These days are making adjustments in established rules and norms of the educational process and at the same time encourage us, educators, to seek new forms and formats of educational components teaching. I would like to offer several excerpts from my own observations, reflected in the diary “Latin in remote conditions”.
Autumnus in Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute: Autumn at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute
This year, freshmen began their studies on September 21. During the introductory week (October 19-22, 2020) they visited the alma mater and, of course, were given a creative task: to do shots of autumn and comment on them with Latin proverbs. Students coped skillfully and with humor: they took photos of the main building, monuments, and other well-known compositions of our arboretum. To describe photos students preferred Latin maxims about friendship and knowledge. It has probably been the first time for many years when autumn at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute was deserted and lonely. That week future linguists filled golden autumn with sincere emotions, and left photos in their memory: with happy smiles, friendly hugs and looks full of hope…
Tempŏra mutantur: Times change
Studying Latin grammar, we constantly make excursions into the past. Fascinating information about the culture, way of life, beliefs of the ancient Romans motivate students to search for information and share it with a virtual audience. Thus, students of the group LN-01 (ЛН-01) chose the discussion topic “Fashion in Ancient Rome” (November 17, 2020). Clothes, hairstyles, and ornaments of Romans were once a real challenge to patriarchal traditions. Moreover, their perfumery and cosmetics discoveries laid the foundations for the development of professional culture.
On November 19, LA-02 (ЛА-02) students prepared reports on “Medicine in Ancient Rome”. They discussed medical schools, charlatanry, and traditional medicine, prominent doctors of Rome Galen and Celsus, whose contributions are used around the world. According to the students, ancient Romans found it useful to take thermal water and cold washes, to treat with herbs and exercise.
The participants enjoyed a light and breezy conversation and free communication on the Sikorsky Distance Learning Platform.
Dictum - factum: Said - done
The teaching of Latin has changed little in two thousand years. However, interactive methods can be used here as well. Writing of memorized maxims and poems turned testing into a child's play into the dark: students with closed eyes tell the learned material. The group LF-01 (ЛФ-01) managed the task creatively by singing the song “In silva” together and playing the guitar. Their desire to interact became the impetus for the next task: to illuminate the relevance of the wisdom of the Romans today through Latin maxims. The difficulty was that the students, divided into four groups, worked at a distance, but in one team. Love, human values, friendship, and animals were reflected in videos, presentations, and collages voiced by students. Careful selection of material, design, overlay of music was quite amusing and contributed to cohesion and friendly atmosphere in the group.
Latin Olympiad
For more than 10 years, the Latin Olympiad has been a compulsory event at the Faculty of Linguistics. This year it was held under the slogan “Poëtis mentīri licet” (Poets are allowed to create). On November 27, 2020, first-year students got to translate the Latin song “Lingua poetārum” (Language of Poets) and managed the task creatively. Perfect translations, artistic project design once again convinced me that linguists are not taking any shortcuts to win. We particularly want to single out the projects of such students: N. Sheremet (LA-01/ ЛА-01) sang poetry in the hip-hop style, A. Husak (LF-01/ ЛФ-01) and M. Markov (LA-01/ ЛА-01) presented their works with pictures of the ancient world, V. Olishevska (LA-02/ ЛА-02) performed a song in Latin to the guitar accompaniment. The works performed by the most creative and active participants were posted on Facebook on the page of the Department of Theory, Practice, and Translation of the English Language of the Faculty of Linguistics.
Post scriptum. Distance learning is a real challenge for teachers but at the same time a strong drive for finding and implementing new original ideas. It is Lingua Latina that encourages searching for unique ways to achieve educational goals, develops students' artistic abilities, and inspires the creativity of both teachers