Latin Vocabulary Plan: Missa “In Medio Eccelesiae“
A few weeks ago, I had the chance to buy Latin Verb Drills workbook at a very discounted rate. And I would have got it, too, if I hadn’t reminded myself just in time that I like my own “assignments” better than any other teacher’s.
This post outlines my “lesson plan” for not remembering -- not merely memorizing, but really remembering --more Latin verbs.
1. Start with a relevant text
I choose Missa “In medio Ecclesiae“ for two reasons. First, it’s the Mass for today’s Feast of St. Augustine of Hippo. And second, it’s the Mass for all Doctors of the Church, which means the vocabulary will be relevant again in about a month’s time, for the Feast of St. Jerome on September 30. I couldn’t have planned this timeline better!
2. List down the verbs I want to learn
From the Lectio: Arguere, Avertere, Certare, Coacervare, Consummare, Convertere, Delibare, Increpare, Instare, Obesecrare, Prurire, Reponere, Sustinere, Testificari
From the Evangelium: Adimplere, Conculcare, Evanescere, Praeterire, Putare, Solvere, Valere
From other propers: Accedere, Conciliare, Constituere, Deese
3. Curate the list ruthlessly
Last month, I argued that a word list isn’t complete until you remove at least one word: Take It Off -- A Word List Challenge. So now I’m going to turn those twenty-five verbs into a strategic twenty.
As sad as this makes me, I’m going to say goodbye to: Avertere, Consummare, Constituere, Convertere, and Putare.
All of these I still remember from my Latin papers in uni. They made the first cut only because I wanted to know them better. But I have to admit that I know them well enough to leave them off.
4. Start a modified Goldlist
The Goldist Method is my favorite way to remember vocabulary. But doing it the recommended way takes about two months. Since I’ll need this vocabulary in half the time, I’ll have to adapt the method accordingly.
So instead of writing down twenty-five verbs and returning to them every two weeks, I will write down my twenty curated verbs and return to them every week. And each time I do, I should know know five verbs well enough to remove them from the list.
“Knowing” a verb means being able: To translate it and to identify all four principal parts. I’m going to trust that the drills I do before editing the list each week will help me remember each verb’s proper endings for a given conjugation, mood, and voice. (I’ll leave participles, gerunds, et. al. out of this for now.)
5. Drill!
The reason I wanted a list of twenty verbs is that there are twenty tense-mood-voice combinations in Latin. So each drill will involve assigning one combination (e.g., simple present active indicative) to one verb (e.g., accedere) and conjugating accordingly (e.g., accedo, accedis, accedit, accedimus, acceditis, accedunt). I’ll check my work using the Verbix.com Latin Verb Conjugator.
But this is the part that reminds me I’m still in the “beta phase” of my own lesson plan! I’m still working out the rules for these drills, like how to pair up verbs and combinations. So far, this is what I have:
List all the verbs in alphabetical order. Drill 1: Assign each one a combination in the order the combinations appear in the Oxford Latin Course Part III reference tables. (This is why “accedere” got the simple present active indicative.)
Drill 2: Also conjugate each verb with the opposite mood and voice to what it was originally assigned. (So I’d also have to write out “accedere” in the simple present passive subjunctive: accedar, accedaris, accedatur, accedamur, accedamini, accedantur)
Drill 3: Group the verbs accoding to stems, then list them alphabetically in their respective groups. In this order, assign them combinations as in Drill 1. (”Accedere” becomes #11 and gets assigned simple present passive indicative: accedor, accederis, acceditur, accedimur, accedimini, acceduntur)
Drill 4: Change the mood and voice of the combination in Drill 3, as in Drill 2. (”Accedere” in simple present active subjunctive: accedam, accedas, accedat, accedamus, accedatis, accedant)
(If that was hard to understand, it was also hard to explain! I’ll have to take a leaf from the Studyblrs and start taking photos of my notebooks, to better illustrate what I mean.)
My current plan is four drills a week, evenly spaced out. So if I make the list tomorrow, Thursday, then I also do the first drill tomorrow. Then I’ll do the second drill on Saturday, the third drill on Monday, and the fourth drill on Wednesday.
And the next Thursday will be time to take five verbs off the list! At which point I do the drills again, with the verbs in reverse alphabetical order.
If all goes well, I should know all these verbs well enough for a smoother reading of the propers, by the Feast of St. Jerome!
And if I decide to make any changes to this lesson plan, I will apply them to learning the Missa “Statuit Ei Dominus” in October.
