salve Reader!

As we wind down for the holidays, I wanted to share with you the outcome of my greatly anticipated podcast cameo on Satura Lanx's Rara Avis.

Let me tell you why putting my Latin to good use was so meaningful for me:

When I started to learn Latin, I was often told it was a dead subject with little use for "real" life (whatever that is). I guess it did not help that the uni course I chose was called Philology, which people consistently misunderstood as Classical Philosophy: why would I choose to study only Classical Philosophy? Did I hate Karl Popper?

But I digress. Let us fast-track to today. I checked YouTube and saw that more than 1.5k have watched the podcast.

This is not bad going for a "dead" language: a long chat on scuba diving and volcanoes, traditional Catalan literature (yes, I did write a book about a boy who gets farted by a cow... in Latin!) and life in London. Irene (Satura Lanx) is not only an amazing Latinist but also a warm and friendly communicator, and I have Latin to thank for getting to know her.

Students often tell me that I have transformed the way they understand Latin, and I think that this has a lot to do with the power of the spoken word. That's why in all the courses I create, and especially in the renewed version of the GCSE Latin Revision Course, sound is so very prominent.

Now, when you or your student listen to the podcast, I would love to know what you think. Was it easy to understand? Did you spot any of my errors? No spoiler here: speaking can be messy when conversations flow naturally, and there is nothing wrong with it!

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Ana Martin

PS: Find out about the GCSE Latin revision course as soon as it opens by signing up here. Spaces will be limited!