Language Arts Canadian Lead Primary School

Latin and Greek

It’s not surprising that we still study the ancient Roman and Greek civilizations today. Their influence on modern life has been profound, not least in the linguistic arena.

When the Roman Empire was cracking its knuckles and taking over its neighbouring countries and beyond, the Iron-Age inhabitants of the place we know today as Britain were living in small settlements, eking a living from the Earth and finding ways of staying warm.

Civilization on the Mediterranean was advancing at quite a pace however. Not only were great strides being made in engineering, medicine and politics, but art, religion and philosophy were also developing, and with them, the words and fields of human endeavour that we study to this day.

There are varying estimates of how much Latin and Greek is in English, and the answer depends on how you classify the words in question, but what is important is the fact that knowledge of Latin and Greek bases and word-forming elements is extremely useful.

After introducing the concept of Latin and Greek to my students, we take some time to learn and use a set of morphemes from both languages.

I used to do this off the top of my head until I discovered Caesar Pleaser and Socrateaser. These two resources have helped me produce high quality Latin and Greek lessons without having to break my brain every time.

In a knowledge rich curriculum, it would be ideal to study the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. I have never seen a child not enthused by stories of their deities and myths. The entire Marvel Universe, it would seem, is built upon such keen interest, yet who among that audience knows from whence those characters came?

Michael Salter's Latin Base mini-lessons

Enjoy Michael’s dulcet tones while he takes us through a Latin journey!

Latin Bases in English 1

Latin Bases in English 2

Latin Bases in English 3

Video demonstration of Caesar Pleaser Latin bases and affixes game

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