Holiday Frivolities
Many long years ago, I was faced with taking 2 years of a foreign language in order to successfully graduate high school. My alma mater offered the usual choices of *spit* French *spit* and Spanish. We also were offered German, but those classes tended to be full of pale-skinned kids with a penchant for organization and bullying people around.
Fortunately, we were graced with a fantastic teacher, Ms. Reed, who in addition to teaching English classes, taught Latin I & II for those brave enough to venture into the realm of hic haec hoc and e pluribus condomribbium.
I had taken a year of *spit* French *spit* during our family's 3 year exile up north in Yankee-Land in my childhood. Apparently Spanish wasn't taught above the 54th parallel back then. As a result, I was somewhat more familiar with learning a language than some of my classmates.
Latin's a whole different animal, though. Not only do you have to struggle with conjugating verbs to get the correct tenses, you also have to decline the nouns so that everything matches up correctly. The vocabulary was always easy for me, but the umpteen forms of conjugations and declensions were most worrisome when test-taking time rolled around.
Despite the effort the class required, it was easily one of the high points in my high school career. Ms. Reed was patient, had a love of her subject, and was one of those rare teachers that ought to have been paid 4 or 5 times her annual salary as the bare minimum recompense for the results they achieved.
I can't count the times that those 2 years of Latin have come in handy, and I'm not even in the medical or legal field. It made Spanish classes in college absurdly easy by comparison, and the help to my vocabulary is still good to this day.
We studied a bit of Roman culture, and also dabbled in singing Christmas Carols in Latin. (something that would get Ms. Reed run out of town these days...) I can still remember most of them now. Guess this one...
Some Xmas carols just sound better in Latin. This one for instance:
I used to know "Silent Night" in Latin, but that memory has succumbed to the passage of time. All that's left is "Silens Nox, Sancta Nox".
Well, my short segue into fun Latin phrases has just stretched into its own full-length post. OK, more Holiday Frivolities later!
Fortunately, we were graced with a fantastic teacher, Ms. Reed, who in addition to teaching English classes, taught Latin I & II for those brave enough to venture into the realm of hic haec hoc and e pluribus condomribbium.
I had taken a year of *spit* French *spit* during our family's 3 year exile up north in Yankee-Land in my childhood. Apparently Spanish wasn't taught above the 54th parallel back then. As a result, I was somewhat more familiar with learning a language than some of my classmates.
Latin's a whole different animal, though. Not only do you have to struggle with conjugating verbs to get the correct tenses, you also have to decline the nouns so that everything matches up correctly. The vocabulary was always easy for me, but the umpteen forms of conjugations and declensions were most worrisome when test-taking time rolled around.
Despite the effort the class required, it was easily one of the high points in my high school career. Ms. Reed was patient, had a love of her subject, and was one of those rare teachers that ought to have been paid 4 or 5 times her annual salary as the bare minimum recompense for the results they achieved.
I can't count the times that those 2 years of Latin have come in handy, and I'm not even in the medical or legal field. It made Spanish classes in college absurdly easy by comparison, and the help to my vocabulary is still good to this day.
We studied a bit of Roman culture, and also dabbled in singing Christmas Carols in Latin. (something that would get Ms. Reed run out of town these days...) I can still remember most of them now. Guess this one...
Tinniat! Tinniat! Tinntinnabulum! Labimur in glacie! Post mulum currum!OK, that was "Jingle Bells", believe it or not. The actual translation goes something like "The bells ring, the bells ring, we all listen to the bells ring! We slide on the ice, behind a mule cart!" Not exactly a one-horse open sleigh or anything, but I'm thinking snow was a rare thing in Ancient Rome. (oh, this is a modern translation. The Romans didn't sing Jingle Bells!)
Some Xmas carols just sound better in Latin. This one for instance:
Adeste Fidelis, laete triumphantes,To be honest, I could only remember the first verse to that one. I had to Google up verses 2 & 3. Well, twenty years is quite a few brain cells ago. That's "O Come All Ye Faithful", btw.
venite, venite in Bethlehem!
Natum videte, Regem angelorum,
Venite adoremus, venite adoremus!
Venite adoremus, Dominum!
Cantet nunc io, chorus angelorum
Cantet nunc aula caelestium
Gloria, gloria in excelsis Deo
Venite adoremus, venite adoremus
Venite adoremus, dominum.
Ergo qui natus, die hodierna
Jesu, tibi sit gloria
Patris aeterni, verbum caro factus
Venite adoremus, venite adoremus
Venite adoremus, dominum.
I used to know "Silent Night" in Latin, but that memory has succumbed to the passage of time. All that's left is "Silens Nox, Sancta Nox".
Well, my short segue into fun Latin phrases has just stretched into its own full-length post. OK, more Holiday Frivolities later!
posted by El Capitan | 9:55 AM
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