dictation was a total hit!

Although I can't find it now, my friend Keith Toda has written somewhere at his blog (http://todallycomprehensiblelatin.blogspot.com/) about using dictation not only to develop listening skills but to introduce vocabulary in a meaningful way. In preparing for tomorrow's Catullus 13 reading, I have been doing various activities to work in vocabulary and tidbits of grammar usage so that we will be prepared to actually discuss Catullus 13 for what it says, not struggle through it to get meaning.

One piece of advice--and it was just THE BEST piece of advice--was to make the sentences of the dictation into a story and to use people in the class. WOW, was this a hit. Not only did they love it, but the only mistakes made were very small ones.

So just a reminder of Catullus 13:

Cēnābis bene, mī Fabulle, apud mē
paucīs, sī tibi dī favent, diēbus,
sī tēcum attuleris bonam atque magnam
cēnam, nōn sine candidā puellā
et vīnō et sale et omnibus cachinnīs.
haec sī, inquam, attuleris, venuste noster ,
cēnābis bene; nam tuī Catullī
plēnus sacculus est arāneārum.
sed contrā accipiēs merōs amōrēs
seu quid suāvius elegantiusve est:
nam unguentum dabō, quod meae puellae
dōnārunt Venerēs Cupidinēsque,
quod tu cum olfaciēs, deōs rogābis,
tōtum ut tē faciant, Fabulle, nāsum.

So, my biggest concern at this point has been forms of affero.  We did an activity with paper bags (sacculi) two days ago to work plēnus with the genitive and also fit in unguentum and araneae and sal. We had also discussed olet and olfacit. And today at the beginning of class I had a little PowerPoint which showed a picture of a wallet (crumēna) and a purse (pērula) and the caption "quid est in crumēnā tuā?" (LOL)  On the next screen I had a Roman reenactor pictures with a sacculus on his belt, making the full connection.

There are still a few words left--merus and venustus and maybe candida--but I think we are covered.

And here was today's dictation.  Aelia and Laelia are two girls (those are their Latin names) in this class.  They, and everyone else in the room, totally enjoyed this:

1.      crās Laelia apud Aeliam cēnābit.
2.      māter Laeliae imperāvit ut dōnum afferret.
3.      Laelia dīxit sē Aeliae flōrēs dōnātūram esse.
4.      proximō diē igitur Laelia flōrēs sēcum attulit.
5.      Aelia tamen flōrēs accipere nōn vult quod flōrēs male olent.
6.      “attulistīne flōrēs? ubi sunt vīnum et sal?” inquit Aelia.
7.      “tū es īnsāna?” respondit Laelia.
8.      “praetereā flōrēs meī suāvius quam cēna tua olent!”
9.       “mendāx!” clāmāvit Aelia. “nāsus tuus olfacere nōn potest!”
10.  . Laelia īrāta ē vīllā Aeliae discēdit.
11.   Aelia sēcum dīxit, “dī mihi favent! nunc tōta cēna est mea!”

They just LOVED it!  They wanted to do more like that! They did really well--minor mistakes.

So tomorrow we are set to read and talk about Catullus.  NOT about grammar, NOT about vocab.  But about Catullus. My efforts to stay in Latin are inconsistent and often faulty (at least in my head), but I'm forging ahead.  And I'm hopeful.  And I believe I'm on the right track.