Do you understand "oui"?
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salve Reader! Did you know that more than half of the Latin students who come to me for support do not know how to say "yes" in Latin? You may think it is outrageous, but it is actually rather normal for students who are just about to sit their GCSEs. Imagine spending four years learning French and not knowing how to say "yes". You would rightly think that you are not really learning a language, but just some disconnected grammar and vocabulary. That is why I choose not to teach for the exam. Do not get me wrong, I do not ignore the exam, but teaching with the exam in mind is not the same as teaching for the exam. What does that look like? At KS3, it is all about being loud and manipulating the language. Free writing is a great tool. At A Level, I add extensive reading to the list. This is the backbone of my A-Level Mastery Hub, where all students are given the tools to become independent readers and users of the language. I am currently welcoming students by invitation to the A-Level Mastery Hub, and also meeting parents interested in having lessons with me next year (NB: I am currently fully booked for this exam season). If you would like to see how I could help, you can book a meeting below: 
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salve Reader, Yes, you heard it right: the first GCSE exam is the GCSE Latin Language Paper on May 8, with the Latin A-Level language taking place on May 19 (ok, you get 10 extra days added to the 2 months there!). I am currently concentrating on my existing students and will begin to invite those on the waiting list from May. However, if you need a hand, there are still ways to get my help: Membership to my Latin GCSE Revision Course is now open, and I have made it possible to join for just...
salve Reader! Did you know the Roman year used to start in March? Yep! It does actually make quite a lot of sense: the land starts being alive again, sailing and long-distance trading can resume... not to speak about warfare! In fact, the month of March is dedicated to Mars, partly because that is when military campaigns resumed. Anyway, we are not going to war (at least not literally, hopefully), but I also enjoy the renewal that comes with the first signs of spring. A bit more on that...
salve Reader, What a week! Languages are very much like Schrödinger's cat: scroll through social media and one minute they are a useless subject superseded by AI, the next they are all people want to talk about. A couple of days ago, I wrote on social media (see below) about the relationship between Welsh and Latin (both are Indo-European languages), and since then, I've been dealing with a barrage of irate comments. People get very angry when they think their linguistic beliefs are being...