Tactile Learners: Get With the Groove of Latin

Latin class, in fact most classes, in the classical setting tend to be taught from a more verbal perspective. Even the songs and jingles are music and rhythm mixed with verba. Students, who have good listening skills, tend to do very well in Latin class, since Latin is verbal. Obviously Latin is verbal in natura. Other languages, such as Sign Language, can be physical, but how do I make Latin a physical activity?

My third grade students must learn Latin and they enjoy learning the language of the ancients, but P.E. is "cool." They just love P.E. What is a physical fitness class but a language of anatomy, the movement of each sinew, muscle, and bone as the student surges up the hill to beat his or her friend. The student learns how one becomes swifter and more agile, through practice and hard work. How do I, the teacher, make Latin just as "cool" as racing a friend up a hill?

Albrecht Durer

Although there is debate about whether certain students learn better through tactile learning or not, I have a few students who really benefit from the physical language of each Latin word. The students and I make up an action to go with each chanted Latin word. Much like how a student can associate a Latin word with an English word in order to remember the Latin word's meaning, my students dance or move to the Latin word in order to remember its meaning.

If your Latin class feels stagnant or just plain boring, take your students on the playground and move to the music of Latin. The tactile learners in your classroom will start to remember Latin words better and all your students will enjoy the change of pace. Not all learning is done by sitting at a desk.

As a classical Lutheran educator, this also brings to mind the process of learning from participating in church. The churchgoer doesn't just sit there, melting into a gelatinous goo of apathy. No, he or she may stand, kneel or fold hands. Actions help us to remember important things. Actions are just as important as words and they should reflect what we speak or say. If we are remembering the Trinity, let us stand. If we are praying, let us bow our heads and fold our hands.
Words and actions go together. A rhetorician points to what he speaks of and pounds his fist for added force. He throws his hands towards the heavens and claps his hands. In fact, it is said that the Roman people got used to hearing Cicero's signature rhythm at the end of his sentences that they started clapping to the rhythm.
Latin should not seem like a chore but a memory game. If you get your students to believe that they are playing a game then they will want to learn Latin.