Student Bloopers!

We have all experienced the hilarity of a well-placed student blooper. Now we can have them published! Check it out at rogueclassicism.com and enter your best blunders today!

Ancient Peruvians were stressed out!

It seems that Peruvians who lived who lived between 550 A.D. and 1532 suffered from high levels of stress. Hair recovered from the remains of 10 different individuals from several sites around Peru reveal high levels of cortisol, a hormone which is secreted by the body in response to real or perceived threats. The hormone finds its way to nearly every part of the body, including hair.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34241697/ns/technology_and_science-science/

Wilson Language Grant Applications

Calling all 10th and 11th grade language students:

"MBA is proud to announce new language study awards to approximately fifteen to twenty 10th and 11th grade students for this coming summer. Those students who excel in Chinese, French, German, Latin, or Spanish will be eligible after two years of study to apply for a special grant to study for four to six weeks in a foreign country. Our hope is that these opportunities will strengthen student interest and expertise in these languages, develop MBA’s language program overall, and provide greater opportunities for our community both during their time at MBA and for their applications to college."

View the whole announcement on MBA's homepage. Very exciting!

German Students attend Berlin Wall Events @ Vandy

On Thursday, November 5th, 22 German students joined Herr Sawyer at Vanderbilt for the 20th anniversary celebration of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Invited by the Max Kade Center for European and German Studies to bring an MBA delegation to the event, Herr Sawyer organized the fieldtrip for his students. The evening began with a panel discussion on "Germany and Europe Twenty Years after the Fall of the Wall and its Aftermath." Panelists included John Kornblum, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany, Victor Ashe, former U.S. Ambassador to Poland, and Lue Veron, Minister Counselor and Head of Political and Development Section of the Delegation of the European Commission in Washington, D.C.

Following the discussion, students were treated to a pizza dinner with other middle Tennessee high school students in the Law School Cafe. The evening concluded with a screening of the documentary "Ode to Joy and Freedom." The film details the construction of the Berlin Wall, its history, and its fall in 1989.

The evening was organized by Professor emeritus of Political Science at Vanderbilt Donald Hancock.

Odysseus and Veterans Day

Looks like the NYT has an interesting piece about Odysseus for Veterans Day, asking this central question: "Who is the veteran, and how does he stand in relation to his native land and people?"

BBC Languages link

Looks like this has some helpful materials for modern language teachers:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/.

I especially like the videos of embarrassing moments in foreign languages:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/yoursay/dont_try/.

Long Live the Subjunctive!

From the New York times comes this fervent plea on behalf of everyone's favorite verb mood!

Merkel and business-friendly FDP eager to get into quick coalition talks | Election | Deutsche Welle | 28.09.2009

Following Sunday's elections in Germany, re-elected Chancellor Angela Merkel eyes a new coalition between her CDU/CSU party and the economically liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP).


Merkel and business-friendly FDP eager to get into quick coalition talks Election Deutsche Welle 28.09.2009

German Reunification | Deutsche Welle

As Germany and the world celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Deutsche Welle WORLD presents an interesting special on the history of reunification. Please visit the site below to read all about this historic, monumental change in world politics and relations.


German Reunification Deutsche Welle

"New" Anglo-Saxon Gold

From the Guardian comes this story about a recent find on British soil. "Without question this is the largest group of gold artefacts ever found in British soil. Many of the pieces are of the highest quality design and technique, from a time that excelled in the creation of fine jewellery and weaponry." Be sure to watch the video!

America and Rome Exhibit

This looks like a must-see exhibit at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center: "Ancient Rome and America," Spring 2010.

Another good reason to study French!

It seems that Frenchmen of ALL species have that special charm for the ladies. A male gorilla from the French zoo La Boissiere du Dore is on its way to visit the three female gorillas in the London zoo, who have been without male companionship since their friend Bobby died last December. When given photos of their charming new companion, the girls all reacted very positively: one shrieked in delight, a second one posted hers in a tree for contemplation, and a third clasped the photo to her chest and then ate it! Read the story here:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/08/28/uk.london.zoo.gorilla/index.html

Chinese news

MBA's Chinese program became the first in the state of Tennessee to offer Chinese IV AP. Teacher Joan Li received news this summer that her course audit was more than sufficient to receive certification for the AP designation.

news,2009-2010

Anderson Gaither, a Latin teacher at MBA for 39 years, has been appointed the chair of the Foreign Languages Department. He replaces Dr. Rick Seay, who has been promoted to Academic Dean. Mr. Gaither joins other past department chairs Dr. Ed Gaffney and Ms. Anne Christeson.

Photos from Germany Trip 2008

Frauenkirche -- Dresden

View of Dresden

Remains of the Berlin Wall

Brandenburger Tor -- Berlin

Reichstag Glass Dome, Berlin

Reichstag

Afternoon in Magdeburg's Innenstadt. Magdeburg is Nashville's Sister-City.

View of Elbe River and Magdeburg Skyline with the Gothic Dom/Cathedral in sight

Students interested in a possible trip to Germany in Summer 2010 should contact Herr Sawyer as soon as possible! All those with "Reiselust" say I!!

Vespasian's birthplace home found

Roman archaeologists working Cittareale, about 40 miles northeast of Rome, have uncovered extensive remains of a luxurious villa which they believe must be the home where the 1st century emperor Vespasian was born. The villa complex covers over 150,000 square feet and contains a huge marble inlaid floor with marble from all over the Italian peninsula. Read more about this discovery here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/07/vespasian-birthplace-roma_n_254188.html

School Year Drawing Near

Here are some pictures of our festive luncheon at Anatolia back in May. It's hard to remember how it felt to have the whole summer ahead of us!

5000-year-old Skeleton of Roman Warrior Found Near Rome

ROME - Archaelogists revealed Friday, August 31, that they have found the bones of a Roman warrior from almost 5,000 years ago floating in a tomb filled with sea water on a beach near Rome. The beach is a public beach near Nettuno, about 40 miles south of Rome. Archaeologists speculate that there may be a necropolis here and plan to do further excavation.
The skeleton, dating from the 3rd millenium B.C., was discovered in May. The archaeologists studying the remains believe that the soldier was killed by an arrow, whose point was found among his ribs.
Read the article here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/01/5000-year-old-warriors-sk_n_249257.html

No Dictionaries for Latin

In case anyone missed this Latinteach post, there's exciting technology for reading Latin passages without having to look up every word. Could make life a lot easier, but I will still treasure my Lewis and Short! For non-Latin teachers, are there such dictionary engines for modern languages, too?

Diplomas in Latin

Here's another NYT article of interest, but I warn you: Latin teachers, prepare to be offended!

Roman France Article

In honor of the outstanding results of our students and teachers on the National French Exam, here's an NYT article outlining our next departmental voyage!

National French Exam Results!

Le Grand Concours
The National French Exam: 2009

Nashville Tennessee Nation (These are the three categories for numbers you see beside each student's name!)

French I:
Sam Denney 2nd 4th 5th
Bennett Cain 6th 10th 14th
Noah Fardon 7th 11th 15th
Drew Danieley 8th 12th 16th
Paul Baker 9th 13th 17th
Rob Edwards 9th 13th 17th
French II:
Ford Altenbern 1st 3rd 6th
Sam Berklacich 10th 17th

French III:
Lewis Armistead 2nd 12th 14th
Michael Nunan 2nd 12th 14th
Will Holt 3rd 13th 15th
George Curtis 5th 15th 16th


French IVAP:
Connor Shope 5th 12th 15th
Ben Gregory 10th 18th

BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Playmobil Gladiator

A Gladiator tribute. (A little something to lift our spirits today.)

Catacomb 3D!

Wow... Wow. This story from the BBC speaks for itself. Imagine the possibilities... and the hours I'll spend looking at this once it's done!

NYT Article About Chinese

This article offers some interesting perspectives on the debate about shifts in the Chinese language. This would be a great topic to explore with all the modern-- and even classical-- language teachers... Davis grant?

MBA Greek and Latin Scholars Excel

Dr. Gaffney’s students achieved terrific results in national language tests recently.

Results from the National Greek Exam have come back to the school and reveal that Brian Swenson and Will Overton earned High Honors. This distinction is the equivalent of a Maxima Cum Laude paper on the National Latin Exam. Wade Longmire and Matt Wieck earned Merit citations (the equivalent of Magna Cum Laude on the NLE). These students all took the intermediate-level, not the beginning-level, exam in only their first year of Greek, and their scores represent a high level of achievement in the language.

In the Classical Association of the Middle West and South’s translation competition, both Thompson Barr and Quinton Burks earned Book Awards and Pat Killian and Matt Bellet earned letters of commendation. All four of these students are in Dr. Gaffney’s Advanced Placement Latin Literature (Catullus/Horace) class.

Congratulations to all these classics scholars!

Must-hear for Latin Teachers... Or Anyone!

Michael Rosen's April 21st story for the BBC series "Word of Mouth" has it all: interviews with Latin teachers, commentary on kids' use of 'like' as a discourse particle, and much more.

More Birthday Celebrations in Rome

Wow! Wish I were there to see this giant birthday party for Rome!

Cleopatra's Tomb in the NYT

Today's New York Times has an interesting op-ed about Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff, in keeping with the excitement about the search for her tomb. I like this line: "Where facts are few, myth rushes in, the kudzu of history."

Opportunity for Latin Teachers

Bolchazy Carducci Publishers just announced their 2009 webinar offerings, many of which are this summer. Great for professional development! I e-mailed Andrew Reinhard at BC, and he says to sign up at least two weeks in advance of the webinar you want. There's also a free Latin for the New Millenium webinar on June 4.

How Are They Celebrating Rome's 2762nd Birthday in Rome?

With games, of course! Find out more at eternallycool.net. Happy birthday, Rome!

Roman & Greek authors had trouble getting published, too!

Terrific article in the New York Times about how Roman and Greek authors went about getting their works into the public marketplace. (Thanks to Wayne Christeson for forwarding this to me!)

The article opens:

“My book is thumbed by our soldiers posted overseas, and even in Britain people quote my words. What’s the point? I don’t make a penny from it.” This is not the complaint of some young American author who has suddenly discovered that his contract pays him nothing for foreign sales. These are the words of the Roman poet Martial, first-century satirist and defender of authors’ rights.

Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/books/review/Beard-t.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&8bu&emc=bub1

More about Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian

"One of the most important Roman discoveries of the last fifteen years is still little known. Unearthed in northern Greece, it is the monument erected to commemorate the naval battle of Actium in 31 BC, fought between Octavian (the future emperor Augustus) on the one side and Mark Antony, with his lover and financial backer, Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, on the other. ...The most spectacular discoveries were not, however, made until the 1990s. These were the fragments of the relief sculpture, in the finest Athenian marble, which once ran around the altar (originally extending for more than fifty yards)."

To read the complete review of a new book on Cleopatra which includes these recent discoveries, click here: http://www.powells.com/review/2009_02_09.html

MBA Latin Students Excel on National Exam

Congrats to all our discipuli for their terrific work on the NLE!

Bernice Fox Writing Competition

Dr. Seay's Latin III H students competed again this year in the national Bernice Fox Writing Competition sponsored by Monmouth College. Ten entries from the school were submitted to the contest, whose topic this year was: "If the twelve Olympian deities of Greece and Rome were worshipped today what would be their areas of interest, attributes, etc."

Tom Markham, an MBA sophomore, received one of the "Honorable Mention" awards in the contest. Tom's entry was chosen out of 184 entries across the nation from 19 states. Click the link below to read Tom's award-winning entry.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc6jcvd4_22mxmpcnhb

Tomb of History's Most (In)Famous Lovers?

The BBC reports that next week archaeologists are set to dig near Alexandria at three sites near a Ptolemaic temple, and evidence suggests that the remains of history's infamous lovers, Antony and Cleopatra, may be close by. Read the whole article here.

Italy's Earthquake

Our thoughts are with the Italian people, after the 6.3 quake that rattled L'Aquila in Abruzzo on Monday. Rescue efforts are ongoing, and the BBC estimates that between 30,000 and 40,000 people have been displaced from their homes. Tremors were felt as far away as Rome, which is about 60 miles to the west. Apparently, even the Baths of Caracalla felt the impact.

Monty Python's Latin scene from "Life of Brian"

Need a good laugh today? Take a look at this scene!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIAdHEwiAy8

BBC Article: Losing Language

Sad news about the rapid extinction of languages in this BBC article, especially among Native Americans. The loss of a language is as lamentable as the extinction of one of nature's species; neither will ever return.

“Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own.” --Goethe

Sarah Ellery Wins Google's Ancient Rome 3D Curriculum Competition

Last week Google announced the winners of competition, in which six teachers entering in three categories took home prizes and had their projects posted on Google's AR3D site. Very generous! MBA Latin teacher Sarah Ellery won for her project, "Walking with the Emperors." You can view her project as well as the other entries here.

The Sound of Ancient Greece

Very interesting article from the Times Online about ancient Greek music, as recreated by computer scientists.

Bonjour --

I just received this e-mail form the Tennessee coordinator of the National French Exam (the exam will be given at MBA on Tuesday morning, March 10th at 7:10!). These new prize possibiities sound pretty great!

Dear Teachers,

In support of the National French Contest, two prizes are being offered by the General Delegation of the Alliance Française in the U.S.: the Rotary Academic Prize and the Prix de l'Alliance Française.

The Alliance Française prize includes: Travel and accommodations for student and a parent for one week. Classes at Alliance Française for student. School of winning student will receive 125 French books/videos.

The Rotary prize includes: Travel and accommodations with a Rotary host family for two weeks. Classes at Alliance Française.

Recipients will be selected from nationally ranked students [the two prizes have slightly different criteria].

For more information, please consult the national website at: http://www.frenchteachers.org/concours/2009_AF_Rotary_Prizes.htm

IMPORTANT: to be eligible, students must submit an application form [separate form for each prize]. The form may be returned with the answer sheets from the school, or may be sent separately to me.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Will Thompson

Tennessean Article: Chinese at MBA

Thanks to Joan Li for sending this article about the future of our exchange program with China. Very interesting!

French summer possibilities

Bonjour! One of the most exciting aspects of language study is combinining what you are learning with travel. There are two wonderful ooportunities for French students now. First of all we recently had a visitor from The Experiment in International Living program -- they offer many possibilities for meaningful stays in French speaking (and other countries, too!) countries. Then, Nashville is part of the Sister Cities program with Caen, France. Caen is about 20 kilometers from the D-Day beaches and is an excellent and touching place for Americans to visit. Here are the details about this summer's exchange. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at oconneb@montgomerybell.com!

Sister Cities of Nashville is an active volunteer organization connecting Nashvillians with friends around the world through cultural exchange and community partnership. Sister Cities of Nashville has historically maintained high school exchanges with Nashville’s sister city in France, Caen.

We are currently organizing the student exchange for this summer. The exchanges typically bring French students to Nashville for two or three weeks during the regular school year and send Nashville-area students abroad for approximately the same length of time during the summer.

We are looking for students interested in going to Caen who have taken a minimum of two years of French. Students are generally 15 years old and up. The date for the exchange has not been confirmed yet, but we are looking at probably two weeks in June.

The program fee for participation in a student exchange is $250. This amount covers host family placement, pre-departure orientation, chaperone accompaniment, room and board, and roundtrip airport transfers to and from host family residence. The program fee does not include airfare, telephone charges, local public transportation, entertainment activities, and other incidental costs incurred by the student.

For more information about Sister Cities of Nashville, please go to our website at:http://www.scnashville.org/index.html

If you know someone who is interested in either participating in any upcoming student exchange in Caen, France, or hosting a student from Caen, please contact me at the number listed below or reply to this email. We look forward to hearing from you! The deadline is March 1st.

Spain Trip, Summer 2009

We are pleased to announce that, as part of our on-going effort to provide quality education, Montgomery Bell Academy is offering an educational tour to Spain including Madrid, Toledo, Granada, Cadiz and Seville! We depart on June 5th and return on June 17th, 2009. This program provides a wonderful opportunity for students to enjoy the delights of this culture.

We will be traveling with Euro-American Tours, who specialize in custom itineraries that are safe, rewarding and fun. They have gained a 30-year reputation for dependability so you can be assured of top rate accommodations, professional tour directors and personal service. Euro-American is a well-established company and, naturally, ample references are available.

We have an exciting trip planned through Spain. The itinerary includes fantastic sites and excursions that will bring you up close and personal with living history. This tour offers experiential lessons in history, religion, literature, music, art, and architecture. Please be aware that a trip of this nature involves a great deal of energy and enthusiasm on your part! For more information about this wonderful opportunity, please contact either Mr. Gray or Mr. Paolicchi.

Google Earth's Ancient Rome 3D

This is a must-see resource for Latin students and anyone who's interested in the ancient world. Click here to visit Ancient Rome 3D, where you can tour the city as it looked thousands of years ago. (You will need to download the newest version of Google Earth.) Endless possibilities!

National German Exam Yields Impressive Results

MBA German students once again achieved excellent results on the National German Exam. In the Level III Category, Patrick Clarke Pat Killian, and David Horak tied for first out of 190 Tennessee Students who took the exam and ranked in the 99th percentile nationally. Additionally, Wesley Wilson placed 5th in the state (95th percentile), Sam Denney and Harding McCall placed 6th (97th percentile), Thomas More placed 9th (96th percentile), Michal Zienkiewicz placed 14th (95th percentile), Alex Martin placed 18th (93rd percentile), Gaige Bolden placed 22nd (92nd percentile), and Sam Page placed 26th (90th percentile).

In the Level II competition, Will McCaskill was 2nd out of 293 Tennessee students (99th percentile nationally), Max Werthan was 14th (98th percentile), Matt Vanek was 16th (97th percentile), Alexander Hornbuckle was 21st (96th percentile), and Lee Grubbs was 32nd (93rd percentile).

Congratulations to these students!

Welcome!

We hope you will enjoy this site, created and maintained by the foreign language teachers at Montgomery Bell Academy. The department offers instruction in Chinese, French, German, Greek, Latin, and Spanish, and our faculty are deeply passionate about the cultures and traditions inherent in their respective subjects. Our goal in keeping this blog is to share our interests with the students, parents, alumni, and colleagues of the MBA community.

We look forward to reading your comments, and happy blogging!