What I learnt from learning English the informal way
|
salve Reader, I am sure you have noticed I am not a native speaker of English. In fact, English was not even my second language until my twenties! I grew up and studied in Spanish and Catalan, my A-Level MFL was French, and I only really started developing my English after I received a scholarship to spend a summer in Ireland aged 21, where I kept talking to people in German because my English was still, ehem, a bit lacking. Moving to England was never on the cards, let alone teaching Latin in English! However, one thing I loved was watching movies. In uni, I used to spend my lunch times in the language lab (not sure if those exist anymore), watching movies in English with English subtitles. I did not really know it at the time, but this regular exposure to easy, contextualised conversations would quietly turn me into a confident English reader (and speaker!) It was Kevin Costner and Ben Affleck before Shakespeare, Ghost before Dickens. It worked. I know that it is not easy to find bingeable content in accessible Latin, but it is important to look for opportunities to use the language naturally (rather than as a puzzle). For A-Level students, if they do one thing for their Latin this summer (and they should!), it has to be extended reading. If you do not know where to start, in the A-Level hub, I will be preparing weekly challenges that involve reading and listening to accessible texts. Learning words in a vocabulary list is not enough to learn a language, and both Y12 and Y13 students need to use the summer to build their fluency. The hub is currently £70 per month and includes the full library of resources, weekly guidance, the Legentibus app for guided reading, and a monthly live workshop (the next one is on the 23rd of July).
Let us learn Latin as the language it is. in proximum! 🏛️🌿
|
Hi! I'm a Classics specialist
Follow me for resources, learning tips and examination information
salve Reader! I am not going to beat about the bush: the time to start preparing for the 2027 exams is now. You know I love my food similes, so here we go: Imagine you want to have a lovely crusty loaf of bread for dinner tomorrow. You do not start making the bread just before dinner! The dough needs kneading, resting, shaping, resting again... and then baking AND (come on, finish it for me) ... RESTING. Same with exam preparation. It is not white sliced bread: it is sourdough. OK, maybe I am...
salve Reader! I recently shared a year-in-review carousel on Instagram, celebrating everything "2025–2006" has brought. This was not intended to be 2006 to 2025, but rather 2025 to 2026! Another time, I should write about what I did from 2006 onward, which truly was another life, but my recent post was meant for just 12 months, even though some people were impressed that I had done so much in 19 years! (offending post at the bottom) Typos aside, it has been an amazing year, and I think...
salve Reader! As a tutor, I take every opportunity to get back in the hot seat, and this week it came in the form of an invitation to participate in Nightschool with Geoff Lloyd, live on Virgin Radio. Let me tell you: it was not perfect, but it was SUCH a laugh. And that, to be honest, is the way forward in a world increasingly dominated by perfectly curated bland AI content. Click to listen to the show Are you camp Caecilius or camp Sabina? Ana Martin Founder & Tutor...