When It All Starts to Click

by Jennifer Jordan, Latin teacher

In three short years, the 8th grade Latin students have learned the grammatical foundations of the language– 6 verb conjugations, 5 noun declensions, numerous adjectives and prepositions, and a sprinkling of conjunctions. Most importantly, the 8th graders have learned how to apply all of these elements to translate sentences and stories.  Now in their fourth and final year of Latin at St. James, these students have truly absorbed the foundations to be able to pick up new concepts immediately. This week, they learned a new verb tense– the perfect tense– which forms from a different part of the verb. The students grasped the conjugation quickly and began to apply the conjugation to various verbs and translate them correctly. They have also translated a story without my help!  It’s every Latin teacher’s dream for his or her students to become fluent in translation, to be able to read in the original language, and understand it. I think that my dream has been achieved with this group of 5 8th graders, and it’s only September. I cannot wait for these students to push even further. What wonderful learning we have to look forward to this year!