Goodbye, Megacles!
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salve Reader! I hope this seething time of year is allowing you some fresh air and mental rest. I am not going to wallow in the drama of the season, but I would like to acknowledge a moment that can be equal parts heartbreaking and uplifting: saying goodbye to a set text. Yes, saying goodbye to a set text can be very hard (and yes, even if it is Cicero!). This week, I am teaching the 2026 Tacitus and Herodotus for the last time, and I am putting away resources in their files, making space for the marking season and preparing new resources for next year. It is hard because every time you read a text, it becomes a bit more fascinating. That is the way with excellent literature! If your student is dreading the 'horror vacui' that follows their very last Latin GCSE, perhaps there is a little classicist lurking in there ready to move on to A-Level. It may seem a terrible time, but the moment you start putting the books away is the moment to ask yourself, Mary Kondo style: does this bring me joy? If it does, why not take Latin forward to truly learn to read the classics and expand your literary and cultural horizon? If you have any questions about moving on to A-Level, you only need to reply to this email. For those (lucky enough to be) already doing Latin A-Level, now is also the time to make sure you develop the language skills you will need to tackle the complex texts that we read in A2. My A-Level Latin Mastery Hub will meet this Sunday for a workshop exploring vocabulary and stories related to the sea. You still have time to sign up, so please book a meeting if you are interested, and I will help you decide if it is the right choice for your student.
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salve Reader! I hope you open this email while enjoying a well-deserved break over the summer. I am writing from my hometown myself, just hours before I head off to France, then back to the northern coast of Catalonia for my yearly holiday. Yes, there will be diving and ancient ruins, so here is a heads-up that I may take a bit longer to reply to emails. This has been quite the week for me. One of the highlights was observing an almost total eclipse with my children and experimenting with the...
salve Reader! If you have been following me for a while, I am sure you have noticed that I discourage my students from learning vocabulary through apps like Quizlet. I promote keeping a written record, reading extensively and using the words in new contexts. Still, I am aware that some students just love the app format. So, after much insistence from students on having a vocabulary list or suggesting an app that works, I have opted for a middle path: an app that has words unlikely to not be...
salve Reader! Do you know the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí? He is the genius behind the Sagrada Família in Barcelona. He believed that love came before any technical considerations, and looking at his ground-breaking architecture, I think we can all agree that his approach worked. This love-first approach is key to language learning. If there is no interest in reading a text to enjoy a story, it is very difficult to find the motivation to look at the grammar holding it together. The...