The Cambridge Latin Course, Units 1 and 2, open the door to the Latin language and literature for the beginning student through adapted readings about a Roman family living in Pompeii. Students will engage in the following activities: reading Latin aloud and silently; asking and answering Latin questions about the readings; translating Latin sentences into English and vice-versa; memorizing and using vocabulary; developing listening and speaking skills; studying the history and origin of English words derived from Latin; and learning about the customs, history, and mythology of the ancient Romans, especially as they have affected our own culture today. The aims of the course are: to teach students to read Latin accurately and confidently; and to familiarize students with life in the early Roman Empire.
Latin 2
Latin 2 continues the progress of first-year Latin. Students will read and write more sophisticated Latin, incorporating passive voice, various types of clauses, participles, infinitives and the subjunctive mood (mode), as they begin to transition to “real Latin,” authentic primary sources from the Roman era.
Latin 2H
In Latin 2H, the more advanced students will more quickly acquire new knowledge of Latin grammar and sentence structures to enable them to read more sophisticated works of prose and poetry. Students continue to learn about various aspects of Roman culture and history using the Cambridge Latin Course Unit 3.
*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA
Latin 3: Prose (Love and Hate)
Latin 3 Prose is an advanced level language course for the serious student who has mastered the basic elements and concepts of Latin 1 and 2, and those students wishing to continue their Latin study, but not as Advanced Placement. The Latin Prose student completes the learning of Latin forms and grammar, concentrating on use of infinitives, subjunctive verbs, gerunds, and gerundives within the classical Latin periodic sentence in Roman prose writers such as Cicero, Livy, and Pliny. Students will encounter the genres of history, commentary, and oratory.
NOTE: LATIN 3 PROSE is offered in the Fall of odd years (2023, 2025, etc.)
Latin 3H
Cambridge Latin Course Unit 4. Latin 3H is an advanced language course designed for the superior Latin students who wish to continue to refine their Latin skills and reading ability. New grammar includes all uses of the subjunctive mood, gerund and gerundive; the student’s overriding task is to read and comprehend the variety of clauses and constructions which typically form the Latin periodic sentence. A study of rhetoric accompanies readings from speeches of Cicero. In addition to the prose readings mentioned in the description of Latin 3, the 3H student will study a selected Latin author, reading excerpts from his original works. Latin 3H is strongly recommended for students intending to enroll in Latin 4AP in the following year.
*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations
Latin 4: Prose (Love and Hate)
Latin 4 Prose is an advanced level language course for the serious student who has mastered the basic elements and concepts of Latin 1 and 2, and 3 and wishes to continue the study of Latin literature, but not as Advanced Placement. The Latin Prose student reviews all Latin forms and grammar, and becomes more proficient in reading, understanding and translating the classical Latin periodic sentence in Roman prose writers such as Cicero, Livy, and Pliny. Students will encounter the genres of history, commentary, and oratory.
NOTE: LATIN 4 PROSE is offered in the Fall of odd years (2023, 2025, etc.)
AP Latin
The Latin 4AP course is an advanced reading course. Selections from De Bello Gallico Books 1, 4, 5 and 6 and Vergil’s Aeneid Books 1, 2, 4, and 6 are read in Latin. Students will also read Caesar’s Conquest of Gaul Books 1, 6, and 7 and Vergil’s Aeneid Books 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 in English. In addition to appropriate translation skills, students are expected to employ literary analysis (much as in an English literature class), in order to fully appreciate the Latin work being studied. The aims of this year-long course are: to improve the students’ ability to read, understand and translate Latin poetry and prose; to expose students to poetic syntax, figures of speech, and meter; to involve students in literary analysis of Latin poetry and prose; to enhance the student’s understanding of the literary and social contexts of the Roman world of the first century B.C. and A.D.; and to prepare students for the Advanced Placement exam in Latin.
*This course will be offered pending adequate enrollment.
*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations