

This proverb shows the range of meaning of litterae in Latin. As in English "letters," the Latin plural litterae can mean the letters of the alphabet, written documents, or writing in a general sense. It can also refer to what we call a "letter" in English: a document addressed and sent to an intended recipient. More narrowly, litterae can also refer to "letters" in the sense of "literature" or what is called in French belles lettres.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Litterīs absentēs vidēmus.



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February 25, 2011

Week 5: Reptitio

So, here are the proverbs from this week, along with a link to each podcast:
Plus here are the previous proverbs:
I'll be back next week with more! :-)
on

Litteras disce

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Litteras disce! In English: "Learn your letters!"

I am going to use this proverb to make a comment that might seem unexpected: I am in complete agreement that people should "learn their letters" in the sense of learning how to read. Being able to read is, I think, essential, and it is worth any and all the time that it requires in school. Yet I am not convinced that writing is something that deserves the same amount of attention. Given that I teach writing, that might seem like a strange thing to say, but I certainly have a lot of experience on which to base my opinion. Writing is a skill very different from reading, and far more difficult. Learning to spell, learning the rules of punctuation, and learning the specialized vocabulary of formal written English requires thousands of hours beyond the time it takes to learn to read. Is it the best use of a student's time? I definitely believe that students should learn to express themselves clearly and creatively. I am not so sure that writing is the best way to do that, unless the student is personally motivated to write.

The Latin plural here, litterae, "letters," has the same connotation of the English use of "letters" to mean literature. So the saying is not just about learning the alphabet from A-Z, but instead being able to read and learn from the great body of written literature, the things that have been written down and preserved with the magic of the alphabet for all of us to share and learn from, even when the authors of those written works have long since passed away.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Litterās disce.



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February 24, 2011

Scito teipsum

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Scito teipsum. In English: "Know yourself."

I was prompted to include this as today's saying because of a very thought-provoking article I read about K-12 education, criticizing it for taking a one-size-fits-all approach, rather than an exploratory approach, where every student would have the opportunity, resources and encouragement they need to seek out the subjects that truly ignite their passions. The article contended that by making people college-ready rather than by making them self-aware, we wind up with many students in college who have no idea why they are there, since they have not gotten to learn anything about themselves in their many long years of schooling. Very true! The command to "Know yourself" in its Greek form (ΓΝΩΘΙ ΣΕΑΥΤΟΝ) was supposedly inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and was invoked by the philosopher Socrates, among others. It's a piece of advice I would gladly inscribe on the front door of any school!

In terms of Latin grammar, this saying features the wonderful form of the imperative with the unfortunate name of the "future imperative." There is nothing really "future" about it - instead, the form has a kind of official grandness about it, something that is a command at all times, rather than a command for a single individual circumstance.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Scītō tēipsum.



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February 23, 2011

Ut ver dat florem, studium sic reddit honorem

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Ut ver dat florem, studium sic reddit honorem. In English: "As spring brings the blossom, so education yields public esteem."

I thought I would indulge myself in just one more rhyming proverb before leaving these medieval delights behind. Listen to the Latin again for the rhyme: Ut ver dat FLOREM, studium sic reddit HONOREM. It is very reassuring to think that just as naturally as the spring brings the flowers, so too will hard work and study result in public esteem or respect. The problem is that sometimes the winter is very long indeed, and very cold, and very hard, so that you can almost give up hope. But eventually spring does come - and you get an email from someone thanking you for a blog post or for a webpage. With the help of the Internet, I do experience a sense of public recognition from my work sometimes, and I delight in that just as much as in the flowers of spring. I hope every teacher and every student can experience some kind of similar reward, with a bouquet of public recognition at the end of their long labors!

Unlike yesterday's proverb, this one actually does scan as a hexameter line which, with its internal rhyme, allows it to achieve the status of a Leonine verse!

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Ut vēr dat flōrem, studium sic reddit honōrem.


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February 22, 2011

Non de ponte cadit qui cum sapientia vadit

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Non de ponte cadit qui cum sapientia vadit. In English: "He who walks with knowledge doesn't fall off the bridge."

I have to immediately explain that the charm of this proverb is that the Latin version rhymes, something that just doesn't come through in the English. I was prompted to choose the proverb because it shares a verb - Latin vadere, to go (as in English invade, evade, etc.) - with yesterday's proverb about the ant. More importantly, I chose it because I love rhyming proverbs. They are so fun and easy to remember. So, here's the Latin again: Non de ponte CADIT qui cum sapientia VADIT. So, enjoy the rhyme, and let the metaphor take care of the rest: in crossing the bridge of life, wisdom will give you a steady footing so that you don't fall off.

In terms of proverb style, this use of rhyme marks the proverb as medieval. For some reason, the ancient Romans were not enamored of rhyme, but it was much beloved by medieval authors, and many of the medieval Latin meters are rhyming meters, just as many of the medieval Latin proverbs rhyme, as this one does. This one, in fact, probably is aspiring to be a hexameter verse, a so-called Leonine verse - but as often in medieval Latin, the quantities are not quite right; the ablative ending of sapientiā means that it doesn't scan as a hexameter - but not worries: it still rhymes just fine!

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Nōn dē ponte cadit quī cum sapientiā vādit.



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February 20, 2011

Vade ad formicam, o piger

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Vade ad formicam, o piger, et considera vias eius, et disce sapientiam. In English: "Go to the ant, you lazy-bones, and study her ways, and learn wisdom."

After yesterday's grand saying about the enormity of past, present, and future, I thought I would zoom in on something very small today: the ant, who gathers up her food, grain by grain, toting it back to the anthill. Just think of those grains as being knowledge you gather and store in your mind for the future! This saying comes from the Biblical Book of Proverbs, and it urges us to look to the ant for an example of hard work and industriousness. We tend to think of wisdom as some great and grand thing, but the tiny little ants show us what we need to do: work, and work together, in order to achieve great things. So, go to the ant, if you're feeling lazy, Vade ad formicam, o piger, watch what she does, considera vias eius, and learn wisdom, disce sapientiam.

In terms of proverb style, this is another one of those nice triple proverbs: vade ... considera ... disce, three nice imperatives, all in a row.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Vāde ad formīcam, ō piger, et consīderā viās eius, et disce sapientiam.



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February 19, 2011

Corrige praeteritum, rege praesens, cerne futurum

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Corrige praeteritum, rege praesens, cerne futurum. In English: "Correct the past, direct the present, detect the future."

The "triple" aspect of this proverb is really appealing to me! Both as a teacher and as a student, I feel like I am always looking to the past and the present and the future. Correcting past mistakes is how I can try to avoid making such mistakes again in the future. By directing the present, I try to steer its course towards the destination that is my goal. Finally, I have to try, somehow, to discern what is to come in the future, detecting the trends that could end up having quite an impact on my future present, so to speak! Finally, what I like best about this proverb is that it suggests there is a perfect kind of balancing act here; you need to spend equal time on past, present, and future, not getting completely hung up on just one of them. So, try to keep all three in mind if you can: Corrige praeteritum, rege praesens, cerne futurum.

In terms of Latin, notice that there is a nice word play with corrige and rege, which have the same verbal stem, which I've tried to suggest with "correct" and "direct" in English. Plus, in the English, I've extended that echo still further, with "detect" the future, using a little bit of rhyme to emphasize the lovely tri-fold structure of the Latin saying.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Corrige praeteritum, rege praesens, cerne futūrum.



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February 18, 2011

Week 4: Repetitio

So, here are the proverbs from this week, along with a link to each podcast:
Plus here are the previous proverbs:
I'll be back next week with more! :-)
on

February 17, 2011

Diversa sunt hominum studia

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Diversa sunt hominum studia. In English: "People's passions run in different directions."

In a previous post, I mentioned that I am opposed to anything like a "common curriculum" or "core knowledge" that everyone is supposed to acquire. That narrow-mindedness just does not fit with how I see the world of teaching and learning. The possibilities for teaching and learning are infinite, and we are in fact very lucky that different people are interested in different things. How boring the world would be if everyone studied the same things and we all had the same knowledge! Because we all study different things, our collective knowledge keeps on growing. The greater the number of things people study and learn, the wiser our society will be as a whole. Diversity benefits us all: Diversa sunt hominum studia.

In terms of Latin vocabulary, that word studium is worth careful attention. You can translate it with the English word "study, field of study," but don't forget that the Latin word has a much wider range of meaning than the English derivative. The noun is derived from the Latin verb studere, which means "to be eager, to be zealous, to desire," so a studium is not just schoolwork in Latin: it is the passion you feel that inspires you to learn more! Take a look at the Lewis & Short dictionary entry for more details.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Dīversa sunt hominum studia.



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February 16, 2011

Qui pauca legit, pauca scit

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Qui pauca legit, pauca scit. In English: "He who reads little, knows little."

I thought this would make a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb that urged everyone to learn by reading, Disce legendo. Today's saying points out the negative consequences of not reading: "He who reads little, knows little." Because I am a voracious reader, I know lots of things. Yet my students, many of whom are reluctant readers, are often very ignorant about the world they live in. This worries me. I do not believe a "core curriculum" can fix this problem; every person needs to know different things. Any attempt to define a "core curriculum" is a dangerous illusion in my opinion, a fatal Siren song leading to educational disaster. Instead, we just need to make sure that everybody reads a lot. It doesn't matter what you read, so long as you read a LOT of it. He who reads little, knows little - but he who reads much, knows much.

In terms of proverb style, you can see a very elegant parallel structure here at work and, luckily for me, it is a parallel structure that works perfectly well both in Latin and English. You could express it as a formula: Qui X verb-A, X verb-B. There is indeed a kind of "algebra of style" when it comes to Latin proverbs, structures that make the expression somehow instantly familiar and recognizable, giving it a "proverbial" feel. You can even make up your own proverbs, something no one has said before, but it will have that proverbial feel about it if you use a proverbial style of expression. So, for example, in the spirit of an earlier proverb about learning through mistakes we could say: Qui multum errat, multum discit. So far as I know, no one has said this before, but it has the look and feel of a proverb, doesn't it? :-)

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Quī pauca legit, pauca scit.



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February 15, 2011

Disce legendo

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Disce legendo. In English: "Learn by reading."

One of the biggest problems that I face as a teacher is trying to help college students who don't like to read and who don't read very well. They are trapped in a vicious circle: when someone doesn't read very much, they don't become skilled readers, which means that they don't enjoy reading, so they don't read very much, and around and around we go. I wish there were a basic "reading" course that students took at my university, parallel to the "writing" course they are required to take in their first year. I suspect our year-long composition course would be a greater success if we replaced it with a one-semester reading course followed by a one-semester writing course. The more we can do to help students with reading, the better learners they will be. Disce legendo, learn by reading - and by reading well, you will learn well.

In terms of Latin grammar, this saying features the verbal noun form called the gerund, seen here in the ablative, legendo. For other examples of proverbs with gerunds, see these previous blog posts: Errando discitur and Scribendo disces scribere.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Disce legendō.



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Amat victoria curam

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Amat victoria curam. In English: "Victory loves carefulness."

This is one of those brief Latin sayings that sounds great in Latin but doesn't sound quite right in English no matter what you do with it. The idea is simple: if you want to emerge victorious, you need to be careful in everything you do. Victory, personified, will love you if you are diligent in your preparations for the contest, whatever that contest may be. Unfortunately, in today's fast-paced, multitasking society, there is not a lot of emphasis on being careful and painstaking in your work. One of the biggest tasks I face with my students is getting them to slow down so that they can really pay attention to what they are doing, being careful and diligent so that they will emerge as winners in the learning game: "Victory loves carefulness," Amat victoria curam.

In terms of Latin, this word cura is a two-edged sword. In its positive sense, it has the meaning of taking care, showing concern, being diligent, etc.. In a more negative sense, however, it suggests trouble, worry, anxiety, etc. So, each time you encounter this Latin word, you need to look at the context to see just what meaning is required!

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Amat victōria cūram.



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February 13, 2011

Multae manus onus levant

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Multae manus onus levant. In English: "Many hands lighten the load."

Cooperation is itself a word derived from Latin roots; co-operation literally means "together-working," which is the metaphorical message of today's proverb: Many hands lighten the load. The load is still the same, of course - but the burden on each pair of hands becomes lighter when people are working together. In my online classes, I really benefit from being able to involve the students in the day-to-day operations of the class by having them read and respond to each other's writing. Instead of me being the only audience for their written work, the students read each other's blog posts and webpages; none of what they write is meant for my eyes only. So, I guess you could say in this case that "many eyes improve the writing," Multi oculi litteras excolunt, if you want a literary twist on today's saying: Multae manus onus levant.

In terms of proverb style, notice the nice alliteration at the beginning of the sentence: multae manus. If you wanted to imitate that in English, you might be justified in rendering the phrase "helping hands," which is not a literal translation but one which captures the style of the original. Luckily, though, I was able to get in some alliteration in the second half of the sentence - lighten the load - where Latin had all the alliteration up front. :-)

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Multae manūs onus levant.



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February 12, 2011

Menti quolibet ire licet

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Menti quolibet ire licet. In English: "The mind may go wherever it wants."

You hear a lot of talk about "academic freedom" which, in my experience, is not all it is cracked up to be (I sure did not experience any "academic freedom" in my brief stint as a tenure-track professor, that is for sure - just the opposite). But regardless of what an institution does or fails to do to protect academic freedom, the mind IS STILL FREE: our minds can go wherever we want them to go. No one can stop you from thinking, imagining, and creating, if that is how you choose to use the powers of your mind. You can use your mind to travel to the surface of another planet, you can use your mind to imagine a world governed by truth and justice - even if you cannot visit such places in bodily form... yet! Menti quolibet ire licet.

There is some lovely word play here in the Latin with the verb licet and the adverbial compound, quolibet, which is made up of the directional quo and libet. The verb licet is what is allowed (as in the root of the English word "license"), and the verb libet is about what you want (as in the Latin word which we also know in English: libido). The sound play between licet and libet nicely reinforces the meaning of the proverb.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Mentī quōlibet īre licet.



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February 11, 2011

Week 3: Repetitio

So, here are the proverbs from this week, along with a link to each podcast:
Plus here are the previous proverbs:
I'll be back next week with more! :-)
on

February 09, 2011

Nihil sine labore

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Nihil sine labore. In English: "Nothing without effort."

I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's post about Minerva and the Athenian: you have to take responsibility for yourself and work to achieve your own goals. Nothing is going to happen without effort on your part. One of the paradoxes of teaching is that it is really the students who teach themselves; the teacher's effort means nothing if the students do not make an equal or greater effort on their own. Personally, I would love it if all my students took charge of their own learning so that they would keep on learning no matter what happens to me: if I am kidnapped by space aliens, I still want my students to keep on working and keep on learning. If they work, they will learn, with or without me. And if they don't work, they are not going to learn anything. "No pain, no gain," as we say in English: Nihil sine labore.

In terms of Latin grammar, this is another one of those sentences without a verb. You can translate it just as a phrase in English - "Nothing without effort" - but you can also choose to translate it as a complete sentence, if you want: "Nothing (is gained) without effort" or "Nothing (happens) without effort." Latin is quite able to have a sentence where the verb is implied; it is only in English that we really need to have an explicit verb in order to make a complete sentence.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Nihil sine labōre.



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February 08, 2011

Minerva auxiliante, manum etiam admove

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Minerva auxiliante, manum etiam admove. In English: "With Athena as your helper, move your arm, too!"

This is one of many Latin proverbs that go back to an Aesop's fable. The story goes that an Athenian gentleman was traveling on a ship, and the ship foundered in a storm. While the other passengers started swimming for shore, the Athenian instead prayed to the goddess Athena (whose Latin name is Minerva), asking her to rescue him. Another man swam by and shouted at the Athenian, who by now was practically submerged in the waves, "Athena's help is all well and good, but you better start moving your arms, too!" Or, as we say in English, "God helps them that help themselves." This is an especially good proverb for students, since Minerva is the goddess of wisdom, as well as being the patron goddess of Athens. So, it's great if the goddess can help you out, Minerva auxiliante, but you need to set your own hand to the task as well: manum etiam admove.

In terms of Latin grammar, you get a nice ablative absolute to start this saying off: Minerva auxiliante. For another example of an ablative absolute, see this previous post: Hodie vivendum, omissa praeteritorum cura. As these two examples show, the ablative absolute has a lot of stylistic flexibility: you can put it at the beginning of a sentence or at the end, or in the middle if you want, based on where it fits best into the overall message of the sentence.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Minervā auxiliante, manum etiam admovē.



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February 06, 2011

Ex labore dulcedo

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Ex labore dulcedo. In English: "From the work, something sweet."

I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, Nihil sine labore, "Nothing without effort." Today's proverb gives a positive twist on the importance of hard work: there is a satisfaction that comes from making an effort, a sweet feeling of accomplishment. The saying is a popular family motto and in the blog post you can see a lovely coat of arms for the MacInnes family which features a bee and a thistle. The bee is a very hard worker and from the bee's hard work comes the sweetness that is honey! The bee is a wonderful metaphor here, because the bee's work is transformative, just as learning is transformative. It is not that the bee finds the honey; the bee MAKES the honey. Knowledge is something very similar, I think. You don't just pick up knowledge lying around. Instead, you gather the raw materials, just as the bee does, and from those raw materials you create the honey of wisdom. Ex labore dulcedo.

In terms of Latin grammar, this is another one of those sentences without a verb in Latin, but just because it is without a verb, it still has a subject and a predicate. In order to indicate that little pause between the subject and the predicate, some people punctuate the sentence with a comma: Ex labore, dulcedo. "From effort (comes) the sweetness." In addition, you will see this saying spelled both ways: Ex labore dulcedo and also E labore dulcedo. Both forms are correct. Before a vowel, you must always use the form ex, but before a consonant, you can find both e and ex. For plenty of examples of ex before a consonant, see the (long) entry for ex in the Lewis & Short Latin Dictionary online.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Ex labōre dulcēdo.



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Hodie vivendum, omissa praeteritorum cura

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Hodie vivendum, omissa praeteritorum cura. In English: "Live for today, setting aside all worry about the past."

This is awfully good advice for life in general: whatever you do, don't let the past drag you down. Or, as the English saying goes, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." In terms of teaching and learning, this saying urges you to start each task fresh, without worrying about any frustrations or failures you might have experienced in the past, as a teacher or as a student. Admittedly, there are all kinds of aspects of school - like the awful GPA - which makes people obsess about the past, but obsessing about the past can sometimes be a real obstacle to forward progress. Of course, like so much good advice, this is easier said than done, but it is still very good advice nevertheless. You need to live right here, right now: hodie vivendum - and let bygones be bygones: omissa praeteritorum cura.

In terms of the Latin grammar, you might notice that the Latin praeterita is very much like the English word "bygones." The praeterita are the things that have literally "gone by," from the verb praeterire, "to go by, to pass away." In Latin grammar terminology, the praeteritum, or tempus praeteritum, refers to the past tense, which is where we get the grammatical term "preterite" in English.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Hodiē vīvendum, omissā praeteritōrum cūrā.



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Tamdiu discendum est homini, quamdiu nesciat

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Tamdiu discendum est homini, quamdiu nesciat. In English: "A person should keep on learning so long as there are things he does not know."

Given that "lifelong learning" is central to everything I believe about teaching and learning, I'll probably have a lot of proverbs like this one, sayings that urge us to keep on learning for all of our lives, not just while we are in school. You graduate from school; you never graduate from the obligation to keep learning. The special virtue of this saying is that it explains just why it is that we have to keep on learning all our lives: since there are always things we do not know yet, we always need to keep on learning. Of course, if someone did manage to learn everything and to become omniscient, okay, I guess that person would be exempt from lifelong learning. But for the rest of us, who don't expect to become omniscient any time soon, we need to keep on learning all the time: Tamdiu discendum est homini, quamdiu nesciat.

In terms of Latin grammar, this proverb is organized using the elegant Latin correlative adverbs, tamdiu and quamdiu. The wide range of correlative adjectives and adverbs in Latin allows for some very clear and concise proverbs; we'll see plenty of such correlative pairs before this particular proverb project is finished!

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Tamdiū discendum est hominī, quamdiū nesciat.



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February 05, 2011

Sapientis non est bis labi in eodem lapide

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Sapientis non est bis labi in eodem lapide. In English: "A wise person does not stumble over the same stone a second time."

I thought this might make a good proverb to follow up on an earlier post about the positive value of making mistakes: Errando discitur, "We learn by making mistakes." Mistakes are essential to learning - in a sense, making mistakes is really the only way to learn! The wise person, therefore, is someone who is able to avoid making the same mistake twice, or, as the proverb puts it, to avoid stumbling on the same stone a second time. You might know the English saying, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." The idea is basically the same here: there is no shame or blame in making a mistake. The goal instead should be to learn from that mistake in order not to repeat it. That is what makes someone wise. Sapientis non est bis labi in eodem lapide.

In terms of the Latin grammar, what is worth noting here is the idiomatic use of the genitive with an infinitive. In English, we might use a "for" construction to express the same idea: "It is not for (someone) to do (something." In Latin, you use the genitive instead, the idea being something like, "It is not characteristic (of somebody) to do (something)."

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Sapientis non est bis lābī in eōdem lapide.



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February 04, 2011

Week 2: Repetitio

So, here are the proverbs from this week, along with a link to each podcast:
Plus here are the previous proverbs:
I'll be back next week with more! :-)
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February 03, 2011

Nemo solus satis sapit

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Nemo solus satis sapit. In English: "No person can be wise enough on his own."

In real life, of course, we all know that it is good to get information and advice from other people instead of going it alone. Yet in school, we place a huge emphasis on individual effort, as if we were going to be lone learners for the rest of our lives. Not so! It is very rare that you will ever be faced with a real-life task that works like an exam, where you are not allowed to go look for the information you need in order to make the right choice. We are never wise enough on our own, so we need other people AND books AND the Internet and so on to get wise. I wish school put more of an emphasis on how to be wise rather than the taking of tests in artificial isolation. If a lawyer is trying to represent me in court or a doctor is trying to diagnose me in the emergency room, I definitely want them to go get the information they need instead of doing it all on their own without any help! My life could depend on it. Nemo solus satis sapit.

In terms of the Latin, we have here the nifty verb sapit from sapere; you can see a note about sapere in this earlier post. In addition, there is great alliteration going on here, too; for a note about alliteration, see this earlier post.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Nēmo sōlus satis sapit.



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February 02, 2011

Scientia potentia

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Scientia potentia. In English: "Knowledge is power."

This is a Latin saying that has taken on new life in the KIPP schools movement, where KIPP is an acronym that stands for "Knowledge is Power Program." In English, however, the words "knowledge" and "power" do not resonate as nicely as the Latin words do. The word scientia, which is where we get the English word "science," is a noun derived from the verb scire, "to know." The word potentia, which is where we get the English words "potential" and "potent," is a noun derived the verb posse, "to be able." The parallel construction of the Latin words scientia and potentia creates a poetic resonance that is lacking in the English translation. To make it rhyme in English, we'd need to say "if you know, you can go!" or "if you know, you can grow!" - but I prefer the Latin rhyme: Scientia potentia, "Knowledge is power."

In terms of Latin grammar, you'll notice that - as often - the verb has been omitted. In this case, the verb is omitted not just in the interest of brevity, but also to focus all our attention on the great sound play between the subject and the predicate. The introduction of another word like est would just distract from the great resonance of the rhyme.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons... except that it does not have macrons; all the vowels are short:

Scientia potentia.



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February 01, 2011

Nulla dies sine linea

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Nulla dies sine linea. In English: "No day without a line."

I always think of this saying as the bloggers' motto: no day without a line of writing - in other words, no day without a blog post. This is advice that I have been following for several years now. I don't post in every one of my blogs every single day, but I do post at least something somewhere every day. Then, by the time summer comes around, I have enough raw material to use for a book! Before I started blogging, I didn't like to write, and the idea of writing a book was terrifying to me. Blogging a little bit every day, however, is something fun, and I can't wait for summer to come when I can turn my writing into something really useful. That's why I also encourage my students to blog, hoping that maybe they, too, will learn to enjoy writing this way. No day without a blog, nulla dies sine linea.

In terms of Latin grammar, this saying has no verb, but in the Adagia of Polydorus you can see a verb included: Nulla dies sit sine linea. Polydorus also explains the connection of this saying with the famous painter Apelles, where the daily lines were not lines written by an author, but instead the lines drawn by the artist.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Nulla dies sine līneā.



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Sapere aude

Recording also available at iPadio using this link.
Today's saying is Sapere aude. In English: "Dare to be wise."

This is a saying that shows up in Horace's Epistles, where Horace describes a man who sits by the side of a stream, waiting and waiting for the water to stop running before he attempts to cross. No, says Horace: make your move now, dare to be wise; don't wait for tomorrow, or else life itself will pass you by. This excellent advice reminds me of Carol Dweck's theory of educational mindsets. Some people embrace what Dweck calls a growth mind set: they are ready to take on new challenges, instead of avoiding them; to keep on going when things get difficult, instead of just giving up; to regard effort as a way to make progress towards a goal instead of resenting that effort; to value criticism and feedback instead of fearing or ignoring it; and to be inspired by the success of others, rather than feeling jealous or threatened. In other words: dare yourself to get smart, dare to be wise, sapere aude.

In terms of Latin vocabulary, this verb sapere literally means to "taste," to have the taste or flavor of something. From this notion of "savoring" or "tasting," the verb comes to mean to have a discerning sense of taste, to be sensible, to be discerning in general and, thus, to be wise. For a sense of the range of interrelated meanings of this verb, take a look at the entry in Lewis & Short's Latin Dictionary online at Glossa.

For those of you who are fans of macrons, here is the Latin written with macrons:

Sapere audē.



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