Answer Key in the Works

August 17, 2010

I have been working on the answer key for a few months now, getting the document set up and collecting the answers from volunteers. Now I am moving into the next stage which is personally editing the answer key to my liking and posting it on the website. So far I have only finished lesson 1, but there are more to come in the near future.

By the way, I have noticed a couple of bonehead errors in the lecture for lesson 1, so please ignore them. In fact, I will be re-recording that lecture soon. When I first started recording these lectures 3 years ago, I didn't have as much experience doing this as I do now, and I feel that my teaching skills have slowly gotten better over time. So I would like to redo some of those early lectures. But I will try not to let that take time away from moving forward to new lessons.

Anyway, here's a link to the answer key.

Back from Latin Camp

August 16, 2010

OK folks, I'm back from a lot of Summer travels, including a one-week stay at Latin camp!! That means a camp where the only language you are allowed to speak is Latin---Latin immersion, you could call it. It was a real eye-opener for me to sit there and watch people using Latin as a colloquial language. Until this camp, I had never spoken Latin before, only read it and studied it. At first I didn't understand a lot of the common words people were using, and I relied a lot on my dictionary. Every time I heard someone use a word that I didn't know, I would look it up and write it down in my notebook. As I learned more and more words in this fashion, I was able to understand more of what people were saying. And because I was forced to formulate my own thoughts in Latin, I learned these words so quickly. Sometimes, I would hear someone use a word I had never heard before...then, I would look it up...write it in my notebook...try to memorize it...and then I would start using it in my own sentences. By the end of the day, the word was so ingrained in my mind that I could never forget it. So sometimes over the course of just a few hours, I would go from never having heard a word before to having it firmly planted in my long-term memory. It was just amazing to have this type of immersion experience with Latin! It gave me so much inspiration and so many new ideas I had never thought of before.

Furthermore, I visited a couple of bookstores while on my travels, and I was able to get about eight to ten new Latin grammar books to help me do research for Linney's Latin Class. These books will be especially helpful to me as we go into some of the more advanced Latin grammar elements. Before I explain something in a lecture, I do lots of research on my own. After all, I can't explain something to someone else that I don't understand 100% myself.

So to make a long story short, I'm refreshed and geared up for a new year of Linney's Latin Class lectures.

Answer Key Stuff

June 25, 2010

Okay folks, its Summer, and my schedule is getting weird. I won't be able to do a lot of recording, but I will be able to get to a chore that has been hanging over my head for a while--finishing the answer key. Several of you have graciously helped me by typing out some answers, but now I have to go through and compare them to the recordings and decide exactly what I want the answer key to look like.

Lesson 33 Complete!!!!

June 20, 2010

Try not to get too excited...but lesson 33 is complete! Please maintain your composure.

Editing

June 9, 2010

I finished recording today, and now I need some time to edit the raw audio.

Almost There

June 8, 2010

Did two lengthy recording sessions today. I'm almost done recording, I just need to finish up the Caesar passage. Then I will have to edit a lot of audio. This is a pretty long lesson--22 exercises plus a Caesar passage.

Even More Recording

June 1, 2010

Recorded more of lesson 33. I am starting to realize that this is a pretty long lesson.

More Recording

May 31, 2010

Recorded another large chunk of lesson 33.

Started Recording Lesson 33

May 25, 2010

Howdy, folks. It's been a while. I have been buried in all kinds of work carrying out my various responsibilities. But I have dug my way out (mostly) and I now am getting back to the Latin class.

I am aware that I have been creating these lectures at a slow pace, but there is good news: I now have a professional Latin teacher helping me. She is making written translations of the exercises in each lesson (basically creating an answer key). I am already using these materials in my preparations for each lesson, and it is speeding up my prep time quite a bit. This will enable me to prepare my lectures more quickly, especially now that the lessons are getting more and more difficult.

Furthermore, these answers will eventually make their way into the answer key that I am making for the class. I'm still working on this, so you will have to wait a bit for that. I will post it here when I get the first few lessons ready.

Lesson 32 Complete

March 4, 2010

Lesson 32 is finished and available for download.

I'm Rolling!!

February 25, 2010

Okay folks, the new recording booth is set up and the sound quality is good as long as nobody turns on the heat (brrr). I have recorded a good chunk of lecture 32, and I have also completed most of my research for lesson 33, too. So I am hoping to crank out a couple of lessons here in the next 10 days or so.

Is There An Echo In Here (here...here)?

February 22, 2010

I tried to do some recording a few nights ago, but the sound quality was unacceptable. Too much reverberation (echo) and too much ambient noise. So I have moved my recording space into another room, this time much smaller, with lots of acoustic foam. I have already done a sound test, and the results are much better. So I should be cooking along very soon with the recordings. It's just been tough adjusting to the new house, getting everything set up, etc. But I'm getting there.

Progress

February 19, 2010

My audio equipment is all set up and tweaked, ready to go. Tonight I'm going to stay up late and start recording as much of lesson 32 as I can. I finished the verb tense chart tonight so the stage is set to get lesson 32 recorded.

Furthermore, lesson 33 is review and some more Caesar, so hopefully I can get that recorded pretty fast.

I have enlisted the help of a professional Latin teacher to help make the answer key for the lectures I have not done yet. This will help speed the process of making the answer key. Also, it will help me get the lectures done at a faster rate. Finally, it will allow those of you who have run out of lectures to keep going on your own. If you would like to volunteer to help make the answer key, see the blog entries below.

Your Help Needed Again

February 19, 2010

Someone has volunteered to type out the answers to lessons 1-20. Anybody out there who would like to type out 21-31? It would be a huge help.

Your Help Needed

February 15, 2010

Hey everybody, I'm trying to put together an answer key for Linney's Latin Class. I could use a bit of help.

If any of you have already typed out your English translations, would you mind sharing those with me? Or, alternatively, if any of you would like to volunteer to type out the answers for the lessons I have covered so far, that would be a great way to give back to the community. Then, I could just proofread those instead of typing them all out from scratch. My main focus on making this answer key will be the lessons I have not covered yet (32-73).

Thanks,

Bill Linney

Back to Work

February 12, 2010

Okay folks, all done moving...and hopefully shoveling snow, too. Wow...that was a lot of hassle...anyway, time for me to get back to work on the Latin lectures.

As part of lesson 32, I thought it would be good to make a visual chart of the Latin verb tenses. I have finished making a prototype version of the chart. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Buy, Sell, Pack, Fix, zzzzzzz

January 20, 2010

Hi folks. I haven't forgotten about the Latin lectures. I have been selling my house, buying a new one, packing, getting stuff fixed, etc. Wow--it's been a lot of work. However I have finished most of my research for lesson 32, and I will be recording it as soon as I am able to dig myself out of this pile of boxes.

Also, I have felt the need to make a special diagram of verb tenses for this lesson, so it's taken me a bit of work to figure out just how I want to represent the verb tenses in visual form. I have this diagram about halfway done, but it will take a bit more time, too.

Feedback Requested

January 1, 2010

Folks, I'd like to hear some feedback from you about the lectures. Is my teaching style effective for you? Is it clear and easy to understand? Are these lectures teaching you what you want to know? I'm committed to customer service LOL.

Send me an email and let me know.

Lesson 31 Done

December 31, 2009

Lesson 31 is all done, folks...it's uploaded and waiting for you.

Snowed In

December 21, 2009

Merry Christmas everybody!!

I'm snowed in here, so tonight I recorded approximately the first half of lesson 31. This one has lots of extra vocabulary to learn because we are going to read some Caesar.

Recommendation: get yourself an English translation of Caesar's Gallic Wars and start reading book I. If you know the basic plot of book I you'll have more fun translating the Latin because you will be able to put it in context. Also, study maps of the area so you will know where the different tribes live and how the geography of the area is affecting the plot.

Tempus Fugit

December 12, 2009

My work schedule has been *crazy* but I have been able to almost totally finish my research for lesson 31. I want to start recording it Monday. It's got a large chunk of Caesar in it, so get ready to translate some real Latin, folks.

Lesson 31

December 5, 2009

Getting ready to record lesson 31.

Lesson 30 All Done

November 13, 2009

Lesson 30 is complete. I am curious to know if any of you will notice any problems with the quality of the audio.

Lesson 30 Recorded

November 11, 2009

Tonight I finished recording lesson 30. And, I have already finished editing most of it. So I just need a day or two to do some final editing and processing on the sound file.

I was slowed down this week by some problems with my audio equipment, but I think I have those problems worked out now (keeping my fingers crossed). On the internet you can find some pretty bad audio recordings...badly recorded and just bad otherwise. I'm trying to achieve a high level of quality in every area: content, voice tone quality and recording quality.

Recording Lesson 30

November 6, 2009

Almost finished recording lesson 30 before my voice gave out (cough).

Recording Lesson 30

November 4, 2009

Tonight I recorded another large portion of lesson 30...it should only take me one more recording session to finish it.

Recording Lesson 30

November 2, 2009

Last night I recorded a large portion of lesson 30. Also, I have completed about half of my research for lesson 31. Now that the Spanish book stuff is almost completely done, I am starting to really cook along on the Latin lectures.

Work Begins on Lesson 30

October 29, 2009

Finishing up my final preparations for lesson 30. I will start to record this lecture probably late tonight or tomorrow.

New Blog

October 27, 2009

I have decided to have a little blog here to keep you folks better informed about upcoming lectures and the like.