(ANGLICE)
WHAT WAS THE IDEA BEHIND SCHOLA?
I had the idea for starting Schola,
after looking around online for
Latin speaking fora, and noting that there was no-where that appeared
to provide a comfortable, relaxed place for someone to communicate in
Latin. I came across a reference to the quality of the Latin used by
students on Latin speaking university campuses in the 1600's -
basically, the spoken Latin of the average student was terrible, full
of errors! And I thought, well, at
least they were getting on with it, and out of all that bad Latin,
emerged some very fine Latinists.
A SAFE PLACE
Schola, then, provides a
safe place to get on with attempting to
actively communicate in Latin, to actually attempt to use it, putting
your theoretical knowledge into action on, hopefully, a regular basis.
The point isn't to resurrect the language per se, but to strengthen
your knowledge of it. This is part of the necessary pathway to
full and fluent access to the literature of the ancients, and an entry
pass to all the
Latin books written in Europe over the centuries since Rome fell.
HOW TO USE THE SITE
Each user has their own CYBERDIARIUM - in other words, a blog. This can
be found on 'PAGINA MEA'. Keeping a diary in Latin is good pratice,
even if you only write a sentence every day.
You can also start and contribute to discussions in the FORUM.
If you wish, you can watch out collection of VIDEOGRAPHIAE. The
collection of PHOTOGRAPHIAE is useful for vocabulary learning. There
are now thousands of photographs, (over 3000 ) each one set up as a
flash card, for learning vocabulary. These can be downloaded and put on
an ipod, or simply played as a slide show on your own computer, or used
on the site.
Users can send private messages to each other - if you click on a user
in the SODALES section, under their photo, you will find the words
MITTE NUNTIUM. This will be a private off-site message that no-one else
on the site can see. If you want to write a letter that all can see,
there is a text box to the right of their photo. Type in there, and
press ADDE SENTENTIAM VEL OBSERVATIONEM.
NO CORRECTING
Why the rule about no correcting? Modern language theory tells us that
over correcting, even correcting at all, is usually counter productive
in the early stages of attempting to communicate in a new language.
As long as you are actively studying the language as you go, errors
will eventually resolve themselves. Fluency is achieved through action,
through exposure to the language,
and through struggling with using it. If a learner is unsure, to the
degree that they are scared to communicate at all, then they will think
twice before even attempting to communicate. You have to just wade in
and take risks. No risk taking, no learning. So, unless a user
specifically asks for help, no-one is allowed to comment on another
user's grammar or Latinity.
IS SCHOLA PART OF A NETWORK?
Yes, in effect it is. Firstly, I built Latinum, which is
still in progress. Latinum is proving highly successful, with thousands
of audio files downloaded every single day.
Associated with Latinum, I constructed a visual
vocabulary online. This would have been a formidable task before
google image search existed, now it is relatively straightforward. The
imaginum vocabularium is based on two old vocabulary books, Commenius,
and Williams.
The third part of the network, such as it is, is Schola, a place to write Latin,
keep a diary in Latin, etc.
Finally, users with technical questions they need to ask are encouraged
to use Textkit.
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