ginlindzey (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ginlindzey) wrote2009-04-11 05:39 pm
ginlindzey) wrote2009-04-11 05:39 pm
Entry tags:
Why No Macrons?
I sent this to Latin Best Practices earlier today. And, yes, the purse has been found, so no worries there. I felt the need to vent. If I ever quit teaching I want to get on with a publisher precisely to be the one to include the damned macrons! This is so stupid when it is so easy to typeset with macrons in this day and age! ARG!
***
Ok, I know I'm warped about this, but I'm grading tests, depressed over my missing/stolen purse, and had a random idea about writing a Latin story, looked up to my bookshelf, and grabbed a new text off the shelf to look at/consult regarding the idea. I won't go into what new text this is. And it probably is really good.
I opened it and immediately put it down. No macrons. There's lots of new vocab on the page, words I won't know how to pronounce naturally because my mommy wasn't an ancient Roman so I have never heard these words before. Oh, sure, there are macrons in the back in the glossary, but that would mean actually LOOKING UP every single new word if I want to be sure.
I *want* to learn new vocab in context. I want to learn new vocab by NOT looking up every damn word. I want to read it and HEAR IT and FIX it in my head. I WANT TO *ENJOY* THIS.
But there are no macrons.
Having macrons is like having an ancient Roman read to you. It's immersion. I don't need them on a test. I don't need them to scan lines. I don't need them to tell short -is from long -is. I need them for the new vocab.
And I am soooo tired of most new books NOT having macrons (do any of them?). But my time is limited--what few spare minutes I might be able to give to pleasurable reading of Latin shouldn't be work looking up words. It should be pleasure.
PLEASURE.
Or is it too much to hope that one could read a little Latin for pleasure?
And, yeah, I know that I should be talking to the publisher. And I have tried in the past. Frankly, I'm sure it's a lot of nitpicky editing. But I know it can be done. (Maybe they should hire me as an editor? I could quit teaching...might do me good to quit teaching and be an editor...) Rick LaFleur wouldn't publish a text without them. It can be done. WHY DON'T OTHERS DO THIS?
And surely I'm not alone in this? Don't some of you read out loud? Don't you want to be able to fix a new word in your head at a glance? Sheesh....
***
Ok, I know I'm warped about this, but I'm grading tests, depressed over my missing/stolen purse, and had a random idea about writing a Latin story, looked up to my bookshelf, and grabbed a new text off the shelf to look at/consult regarding the idea. I won't go into what new text this is. And it probably is really good.
I opened it and immediately put it down. No macrons. There's lots of new vocab on the page, words I won't know how to pronounce naturally because my mommy wasn't an ancient Roman so I have never heard these words before. Oh, sure, there are macrons in the back in the glossary, but that would mean actually LOOKING UP every single new word if I want to be sure.
I *want* to learn new vocab in context. I want to learn new vocab by NOT looking up every damn word. I want to read it and HEAR IT and FIX it in my head. I WANT TO *ENJOY* THIS.
But there are no macrons.
Having macrons is like having an ancient Roman read to you. It's immersion. I don't need them on a test. I don't need them to scan lines. I don't need them to tell short -is from long -is. I need them for the new vocab.
And I am soooo tired of most new books NOT having macrons (do any of them?). But my time is limited--what few spare minutes I might be able to give to pleasurable reading of Latin shouldn't be work looking up words. It should be pleasure.
PLEASURE.
Or is it too much to hope that one could read a little Latin for pleasure?
And, yeah, I know that I should be talking to the publisher. And I have tried in the past. Frankly, I'm sure it's a lot of nitpicky editing. But I know it can be done. (Maybe they should hire me as an editor? I could quit teaching...might do me good to quit teaching and be an editor...) Rick LaFleur wouldn't publish a text without them. It can be done. WHY DON'T OTHERS DO THIS?
And surely I'm not alone in this? Don't some of you read out loud? Don't you want to be able to fix a new word in your head at a glance? Sheesh....