It was a normal, routine high school Latin class. I was teaching vocabulary to first-year students as we were reading a story about life in ancient Rome. I was trying to explain the difference between two similar words when I did something I had rarely done before my Rusticatio Omnibus experience. I used the Latin vocabulary my students knew to help them understand the new word. When it clicked, their eyes got big, they nodded, and smiled. The students had heard me explain the meaning of words before. That’s not what made them smile. They were excited because of the way they figured out the new term. And I think I surprised myself as well. The method came naturally and the process was simple. We were only a month into the school year, but it looked like normal practice for my classroom. It was at that moment I realized how valuable my time was at the Claymont Mansion in the hills of Virginia.
I am a high school Latin teacher at a large, public high school in Louisiana. I began studying Latin in college after my philosophy professors encouraged me to do so for my coursework. I appreciated the language and learned about the ablative absolute and the different uses of the subjunctive. My experience of hearing the language, however, was limited. Whenever I entered the classroom as a teacher, I was overwhelmed with how to reach a large number of students with a vast range of academic abilities and motivations. I came across different theories regarding second-language-acquisition and learned about comprehensibile input and the benefits it had in the classroom. As I looked for resources, SALVI came up and I wanted the opportunity to hear others speak Latin.
As I prepared for Rusticatio, friends and colleagues made jokes about dead languages and asked if I was ready for Latin summer camp. When explaining the details, someone would often get wide-eyed and say, “Just Latin? For a whole week?” I would smile and nod, but I wasn’t sure what to expect. After the first full day of speaking and hearing only Latin, I knew it was going to be challenging. Fortunately, Rusticatio was different from everything I had experienced before with learning Latin. The staff was overwhelmingly gracious and supportive. The content was not merely goal-oriented for the sake of a test or a paper, but it allowed us to live the process. We were engaged with the language and making the normal mistakes language learners make. Conversations were intentional, but patient. I was allowed to struggle, which helped me learn. While being pushed out of my comfort zone, I found each day to be less intimidating. We went from discussing Latin texts to talking about our life back home. People were interested in what I had to say about life and my family back in Louisiana. And I got excited when I was able to discuss the things I cared about in the same language as Cicero.
It has become increasingly difficult to get away from the busyness of the modern-day life. Even more challenging is finding a space for the Latin learner to hear and live the language. SALVI and Rusticatio offer an incomparable experience with an impact that will last a lifetime.