Hic sunt dracones - Here be dragons 🏛️🌿
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salve Reader, Did you know that my homeland's patron saint, Sant Jordi, is shared with England? I quite like the idea, although that does not stop me from missing the Catalan celebrations on the 23rd of April. You can read more about it in my book about the legend, but suffice it to say that we celebrate it by filling the streets with books and authors, and gifting each other roses. It is the perfect language lover's day! You may be wondering at this point what this has to do with Latin learning, which I am guessing is what you came here for! Well, dragons used to mark unknown places on maps. A dragon was the ultimate unknown fear, which was definitely present if you veered away from the known path, but could also come and find you if you were unlucky. However, and this is a big however, Saint George's story (well, at least the version I wrote!), shows that with a bit of preparation, you can indeed defeat the dragon. I guess you can see where the (not-so-sophisticated) metaphor is going: to slay the dragon and get the rose, you need to face your fears head-on. With a language, that means putting yourself in an initially uncomfortable situation and giving it your best go. À propos, for those who need some help with dragons, registration is open for both my A-Level and GCSE ongoing support programmes, and our next live workshops will be on Sunday 26 and Thursday 30 April, respectively. Just reply to this email if you would like your student to join. Now go get those dragons! 🌹
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