Monday, June 18, 2012

A Good Way to Find Latin FUN!?

The City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare is the 5th installment of the Mortal Instruments series. Clare crafts a truly amazing story of her characters in modern day New York City; but this is urban fantasy and nothing is normal.

Humans are called mundanes, (notice this is a Latin root: mundus meaning mankind or pure among many other similar translations) where our story revolves around Shadowhunters who are half human and half nephilim (angel). Shadowhunters protect this earth from demons to keep mundanes mundane, werewolves roam around turning on the full moon every month, vampires that burn in the sun and drink blood and can’t say God, and the fair folk who are faeries that are pure evil and always tell you the truth. It’s an interesting world and there are definitely oddities that are truly appalling.

For awesome Latin searching to read and for you guys to see Latin “in action” then this is actually an amazing series for you to read. This series has an INCREDIBLY LARGE FAN BASE and a million reasons for anyone to read them.

Particularly in this book you get some interesting Latin quotes, vocabulary, and jokes that really make learning Latin fun. For example a character, Simon, is late to a meeting with the other Shadowhunters because there’s this Latin password to get into the place. He was told by the jokester that the password is Basica coquum . Then a shadow replies:

“’It’s ‘Descensus Averno facilis est.’ ‘The desent into hell is easy.’” said Alec. “You just said ‘Kiss the cook.”” By using all this Latin in these few sentences, you’ve made a comical excuse to use Latin AND make it all funny!

Latin was also used when the characters mention adamas meaning diamond. Just this casual use of Latin can make a story really appealing AND you use Latin. All this Latin truly makes Latin learning FUN!

“Quod tumeraris: per Jehovam, Gehennam, et consecratam aquam quam nunc spargo, signumque crucis quod nunc facio, et per vota nostra, ipse nunc surgat nobis dicatus Azazel!” This meaning: "What swells: By Jehovah, Gehenna, and this water which I now sprinkle, and the sign of the cross which I now make, and through our prayers, he dedicated to Azazel now arises in us!" is used in the story to affectively use Latin in a ritual. Again makes Latin appealing because we don’t know what this all means.

Now the grand slam of all Latin in this book! Clare uses Acheronta movebo in this book where this particular bracelet has this inscribed on it. The owner falsely translates it to ‘Thus always to tyrants.’ But if you know Latin quotes, such as ‘Thus always to tyrants,’ then you know the character is lying because the REAL translation of his English is ‘Sic semper tyrannis.’ With your awesome Latin knowledge you just found a gigantic clue to what will later happen! Deception!

So for those of you learning Latin, the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare is for you. It affectively uses Latin to make it interesting and fun to learn!

I truly loved this book and a true highlight in the series in my opinion and 100% want everyone to experience this awesomeness. SERIOUSLY! Plus Clare is a very talented writer and is a force to be reckoned with!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Latin Can Benefit YOU!


Are you looking for ways to improve your vocabulary, increase your knowledge and or skills like your SAT scores? Taking Latin will help you reach all those points and more!

Did you know that a little over 55% of the English language is Latin?

The words you speak everyday didn't just come out of someone's head to randomly become the English language! English was developed over time from all kinds of languages. 55% IS LATIN!

Remember that reading section on the SAT?

You really need to know English words and sentence structure to even possibly get a good score.

LATIN CAN HELP YOU!

Scenario:
English words like Cornucopia may come up (let's say that you don't know this word) and you are completely stumped on the meaning of the word. If you know Latin it can really help you pick out the Latin with in the word. In Cornucopia, the Latin root is Cornu meaning horn!
Do you understand the word better now? With the help of Latin knowledge you now have an idea that Cornucopia means horn!
A cornucopia!

With Latin you learn roots and prefixes all the time that really correlate with our English grammar! Let's face it though; Latin can do more than enhance vocabulary. Your math scores can also improve from just taking Latin!

The Latin language trains your brain to work in different ways so it really complements your brain's abilites in math to enhance your math skills.

Latin can be quite useful if you want to sound smart and know knowledge that you never knew possibly existed!

Have you see abbreviations for titles or times of day like P.S., P.M., P.Ch.N., or Ph.D.?

These are all Latin abbreviations in our everyday lives!

P.S. is Post Scriptum in Latin meaning after the text. You see people use this everyday when they want to add a side note at the end of their letter.

Example:

  Can't wait to see you this summer!
Love Ashley
P.S. I'm bringing Latin to your summer! Beware!

With your knowledge of the meaning of P.S., you can use it correctly!

You hear people receiving Ph.D.'s all the time. What does this mean?

In Latin this is an abbreviation for Philosophiae Doctor meaning Doctor of Philosophy. Titles like this can help you understand them with your superior knowledge!

In your history books, maybe even in holy scripture, have you seen P.Ch.N.? In Latin this stands for Post Christum Natum meaning after Christ was born. THIS CAN EVEN HELP YOU IN YOUR HISTORY CLASSES!

P.M. we see as the end of the day. This is actually another Latin abbreviation! In Latin this means Post Meridiem meaning after noon.

There are a ton of abbreviations the average person doesn't know and they are literally in our EVERY DAY LIVES!

Summary:
With taking a Latin class you can improve your English vocabulary/ understand big words. This can lead to better test scores on your SAT and improve your math skills. With your awesome Latin knowledge you can really get an understanding of abbreviaiton in our everyday lives that you can apply to life, and even make you sound intelligent!

Keep in mind that Latin can help you in many different languages of European countries. Latin is the base of all romance languages including Spanish, French, German, etc! Knowing Latin gives you the upper hand to learn any of these languages a lot quicker.

There is still more to discover!

If you live in Marysville, Washington going into the ISC or even if your local schools are offering Latin, TAKE THE CLASS!!!

YOU WILL GET NOTHING BUT AWESOMENESS FROM LEARNING LATIN!

To get a visual and amazing representation why Latin is so great and just the language for you, check out this video made by one of ISC's Latin students:

LATIN 2012