Latin 101
Important Information

This is the place where I will address questions you ask me that have general relevance for the class at large.  Send me your queries and they will appear in the FAQ.

Do I have to do the "On your own" exercises on the Assignments page?

No, but they area fairly painless way to get experience with the kinds of things you will encounter in reading and testing, such as the different uses  of vocabulary words, especially verbs.  Being more familiar with the vocabulary in context is helpful in all of the work for the course.

How do I get actual class credit for the "On your own" exercises?

You list the correct results of the exercises you finish in a word document, print it out, and turn it in at the beginning of the class for which is was assigned.  (For match exercises, you can cut and paste, and the five elements will be separate but in the correct order.) Since you can always get these exercises correct through trial and error, you can always get 100 as your score for these, helping your daily work grade a lot.  You have to complete a full set, usually a set of 16 mix and/or match exercises, to get credit for a competed assignment.

Do we need to do everything in the book chapter?  There is a lot of material!

Not necessarily.  Some of the "practice and review" sentences we use as examples, and some we ignore (does anyone really talk like that?)  We will focus on actual Latin, continuous reading, and some sight reading.

What is the "line" between getting help from my classmates or a tutor, and cheating?

See the Getting help vs. cheating paragraph, but the simple answer is, if you get help, you are working at it till you understand the answer, whereas if you are cheating, you are just copying answers so you don't geta O for a homework assignment.

 

 

Getting help vs. Cheating

One of your most important grades in this class is for daily work, which includes quizzes, homeworks and translations.  Since the point of these homework assignments is for you to master the material, it is OK to work with/ check your work with someone else if you need to, or to consult with a tutor if you are getting tutoring.  BUT, since these homeworks are graded, it is very important that they be your own work and reflect your mastery of the material.  Therefore, even if you work with someone else on a translation, do not write it down together to submit to me.  Consult ahead of time as much as you want, but write the translation or homework exercise you send me on your own, without help.

Here are some guidelines for working with someone else – designed to make sure you get the maximum out of the learning process:

  • Before sitting down with someone else to work on an exercise, do the entire exercise yourself.  That means, put an answer in every blank, and come up with a translation (or whatever) for every sentence – complete the exercise on your own, even if you feel you are not answering the questions right. 

  • When you go over the exercise with someone else, make sure you understand why you make any corrections you make.  Go through the process each time to make sure you are now doing the work more effectively.  Likewise, if you are helping someone else, make sure s/he really understands the process and is not just accepting your answers.  Of course, sometimes both/all of you will be working at the same level, just helping each other avoid little errors – that’s fine too.

  • Do not outright copy anyone else’s paper or let anyone copy yours.  That is academic dishonesty and against UNC-Wilmington’s Honor Code.

  • It is always a good idea to study with other people, go over difficult concepts together, and review together.  Finding a study group can be very helpful to academic success.  These rules are not meant to discourage group study, only to ensure that you know where to draw the line between group study, and individual work submitted for a grade.