Dar all,
In Italy, in written tests on Latin (mostly consisting on translations from Latin) students are allowed to use a dictionary. In the US, in Elementary Latin classes, this in not the case. Would you say that Italian written tests are not challenging? I think that when a person has checked out the dictionary entries for all words in a sentence, that is the moment when his actual work on the text _begins_. The same could go with morphological analysis tools. It's more or less like allowing the students to do their translations from Latin with their morphological tables on their desk.
I had a discussion with a student, last year, about what role is played by memory in the study of Latin (expressed in percentage). He started from over 70%. I had to fight quite a lot to bargain for less. The lowest I could get was 50%. May I say that in my opinion he hasn't understood much of the study of Latin. I dare to say that 10 or 20% would be more than enough. To me, Latin is reasoning on syntax and on the actual meaning of a word in the specific context.
If a student knows that "amici" can be genitive singular, nominative or vocative plural, I think that this helps him/her not much more than knowing that "agere" can mean "to drive, govern, do, act, pursue, perform" and so much more.
At least, this is my approach to teaching Latin to non-specialists (as a 'gym' for the mind). However, I have always been hunted by the doubt that my approach is too 'soft-hearted': many think that memorisation drills are the only way to turn a youngster into a tough Latinist. What do you think?
By the way, isn't it amazing how often digital humanities questions make us think on the core issues of Classics in general?
All best,
Paolo
-------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Tue, 2 Mar 2010 19:53:45 +0100
> Von: Notis Toufexis <[log in to unmask]>
> An: [log in to unmask]
> Betreff: Re: [DIGITALCLASSICIST] Greek and Latin Online Reading Tools
> Ι like the analogy ;-) Creating highly advanced technological services
> for
> humanities disciplines can only help save them (cf. what's happening with
> Paleography or Modern Greek at KCL) in difficult times. I wonder however
> if
> "changing the kind of questions you ask" is how most classicists think...
> N.
>
> On 2 March 2010 19:24, Gabriel Bodard <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > I suppose a way to turn this question around would be to say, what
> > happens to our view of pedagogy in a world of ubiquitous morphological
> > analysis? Do we have to stop expecting rote learning of vocabulary and
> > morphology, or would that actually break our brain's ability to learn
> > a primarily literary language (as I am inclined to believe)?
> >
> > (This is analogous to the problem of how to hold a pub quiz with
> > ubiquitous access to Google and Wikipedia. You change the kind of
> > questions you ask, is how.)
> >
> > G
> >
> > On 2 March 2010 18:13, Notis Toufexis <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > > I 've got the Alpheios tools installed in my Firefox for quite a while
> > now.
> > > This is what makes them interesting actually, they live in the browser
> > and
> > > spring to life once you visit a site with Latin or Greek – no need
> to
> > start
> > > additional software or pass your queries to other sites (its like
> having
> > > Perseus or TLG morphological analysis links activated but in all sites
> > with
> > > Greek or Latin). In ease of use it's the way to go. Pedagogically, I
> am
> > > still not convinced that providing automatic morphological analysis is
> > the
> > > best way to go – but I have to say that I haven't been involved much
> in
> > > teaching Latin or Greek in the last couple of years and I am rather
> > > traditional in my views, for what it's worth nowadays.
> > >
> > > N.
> > >
> > > On 2 March 2010 19:04, Gabriel Bodard <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> Forwarded for the below. I haven't tried this out yet--but if anyone
> has
> > >> (or does), the authors would like feedback. Comments onlist and/or a
> > >> write-up for the DC Wiki would also be welcome.
> > >>
> > >> -------- Original Message --------
> > >> From: The Alpheios Project <[log in to unmask]>
> > >>
> > >> Free reading and learning web tools released for Greek and
> Latin
> > >> by the Alpheios Project.
> > >>
> > >> The Alpheios Project has released the first beta version of a set of
> > free
> > >> reading aids and learning tools for Classical Greek and Latin. The
> > source
> > >> code is also freely available to developers.
> > >>
> > >> The tools are intended to provide unusually convenient
> lexicographical
> > and
> > >> grammatical support for anyone wishing to read HTML versions of
> original
> > >> Greek and Latin texts, whether online or on a local computer.
> > Pedagogical
> > >> modules are currently being added for those who wish to learn the
> > language.
> > >> We are also making available prototypes of several related tools,
> > including
> > >> a graphical interface for treebank editing that can easily be adapted
> to
> > >> different annotation schemes.
> > >>
> > >> The reading tools and the initial pedagogical modules can be
> downloaded
> > >> from
> > >>
> > >> <http://alpheios.net/content/installation>
> > >>
> > >> The other resources and prototypes currently in development can be
> > >> accessed at
> > >>
> > >> <http://alpheios.net/content/resources-under-development>
> > >>
> > >> It is hoped that these tools can facilitate consultation of original
> > texts
> > >> by scholars in other fields, provide customized options for students
> who
> > >> wish to learn the language through the study of specific texts, and
> > >> generally promote appreciation of the unique legacy of the classical
> > world.
> > >>
> > >> An important feature of the tools is that their architecture was
> > designed
> > >> to facilitate the rapid addition of other resources, such as
> lexicons,
> > >> grammars, and reference materials, and even other languages,
> especially
> > >> highly inflected ones where the value of such tools seems especially
> > >> compelling. To illustrate this flexibility we will also be making
> > modules
> > >> available for Arabic and Chinese; but our design goal was to create
> an
> > >> infrastructure that would make the creation of similar tools for any
> > >> language as easy as possible.
> > >>
> > >> We would greatly appreciate comments, suggestions and criticism
> because
> > >> the tools are still in active development.
> > >>
> > >> Yours very truly,
> > >>
> > >> The Alpheios Team
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Dr. Notis Toufexis
> > > http://www.toufexis.info
> > > http://www.early-modern-greek.org
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Dr Gabriel BODARD
> > (Epigrapher & Digital Classicist)
> >
> > Centre for Computing in the Humanities
> > King's College London
> > 26-29 Drury Lane
> > London WC2B 5RL
> >
> > Email: [log in to unmask]
> > Tel: +44 (0)20 7848 1388
> > Fax: +44 (0)20 7848 2980
> >
> > http://www.digitalclassicist.org/
> > http://www.currentepigraphy.org/
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Dr. Notis Toufexis
> http://www.toufexis.info
> http://www.early-modern-greek.org
--
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