Parents whose children are using Artes Latinae sometimes ask us for a course description that they could give to school administrators to help them evaluate how much credit to give. We have done correlations that can be used for this purpose.

The correlation is between the objectives of Artes Latinae and the State of Virginia Standards of Learning. Artes Latinae Level I has been correlated with Virginia's Standards of Learning for Latin 1, and Artes Latinae Level II has been correlated with Virginia's Standards of Learning for Latin 1I. These correlations have now been placed on our website and can be downloaded by anyone interested in evaluating Artes Latinae coverage.

CORRELATION between
VIRGINIA'S STANDARDS of LEARNING for LATIN I
and Artes Latinae, Level I

The student will demonstrate a knowledge of the primary elements of grammar.
           Grammar is taught through basic sentences like Manus manum lavat and Ille terranum mihi praeter omnes angulus ridet (Horace). All of the basic sentences are taken from classical or medieval sources. With the exception of the imperative mood, which is covered in Level II, all elements in Virginia's Corpus of Grammar for Latin I are covered in detail.

          In Units 4-15, students learn nominative, accusative, and ablative cases; gender; noun and adjective paradigms; active and passive moods; noun-adjective agreement and noun-adjective paradigms. In Units 16-30, students learn the dative and genitive cases; interrogative and relative pronouns and pronoun declension; principal parts of verbs including irregular verbs; the imperfect and perfect tenses; the four conjugations including 3rd conjugation io verbs.

          In Artes Latinae, English grammar is carefully explained as needed. Throughout the text material, students transform Latin sentences: e.g., change the order of words, change sentences with active verbs into sentences with passive verbs, make the subjects the objects, change tenses of verbs. The CD-ROM enables students to repeat drills as often as necessary.

          Grammar is introduced gradually and reinforced systematically. For example, the ablative case is introduced in unit 9. Students first learn the literal and figurative meaning of the basic sentence Vipera ranam in fovea cognoscit. They also learn that the Latin expression for "in the pitfall" uses a new form of the noun fovea, the ablative, and that the "a" has a macron over it. Over the next 290 frames, they learn different prepositions that take the ablative case and practice identifying and writing words in that case. In unit 10, they have another 400 frames in which they change nouns into the ablative and identify examples of ablative nouns. In unit 11, they learn to use the ablative with passives. Thereafter, in every unit, students have additional practice with the ablative case.

The student will continue to build a functional vocabulary.
           Students are introduced to new Latin vocabulary from unit 2 on. By the end of unit 30, they have learned approximately 600 Latin words and their various forms. The CD ROM provides optimum conditions for acquisition of vocabulary, through a multi-sensory approach wherein the individual student may hear, see, write and speak the basic text and the items of vocabulary as often as necessary to learn and to retain them. Testing and review strengthens this process. Additional text and vocabulary are provided, at the teacher's discretion, by using Lectiones Primae(SE), a graded reader for Level I.

           Each new word is presented in a basic sentence. For example, students first learn the word lacrima in the sentence Ex oculis lacrimae defluunt. They learn the literal meaning, consider the context in which the word is used, and have several opportunities to listen to the pronunciation, and read and write the sentence. Next they learn the nominative, accusative, and ablative singular and plural forms, and then they have practice using the correct form in a variety of sentences. They continue to use lacrima in its various forms in subsequent units. The learning always involves listening to, reading, and writing each new word in its various forms. And through the basic sentences, students learn many Latin axioms, e.g., Ars longa, vita brevis and lrafuror brevis est. In addition, students learn such idioms as cum quo, quo loco, minime, and qua re.

The student will recognize and use derivatives of the given vocabulary.
           The major emphasis for teaching derivatives is found in Lectiones Primae, a graded reader which is a component of the Artes Latinae course. Each of the 26 units in this reader contains the following sections: Sententiae, English Derivatives, and Latin Vocabulary. The sententiae include words that students have already been taught and other words that they can figure out from studying the English derivatives and Latin vocabulary sections. In the English Derivatives section, each word listed has a Latin component in capital letters, for example, "transLUCent" and "INFRAred." The capitalized portions can be used as clues to help students translate the sententiae.

The student will recognize and apply syntactical concepts introduced at this level.
           Students learn syntax through the transformation exercises. For example, in unit 6, students transform the sentence Non quaerit aeger medicum eloquentem by using aegrum (instead of aeger) and medicus (instead of medicum). They then consider the fact that aeger has been changed to the object of the sentence while medicum has been changed to the subject. Then they read and listen to another transformed sentence, Medicum non quaerit aeger eloquens and consider how the meaning has been changed. Next they make similar transformations to other basic sentences.

The student will analyze and interpret the syntax of a given sentence.
           Artes Latinae uses an inductive approach in which syntax is illustrated in the context of numerous basic sentences or readings before grammatical principles are enunciated. Throughout this inductive process, students participate in the development of a more abstract picture of the grammatical structures of the language by making directed entries in their reference notebooks. They fill in paradigms. The reference notebook (SE) is an integral part of the course and not a mere afterthought about record keeping.

           Students first learn a basic sentence and subsequently change the syntax of that sentence in some way, e.g., first, students start with the sentence Auctor opus laudat, and then they add the dative case word duci to that sentence and consider how the addition of duci affects the meaning. Throughout the course, students transform basic sentences by adding words or changing the cases of specific words and consider how meaning is affected. Students use all modalities: they listen to the Latin, repeat the pronunciations, and read Latin. They also write in their reference notebooks to keep a record of the grammar and syntax and the basic sentences and passages they have learned. The interrelationship of syntax and meaning is thoroughly explored.

The student will read Latin aloud, observing standard classical pronunciation and accent.
           The course is particularly strong in this area. The Restored Classical Pronunciation is recorded by Professor Robert Sonkowsky, well-known for his work with oral interpretation of Latin texts. He has published recordings of readings from Catullus, Horace, Cicero, and Vergil. In addition, he has regularly performed in and led oral performance panels for the American Philological Association.
          In his Artes Latinae recordings, he has used primarily the Restored Classical Pronunciation although sometimes he has used an ecclesiastical pronunciation where appropriate. Since vowel quality is distinctive in the language and instrumental in the rhythm of the literature, all long vowels are marked with macrons. The Restored Classical Pronunciation is very important both for the teaching and learning of Latin. The ancient Classical literatures were oral in their nature and origin. Even after its invention, writing was for centuries used only for storage of texts, not for their consumption, and silent reading was almost non-existent. The literatures were composed by ear and for the voice in a living language.

          Today we have sufficient evidence of the sounds of Classical Latin to be able to pronounce them with a high degree of probable accuracy. Scholars have analyzed (1) The statements of the ancients themselves about these sounds, (2) Ancient spellings in contemporary stone inscriptions, (3) Representations of Latin in other languages, (4) Historical developments in the Romance languages, (5) Puns and acoustical imitations, and (6)Internal structural features of the language, including metrics.

          In 1998, a separate pronunciation option was added to the CD-ROM, namely, a continental/ecclesiastical pronunciation. The ecclesiastical pronunciation that we have adopted in this program is just one of many variants. Ecclesiastical pronunciations are more appropriately used with medieval and Neo-Latin texts and Latin music.

The student will comprehend Latin sentences and short passages.
           The text on the CD-ROM uses basic sentences, taken primarily from classical sources, throughout the course. This text also has short readings, primarily taken from Martial. The Martial epigrams often appeal to the students' sense of humor and are short enough to read quickly and thereby give the students a sense of accomplishment. The student learns the literal and figurative meanings of these sentences and readings. Then the student works on question-and-answer drills. Sentence building activities are the next step. For example, in unit 13, students learn the basic sentence Insanus medio jliimine quaerit aquam. From various clues, they learn that the sentence means "The crazy person looks for water in the middle of the river." The questions that follow are in Latin and the students answer in Latin. For example, one question is Quis aquam mediojliimine quaerit? and the students are expected to write the answer Insanus. After five similar questions, students listen to a question that has a new verb meaning "find" and write their answers. One such question is Quid Tnsanus in jliimine non invenit? In other units, students will use this basic sentence again, use different verbs with it, change the sentence order, and change the subject to plural.

           For longer passages, students use Lectiones Primae. A typical unit will have a passage about eight paragraphs in length. Students use their previous Latin learning, the background information used to introduce the passage, and the clues found in the English Derivatives and Latin Vocabulary sections of the unit to unlock the meaning of the passage.

The student will demonstrate a knowledge of cultural aspects of Roman daily life.
           The choice of authors is of particular value in this area. The epigrams of Martial tell us more about ancient Roman daily life than virtually any other author.

           In addition, Lectiones Primae covers some of these areas. Following are some categories followed by the topic covered and the unit number: a History: Horatius Defends the Bridge (16), b Food: typical Roman dinner (16), c Mythology: Juno Sends Dangers to Hercules (20), d The Labors of Hercules (21) e Entertainment: About the Games (24), f Stories Romans Told (26)

The student will identify and discuss the significance of the major geographical features of the Roman world.
           Unit 18 of Lectiones Primae focuses on the geography of the Roman world. Two maps are presented and students locate Europe, Italy, Rome, Sicily, Spain, Greece, Athens, Sparta, Asia, Carthage, Egypt, the Nile, the Rhine, the Danube, the Alps and the Black Sea. Questions deal with the concept of a peninsula, the metals found in Spain, the flooding of the Nile and what it accomplishes, and the flow of the Rhine and the Danube.

          Unit 19 of Lectiones Primae focuses on the geography of Italy. Questions deal with Italy as a peninsula, the mountain ranges and the protection they provided against enemies, the lakes and the villas on their shores, and the Tiber.

In unit 1 on the CD-ROM, students view maps of the Roman Empire and locate Italy, Rome, Constantinople, and the Tiber River in the context of learning about the history of the Roman world.

Corpus of Grammar

Level I covers everything on the Virginia Corpus except the subjunctive mood, which is covered in Level II. For a complete listing of frame references, refer to the Index of Grammatical Terms attached to this correlation. This list is found both in the CD-ROM manual and in the program help files.

Index of Grammatical Terms

(The number before the colon indicates the unit; the number after the colon indicates the frame.)

Ablative, use of 9:27, 10:13
     with passives 11:78
Accusative, use of 6:129, 27:4, 27: 104
Active voice 11:50, 11:54
Adjectives 6:19
     Agreement of 13:67ff.
     Declension of 10:367, 15:372
     English/Latin 6:19, 6:64
Adverb 19:77
Affirmative 8:42
Ambiguous forms 12:30, 12:120, 21:5, 23:7
Antonyms 12:271
Auxilium 12:208
Basic Sentences 2:221
Cases 6:126
     Ablative 9:27, 10:13, 14:60
     Accusative 6:129, 14:7, 15:1
     Dative 20:17, 21:5
     Genitive 22:29, 23:7
     Nominative 6:126, 14:100, 15:80
Characteristic vowel 9:123
Complement 17:23
Compound verb 21:280
Confirmatio 12:261
Conjugation 24:193ff.
Connector 5:336
Consonant 2:131, 2:167
Criss-cross order 25:425
Dative, use of 20:17ff.
Declension 9:132, 9: 137
Derivative 5:393
Dictionary entries for nouns 22:73
Dictionary meaning 5:44
Diphthong 6:145
Emphatic order 6:294
English syntax 4:29, 4:113, 4:146
     Adjectives 6:4
Expansion 8:12, 12:148
Feminine, see Gender Gender 13:35f.
Genitive, use of 22:29, 23:7
Hic 17:318
Ille 17:321
Imperfective 26:177f.
Indirect object 20:179
Infinitive 24:15
Intensifier 7:135f.
Intransitive 5:186
Kernel 7:176
     Two-kernel sentence 8:13
Linguistic change 1:118f.
Literature, Latin 1:202
Long vowels 3:40
Macron 3:44, 3:48
Manipulation 12:132
Masculine, see Gender
Meaning of words, 9:338
     see also Vocabulary Plain 4:228
     Poetical 4:228
     Structural/dictionary 5:44, 9:15
Modify 6:26 Negative 6:158
Negator 6:157f.
Neuter, see Gender Neuter nouns 16:1ff.
Nominative, use of 6:126f.
Non-personal noun 7:14f.
Noun marker 4:247
Nouns, English/Latin 4:248
     see also Paradigms
Number, see Singular/Plural
Numbers, cardinal 28:212
     ordinal 19:1ff
Object 4:177
Paradigms
      Adjective + noun 13:67ff., 13:99, 15:170
     3 cases 9:31
     4 cases 21:27ff.
     5 cases (complete) 23:6, 23:26ff.
Paradigms, verb, see Tenses
Part of speech 4:18
Participle, past 18:27, 18:36
     present 16:308ff.
Passive voice 11:50, 11:54
Perfective 27:128
Personal/non-personal nouns 7:14f., 12:69
Personal pronouns
     As subjects 24:214ff., 25:8ff.
     Paradigms 26:29ff.
Phrase 16:35
Plain meaning 4:228
Plural of nouns 14:3ff., 15:1ff., 16:1ff, 21:1ff., 23:1ff.
Poetical devices 11:260
Poetical meaning 4:228
Possum 25:350
Prefixes 18:83, 21:282
Prepositions 9:396
     With ablative 9:382
     With accusative 27:104
Principal parts
     of verbs 27:207
Pronunciation
      Double consonants 4:255, 7:110
     English/Latin 4:255
     Short/long vowels 4:274
Question words 7:5, 12:69
     Review of 20:1ff.
Relative pronoun 19:275f.
Satire 18:333
Sentence types
     {-s -m -t} 4:322
     {-s -s -est} 17:76
     {-s -t} 5:203
     {-s -tur} 11:227
Short vowels 3:40
Singular/plural 14:6
Slot 4:29
Stems 27:207
Subject 4:63
Subordinating conjunction 19:189
Substitution 12:133
Substitutor 27:286
Suffixes 17:35f., 18:84, 18:86f.
Sum 25:341
Symbols 4:121
Synopses
     Complete 29:10, 29:39
     Partial 26:331ff.
Tenses
     # 1 26:77
     # 2 26:77, 27:140
     # 3 26:181, 26:184
     # 4 28:1, 28:3
     # 5 27:140, 27:158
     # 6 29:1ff.
Transformation 12:144
     Active/passive 11:35, 11:50
Transitive/intransitive 5:171, 5:186
Tricolon 28:291
Vanishing 1:28
Variant 5:17ff.
Verbs, English/Latin 4:51, 4:102
     see also Tenses
Vocabulary
      Areas of Meaning 9:4f., 12:336, 12:342
     Association 12:364
Vocative 19:131ff.
     in -i 25:399ff.
Voice 11:54
Vowels 2:114
     Long/short 3:40
Word order
     Emphatic 7:229
     English/Latin 4:137
     Parallel 25:423
Zero [Ø] variant of nominative 5:56