Links are where I would like to begin. However, it's a strange place to begin as a Latin teacher. I believe that one of the fundamental lessons of a classical education is that we can appreciate the vast world of texts that existed B.G. (before Google). It's a world that is so alien to our digital age, and yet despite that it is also so similar, and so relevant. I could continue on this train of pedagogical philosophy, but I don't think now is yet the time. I am of course open to your opinions on the matter so feel free to leave your comments.
So let us move on to those crossroads of the world of classical scholarship and the internet and pop culture. It is a world I have only begun to explore. Let us ask,
What resources does the internet yield for the Latinist?
The Perseus Project
While I have not fully explored everything one can do with this site, I know it is an excellent resource to use when reading Latin and Greek texts. Their list of Latin, Greek and English texts is extensive.
As you read a text, you can click on any word. This pulls up a window with the word's definition (and a link to the word's lexicon entry in Lewis and Short), part of speech, and different possibilities for the word's gender, number and case.
I've found Perseus to be very helpful. However, there are some potential problems. It has been a very slow website in the past, although I believe this has improved. I also worry that students could come to depend on it in a way that hinders their developing independent reading skills. When it's so easy to click on a word they don't know (as opposed to how long it would take to find the word in the dictionary), they may not give themselves time to retrieve the information from their own minds.
The Latin Library
It's a full collection of Latin texts for free. However, I would consider this website as merely a fall-back when other better texts are not available; you get what you pay for. For the primary text for a Latin reading course, it is so much better to have a good student edition complete with glossary and grammatical references as well insightful introductory notes filling the reader in on important biographical and historical information. However, it is a comfort to know that for those instances where a more thorough text is not available or is perhaps unnecessary for onesneeds, there is always this site to refer to.
Carmina Burana
I find You Tube particularly useful in it's capacity as a source for music, and I believe whole-heartedly in incorporating music in the Latin classroom. For the first in what I hope are many posts concerning music, I have chosen a link to a performance of Carmina Burana for several reasons.
First, students have heard it before. Yes, they really have heard some classical music. The first movement of this piece has been featured in many films and commercials. I bet their are some students who may have even used this song themselves in an attempt to make their own video creations feel more epic.
Second, it's classical music, which I think is a cultural discourse one ought to make available. Even if they've heard the first movement of Carmina Burana before in various contexts, they probably are unfamiliar with the rest of the piece and probably have limited experience listening to classical music for it's own sake. The music is bold and exciting and I think makes a great introduction to classical music.
Third, it's all in Latin. What makes the Latin interesting is that it's written by medieval German poets, a bunch of wild, drunken scholars actually. But they didn't write this music. That was left to a twentieth century German composer, Carl Orff. He was inspired by these Latin songs and put them together in a new creative piece that is entirely his own. It's a great example of how Latin speaks to people today.
Harvard's Salutatory Latin Address
This brilliant student's speech spoken entirely in Latin is most entertaining. I think it could also be used in the classroom as a dictation exercise. To practice writing down spoken Latin, it might be nice getting a break from the teacher and hearing someone else speak for a change. It may interest them particularly because it's a young student (perhaps not cool per se but recognizably successful and fun) talking about something relevant, namely school and Star Wars.
Monty Python's Latin Grammar
What's great is that besides being hilarious, the Latin grammar is impeccable. I would wait to show this until the students have become acquainted with the imperative, fourth declension, etc.
Now, I've posted several You Tube clips here, but I know that in many schools it's difficult or forbidden to use You Tube in class. I think the Latin Salutatory Address and the Monty Python clips make a good argument for the values of using You Tube clips. The Salutation is not available on DVD of course. Even though The Life of Brian is available as a DVD, most of that film would not be useful, or appropriate, in the Latin classroom. It doesn't make sense to have to waste valuable time attempting to reach that specific clip on a DVD.
If however there are no ways around the rules about You Tube viewing, you may be able to record the clip as it's own file on your own computer.
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