Ars legendi Latine

Hodie, pluresque magistri, in modo tracto majoribus, legendam litteram Latinam docent. Quivis Latine legere possunt, probiliter in hoc modo didicerunt. Certe, etiam in hoc modo didici. Modus familiaris est; Cum sententiam Latinam invenis, nunc verbum reperias, tunc subjectum, tunc objectum directum...et cetera. Si putes, legendae linguae modus malus est! Profecto pluresque nostri numquam linguam in hoc modo discunt, haud comprehendere solum post linguam translatum in sermonem patriam discunt. Enimvero, pluremque scio, loquentes in Anglica Latinam legunt. Haudquaquam hic modus bonus est!



Cum Cicero ultinum verbum in Catalinam maledixit, sermone inclita locuta in senatu, omnes praesentes ominio comprehendunt. Non dicendum est ubi verbum seu subjectum sit? In ordine dicta, comprehendunt. Certe, difficilis est comprehendendum Anglibus dicentibus sed conatum est nobis si Latinam comprehedere volumus sicut Romani.

Recente, tellae paginam invenio in quo alius modus ostensus est. Quamquam post centum annos scriptum est, hodie mihi ad hanc rem attinere visum est. Si temorem habes, ambo te legere eam et dicere mihi quae putes!

(Caveat lector, haec pagina in Anglica lingua est, quamquam non puto aliquos qui meam blogam legunt, non comprehendere Anglicam..)
Ars Legendi Latine

Ualete,
Christian

Nunc in Lingua Latina Sola Parumper

Saluete,

Me pudet, nuper in lingua Anglica omnes meos nuntios paene scriptum. Num haec blogga Latina bona est? Parumper in sola Latina scribere promitto.

Ualete,
Christian

7 Things List

I decided to take a break from Latin and fill out this list for fun, which I was tagged to do by my friend Alexandra.

7 THINGS I HATE DOING OR SCARE ME:
- Going to social events where I don't know anyone.
- Going to the dentist
- Republicans, neo-conservatives, Christian fundamentalists..etc
- Ignorance or Fear of the unknown
- "Intelligent Design"
- heights
- Egomaniacs

7 THINGS I LIKE:
- Star Trek
- Everything about beer and brewing
- pubs
- goofing around with Sarah
- backcountry camping and hiking
- playing hockey
- late night jam sessions fuelled by whiskey

7 IMPORTANT THINGS IN MY ROOM:
- very fat old cat named Annie
- my lovely fiance Sarah
- usually a pile of clean laundry needing to be folded. (I guess I should have added folding laundry to my hate list!)
- A pile of books, each of which I'm reading, none of which I ever seem to finish.
- a little tv on which Sarah and I watch CSI while we fall asleep
- a fan that I love running even in the winter, I think I just love the sound when I'm sleeping.
- Sarah's antique desk that used to belong to her grandfather.

7 RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME:
- I have dual citizenship because I was born in Montague, Massachusetts, but grew up in a small town in Eastern Ontario called Perth.
- I have asthma and allergies.
- I played ice hockey every year from when I was four until I was fourteen, then quit to join the drama club.
- My middle name is David, which is the name of my Grandfather.
- I was once almost arrested by mistaken identity outside the Vatican in Rome.
- I worked for two months as a dishwasher in Edinburgh, Scotland, then was kicked out of my apartment and moved to Newcastle.
- I get teary eyed in the movie Armageddon. Ok, now that is lame.

7 THINGS I PLAN TO DO BEFORE I DIE:
- play with my grandchildren.
- climb Mount Everest, or at least hike to basecamp in Nepal.
- write, direct and edit a feature film.
- visit all the continents of the world
- dance with Sarah at our wedding and not step on her feet.
- write a book
- go at least one week speaking any other language than English.

7 THINGS I CAN DO:
- play guitar, mandolin, bass guitar, (and badly play the harmonica, banjo, piano and the recorder.)
- lots of really boring computer stuff that I'm still not sure why I learned
- edit, shoot and light 35mm motion picture film
- set up a tent in the dark
- soder a circuit board
- name every major star trek movie in order, with plot lines and references to episodes
- waterski

7 THINGS I CAN'T OR WILL NOT DO:
- watch an episode of "Everybody loves Raymond"
- suck up to people
- stay silent when anyone is being a racist, sexist or homophobic in my presence.
- visit a nudist beach
- base jump, unless my life depended on it. That stuff's crazy...
- take a yoga class
- eat zucchini, ever, ever again...

7 THINGS I SAY THE MOST:
- What are we going to have for dinner?
- That was the most cheeseball thing I have ever seen..
- for gosh sakes
- doughheads
- Anniepants
- Going out for a quick pint!
- Ohhhh I wish I hadn't gone out for that pint...


7 CELEB CRUSHES:
- Jodi Foster (Bilingual, plays strong female characters, directs and is sexy!)
- Juliane Moore (Gotta love the redheads)
- Nicole Kidman (ibid.)
- Marissa Tomei (me and George Constanza)
- Carrie Fisher (When I was a kid, Princess Leia was the most sexy woman in the world.)
- Emily Watson (just a great actress)
- Cate Blachett

Boni Mali Ridiculique

Saluete omnes,

ad scribendo non temporem habui, donec hodie. Ex superiore nuntio, fortissene conjicias, in probatione Latine Franciaque, me esse non probatum? Ita, probe conjiciebas, non probatus sum. In probatione Francia probari non expectabam quia per hanc aestatem eam non studeo quia solum temporem ad studendo linguam Latinam habui. Infelice, non satis est. Nunc iterum per hoc annum eam studebo, sed etiam linguam Germaniam Franciamque. Heu!

Satis in Latina Hodie!

Ualete,
Christian

horribilis erat

Habeo unum verbum de probatione, horibilem. Hodie ne plus loquar.

Hodie est dies!

Ita, dies iudicii venit. Satis studere me puto sed nunc in manibus Dei fatum meum est. Non veritatem esse puto, etiam in manibus meis, sed parvum auxillium dei proest. :)

Velis me habere bonam fortunam!

Christian

One down, one to go --- Alia probatio completa, alia adhuc complenda est

I wrote the French exam today. Unfortunately it's part of the language requirements for my PhD. Latin is the most important, and the most difficult. As your translations must be perfect and you cannot use a dictionary. We also have to take French and German exams, although they tend to be easier and we are permitted a dictionary. The exams are offered twice per year and you need to pass them in order to move on to the next stage.

I suppose the French exam went OK, but I still don't think I passed it. The first passage was the most difficult and I think I kinda botched it. Oh well. This one wasn't the important test. I hadn't even taken a French course since highschool, so no worries if I didn't pass. I can always take it again, perhaps when I don't have a major Latin exam hanging over my head. German can wait until next summer.

Ok, I'm ready now. Bring on the Latin exam!

Hodie, in lingua Francia probationem scripsi. Infeliciter, fieri doctor philosophiae neccesse est. Lingua Latina gravissima difficilissimaque est, quia in sermonem Anglicam perfecte convertenda est. Etiam nobis in lingua Francia Germaniaque probationes scribendae sunt, quamquam facillissimae esse solent ac nobis uti glossarium licet. Bis anno offeruntur ac ante procedendum ad proximo gradui probandi sumus.

Franciae probationis scribendum bene esse mihi pono sed adhuc ipsi non succedere me pono. Primus Locus difficillisimus est et cum transferrem, errarem. Eu! haec probatio non magnus est. Classem in Francia non habuit quoniam in schola superiore eram. Iterum semper hanc scribere possum, et fortasse cum probatio gravissima Latina non pendet! Lingua Germania usque ad proximam aestatem opperiatur.

Fiat! Nunc paratus sum! Probatio Latina veniat!

Dictys Cretensis and other authors I hate...

I'm writing in English today because I am just so tired of Latin. I've been working on preparing for the big Latin exam next Friday by going over previous exams. There is one passage which is just pissing me off because I can't figure out what's going on.

Here's part of the passage, it's from the September 1991 exam and it is written by dude named Dictys Cretensis.

Stupid Latin Passage
Ulysses challanges the Trojans

Post quem Ulixes medius adstand huiuscemodi orationem habuit: credo ego vos, Troiani principes, satis compertum habere, nihil temere Graecos, nihil inconsultum incipere solere, ac semper his iam tum a maioribus provisum atque elaboratum, uti facta gestaque eorum laus potius quam culpa sequeretur.

Et ut praeterita bene consulta omittam, iam hoc licet recognoscere. Iniuriis contumeliisque Alexandri paulo ante laesa Graecia non ad vim neque ad arma decursum est, quod iracundia refugium esse solet. Nam de consilii sententia legati ad recipiendam Helenam, ut meministis, cum Menelao venimus. Quibus praeter superbas verborum minas et insidias occultas nihil a Priamo neque ab eius regulis remissum est. Imperfecta igitur re, ut opinor, consequens fuit arma capere hisque per vim extorquere, quod amice impetrari nequitum est iataque parato exercitu ac tot egregiis atque inclitis ducibus ne sic quidem proelium adversum vos inire consilium fuit, sed imitati morem modestiamque solitam iterato ad vos ob eandem causam oratum venimus.

My rotten translation:
After which, Ulysses, standing in the middle, gave a speech of this manner: I believe you, Trojan Princes, that you have enough evidence that the Greeks are accustomed to do nothing rashly, nothing which has not been thought through, and always do things which have been labored on and provided for them by their elders, so much that praise more than blame follows their acts and deeds.

For starters, I have no idea why "medius" is in the nominative. Shouldn't it be "in medio adstans"? I won't complain too much about that one because the meaning is still obvious. However, what the **** is going on with the the "his"? Is it supposed to go off of the provisum (which can take the dative when it means "provided for" rather than "forseen"). That's how I took it in my translation but it just doesn't make sense. They only do things provided for them by their elders? What the hell does that mean? Maybe it's supposed to go with the elders? But that doesn't make sense either.

And to pass over these past consultations well, it is permitted now to recognize them.

What does this mean? I have no idea. This is a weird sentence. "omittam" might be omit, let go, disregard. I think what he's trying to say is the first step to overcoming your fear of the meticulous planning of the Greeks is to first recognize them. Unfortunately, Dictys doesn't say that. If that's what he meant then he's a dick because he could have said it clearer.

A little while before Greece was battered by the injuries and indignaties of Alexander, there was not a rush to strength, nor to arms, which was accustomed to be a refuge of passion.
I don't understand this, isn't Alexander Greek?

For according to the wisdom of the counsel, we came as ambassadors , as you remember, to recieve Helen. To which, nothing was returned by Priam or his men except proud threats of words and hidden treacheries.

You thought you would trick me Dictys, by putting legati looking like a genitive over sententia, but oh no, oh no...

Therefore, with this business unfinished, in my opinion, it followed to take up arms and with those arms, to extort through strength what was unable to be obtained by friendly means. So therefore, with the army prepared and with so many distinguished and famous leaders, there was no plan to go to battle against you,

Ok, this doesn't make sense...the army is prepared, but there is no plan? Whose army the Greeks or the Trojans? And is Ulysses still giving a history lesson or has he switched to the present?

...but with this having happened a second time, imitating their character and known modesty, we come to you to beseach you against the same cause.

All I can say is, you tried Dictys with that supine, you tried, but you couldn't fool me. The rest of it though is hogwash.

If anyone has a better way of translating this let me know.

Cheers, (uel ualete,)
Christian

Lingua Francorum, id est serior lingua Latina uulgaris...

Saluete,

duobus diebus, etiam probationem in lingua Gallica habebo. Non scio cur haec probationem scribam quia paene etiam unum uerbum loqui possum. Feliciter, me uti glossiarium licet. Exercendo, probationem veterem heri scribebam et non difficilis est.

Sara,sponsa mea, bene in lingua Francia loquor et auxillium mihi dabat. Probatio Latina plus quam Gallica me turbat.

Valete,
C

Vive la France!

Lamentum meum

Aliquando, cur faciam, miror. Nemo hanc legit. Nemo umquam legit. Tam pauci etiam Latinam comprehendit ut nulla ratio scribendi sit. Saepe, aliam bloggam scriptam in Latine exquaesiui, set pauci sunt, et quae raro rescriptae sunt. Mei amici in Latine legere non possunt. Fortasse, relinquere debeo?

Probationem meam in pauci diebus habebo. Si probabor, numquam in classe linguam Latinam discere impellar, sed vere discendo delectaui et illam desiderabo. Linguam Latinam amo sed alicuius ingenii careo. Autem, probaliter non probabor quia ex Latine transferendi in Anglicam nullum ingenium habeo. Certum est in haec epsitola multos errores scriptum esse mihi. Igitur, cur faciam, praecipuae nemo hanc legit seu leget.

Cum Sara dormiens, me ad dormiendo eundum est.

Ualete,
C.

omnia mea verba nova

Heus,
ita, cum probatio mea hebdomade promima sit, in hac epistola, omnia inustitata uerba grammaticamque quam mihi non oblisci non necesse est, scribam.

Ne legas, nisi terebratus esse vis!

forem, fores, foret...etc = essem, esses, esset e.g. Si hic fores, rideremus.

escit, esit = erit, e.g = una die, magister esit.

escunt = erunt e.g. Graeci escunt.

Studere odio!

C.