Need something for your advanced class after the AP or the weeks before graduation or final exams or as something fun to do on Fridays? It began that way, but I soon realized how it taught the students about language. As the students came into class, I would be playing a song and the title or first few lines or chorus would be projected on the board. As a group, they would try to translate it into Latin, using dictionaries but no online resources. Some of the things they learned about were: the language of idiom, and we could discuss how we might not know all the nuances when we translate a Latin poem; that there is usually more than one way to render a translation; and various grammar constructions. Sometimes we could discuss a song in relation to a Latin poem; other times I chose a song related to a holiday. Even more fun – have them sing it in Latin!
Example:
“You Can’t Hurry Love”, by Phil Collins
You can’t hurry love, you just have to wait.
Nōn potes amōrem festināre, tibi modo exspectandum (est).
By Elizabeth Baer
Lenox MA Memorial Middle and High School, Retired