February 06, 2011

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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