super clear cognates

The Inequity Absurdity

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Consider this a double feature hot off yesterday’s Annual Criticism of Latin, or ACL, report. Why another? I was reminded of a toxic idea floating around that the use of cognates is inequitable. This is absurd.

Reality:

  1. Cognates increase (*increase, not guarantee) the likelihood that students will understand the Latin, especially ones most obvious and familiar in English.
  2. Students with broader English vocab have a higher likelihood of understanding cognates (*higher, not guaranteed), especially the less familiar ones.
  3. Students who don’t have as broad English vocab or who don’t recognize the word in the moment will just see one more Latin word.

This is not inequity.

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Cognate Concerns? It Must Be January…

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This year’s Annual Criticism of Latin, or ACL for short, is about a month early. It’s been the same old gripes with the same old assumptions going back to 2018 or so. Almost every concern rests on the assumptions that a student will continue Latin in college and will be negatively impacted somehow by the decisions modern Latin authors have made. That’s two biggies: continue Latin, and be negatively impacted.

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Agrippīna aurīga: Published!

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If you like Rūfus et arma ātra, you’ll love Agrippīna aurīga. This might very well be my most engaging text yet, at what I’ve come to see as the the rare “Goldilocks” intersection of comprehension, confidence, and compellingness.

Young Agrippina wants to race chariots, but a small girl from Lusitania couldn’t possibly do that…could she?! After a victorious race in the stadium of Emerita, the local crowd favorite charioteer, Gaius Appuleius Dicloes, runs into trouble, and it’s up to Agrippina to step into much bigger shoes. Can she take on the reins in this equine escapade?

24 cognates + 33 other words
1800 total length

We’ve known Piso’s family is from Hispānia all along. This book picks up on that with Agrippina, our strong mother, back in her childhood stomping grounds. I wanted to write a book with more action that could follow Rūfus et arma ātra. It turns out that I might want to read this before the sword-slinging saga. Agrippīna aurīga is written at a very similar level, though with 24 cognates compared to just two in Rūfus, and besides, I’ve realized that there’s no need to always increase the difficulty and length of each new book. In fact, that might be one way some kids get left in the dust. So, jumping “ahead” a little bit with this (aurīga) only to read a shorter book with fewer words (arma ātra) afterwards not only will go faster, but will also feel more confident a read for the students. Plus, it provides multiple opportunities to re-engage students who aren’t keeping up with reading on their own, and/or are missing far too many classes.

Michael Sintros (Duinneall), who worked with me on the creepy content of Quīntus et nox horrifica audiobook, once again has delivered engaging, ambient music with a new fantastic ancient instrument library. I cannot stress enough how crucial I’ve found these audiobooks to be towards making an unforgettable classroom experience. If I could combine the audio on Amazon as one purchase, I would, but you’ll have to get audio from Bandcamp to listen to with a physical book. Note that the eBooks from both Storylabs & Polyglots have audio included.

Chapter 1 excerpt
Chapter 2 excerpt
Chapter 3 excerpt
Chapter 4 excerpt
Chapter 5 excerpt
  1. For Sets, Packs, eBooks, and Audio—with reduced prices—order here
  2. Amazon
  3. eBooks: Storylabs & Polyglots (<– now includes audiobook!)
  4. Audiobook
  5. Free preview (through Chapter 5, no illustrations)

sīgna zōdiaca Vol. 3: Published!

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This last of three volumes contains details about Pisces, Aries, Taurus, and Gemini, and features the myths of Typhon, The Golden Fleece, The Minotaur, as well as Castor & Pollux.

Volume III itself contains 62 cognates and 93 other words (excluding names, different forms of words, and meaning established in the text), and is over 3,000 total words in length. The vocabulary across all three volumes comes to 83 cognates and 117 other words. Including all Pisoverse texts, the total number of words written for the beginning Latin student is now just under 65,000 using a vocabulary of just over 800.

Many details in the first four sections of astrologia are repeated from volumes 1 & 2 to provide each reader with a basic understanding of the zodiac signs. sīgna zōdiaca Vol. 3 is available…

  1. For Sets, Packs, eBooks, and Audio—with reduced prices—order here.
  2. Three-volume-pack special!
  3. Amazon
  4. eBooks: Storylabs & Polyglots
  5. Audio
  6. Free preview (abridged astrologia section, and Piscēs, no illustrations)

sīgna zōdiaca Vol. 2: Published!

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This second of three volumes contains details about Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius, and features the myths of Orion and the seven sisters (Pleiades), Hercules and Chiron, Jupiter and Amalthea, and Ganymede.

The first two volumes share 84% of vocab.

Volume II itself contains 63 cognates and 92 other words (excluding names, different forms of words, and meaning established in the text). While Volume I has 63 cognates and 84 other words, both volumes share 84% of the same vocabulary (i.e. there are 15 different cognates, and 33 different other words between the two). Volume II is over 2,800 total words in length. Including all Pisoverse texts, the total number of words written for the beginning Latin student is now over 52,300 using a vocabulary of just 762.

Many details in the first four sections of astrologia are repeated from sīgna zōdiaca Vol. I to provide each reader with a basic understanding of the zodiac signs. sīgna zōdiaca Vol. 2 is available…

  1. For Sets, Packs, eBooks, Audio, and Bundle Specials, order here.
  2. Amazon
  3. eBook
  4. Audio
  5. Free preview (abridged astrologia section, and Scorpiō, no illustrations)

A Pisoverse Novella Monthly Sequence: 1st Year Latin

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Every now and then I get asked which of my novellas students should read and when. Of course, that depends entirely on how novellas plan to be used. However, there *is* a logical sequence to my books, and it’s simple. Although word count isn’t everything, I’ve found that it’s most things when it comes to the beginning student reading Latin. Therefore, reading from low to high word count pretty much as-is (i.e. 20 to 155) makes the most sense.

The only time this appears to go “out of order” is with books having a high cognate count, which I read a little earlier. For example, Quīntus et nox horrifica has 52 words, but 26 are cognates. I’ve read that immediately following Rūfus lutulentus (20 words, just 1 cognate) since the reading level is close due to the similar number of unrecognizable words between the two books. See this post on how cognates increase the likelihood of Latin being understood. In the list below, I’ve also omitted the companion texts used for additional reading, activities, and as independent reading options. However, when used along with a novella, those are just read at the same time (e.g. reading Syra et animālia along with Syra sōla). Here’s the current monthly sequence I have in mind:

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Vocab Lists: Sheltering, Grammar Audit, and Creativity

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**Updated 8.19.20 – The DCC core list of top 1000 Latin words has just 100 cognates.**

sīgna zōdiaca Vol. 1 was published at the end of July, bringing the total vocabulary found throughout the entire Pisoverse novellas to 737 unique words, of which 316 are found on the DCC core list, and of which 319 cognates (see my last post on cognates), including 52 found on the DCC core list (i.e. Pisoverse cognates account for over 50% of the total DCC cognates). That vocabulary size is quite low for what is now almost 50,000 total words of Latin for the beginner found in 19 books. This is what is meant by sheltering (i.e. limiting) vocabulary. Of course, that sheltering didn’t just happen by chance. There have been many decisions of what to keep and what to let go, the process deliberate, and at times methodical. In this post, I share ways to shelter vocab in novellas, and how those same practical steps apply to more informal writing done in the classroom with students…

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Cognate Over Classical & Translation Shaming

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High frequency vocab? Yes, of course, although one’s context and goals are important considerations. This posts looks at why we might choose cognates over the kind of vocab more frequently found in unadapted ancient Latin (i.e. Classical Latin), and how that decision can be inhibited by a bit of elitist baggage.

What’s the best reason to use cognates? So the learner who doesn’t read outside of the classroom can understand Latin—in class—more easily. Cognates increase the likelihood of comprehensibility. Even given the range of learner vocabularies in English, the likelihood still increases. That is, there’s more of a chance that a Latin to English cognate will be understood than the chance that a completely unrecognizable Latin word will be understood. Of course, students still misunderstand cognates all the time (re: Mike Peto’s “béisbol” routine), but that’s not the point. The point is to make Latin more comprehensible, and cognates help. N.B. the only cognate-use claim here is a greater likelihood of comprehension. This has a pedagogical impact, to be sure. Choosing cognates over Classical Latin can create a learning environment more like what English-speaking students in Spanish classes experience. Why does this matter? There’s no enrollment problem with Spanish classes—something we cannot say about Latin programs.

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sīgna zōdiaca Vol. 1: Published!

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“Do you like stories about gods and monsters? Did you know that the zodiac signs are based on Greek and Roman mythology? Your zodiac sign can tell you a lot about yourself, but not everyone feels that strong connection. Are your qualities different from your sign? Are they the same? Read signa zodiaca to find out!“

Introducing a new series: sīgna zōdiaca! These readers are part non-fiction, and part Classical adaptation, providing information about the zodiac signs as well as two tiered versions of associated myths. This book is the first of three volumes, each with four zodiac signs. Volume 1 starts hot off the heals of the summer, containing details about Cancer, Leo, Virgo, and Libra, and features two labors of Hercules (i.e. Nemean Lion, and Lernaean Hydra), as well as the Pluto and Persephone myth.

Although there’s no single continuous narrative, sīgna zōdiaca has been written just like the Pisoverse novellas with sheltered (i.e. limited) vocabulary. It contains 63 cognates and 84 other words (excluding names, different forms of words, and meaning established in the text), and is over 2,600 total words in length. Oh, and the Pisoverse texts now provide nearly 50,000 total words of Latin for the beginning student, using a vocabulary of under 740, over 43% of which are cognates!

While a growing list of how to use novellas is being shared, a couple uses are specific to this sīgna zōdiaca series. For example, read sīgna zōdiaca as part of a “monthly myth” routine to mark when the zodiac changes. Or, when a student’s birthday comes up, you can read about the details of their sign. Alternatively, if you’ve already planned to read a higher level text of any myths associated with the signs, read sīgna zōdiaca first to provide a bit of scaffolding. Who knows? Perhaps you’ll find out that your original text needs further adapting!

sīgna zōdiaca Vol. 1 is available…

  1. For Sets, Packs, eBooks, Audio, and Bundle Specials, order here.
  2. Amazon
  3. eBook
  4. Audio
  5. Free preview (abridged astrologia section, and Cancer, no illustrations)

trēs amīcī et mōnstrum saevum: Published! (Oh, And eBooks Are Coming…)

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Quintus, Syra, and Sextus are back together again in this tale of 87 unique words (excluding names, different forms of words, and meaning established in the text), nearly a third of which are super clear cognates, with a total length of over 2,400 words.

What became of the quest that Quintus’ mother entrusted to Sextus and Syra in Drūsilla et convīvium magārum? Quintus finds himself alone in a dark wood (or so he thinks). Divine intervention is needed to keep Quintus safe, but can the gods overcome an ancient evil spurred on by Juno’s wrath? How can Quintus’ friends help?

A new Pisoverse illustrator, Chloe Deeley, has updated Quintus and Sextus to show their increased age over time. Chloe has also contributed to the Pisoverse by depicting deities Mercury, Juno, Diana, and Vulcan.

This is my favorite book yet. If you find any typos in the second half of the book, it’s because each time I’ve edited, the narrative keeps me turning pages pretty fast! Oh, right. eBooks are coming for the entire Pisoverse. Stay tuned here. For now, trēs amīcī et mōnstrum saevum is available…

  1. On Amazon
  2. Free preview (first 4 of 12 chapters, no illustrations)
  3. For Sets, Packs, and Bundle Specials, order here.
  4. To instantly listen to and download the audio, go here.