Fellini has continued his studies in Latin with teacher Kristen Kanipe, MA. He has advanced past the Veni Vini Vici series and into the Audentes Fortuna Luvat: Intermediate Level Latin. He’s working on part 4. The series so far is learning through discussion with less focus on writing and memorization, to foster the love of the language.

Here is what his teacher writes of him:

” Fellini is doing exceedingly well with his Latin studies. I truly could not be prouder of him. It’s not only that his understanding of the language is deepening with each class, but that he’s increasing in his confidence. Fellini has always been an engaging, imaginative, and curious learner, and he’s always been quite enthusiastic and participative in our class meetings, but I do know that there have been times when he’s felt a bit self-conscious or intimidated, and this has sometimes impacted his willingness to translate certain passages or to answer certain questions. I’ve been extremely pleased to see him feeling increasingly excited to translate even more challenging passages, and I have been impressed by how well he’s understanding the grammar. We recently spent quite a bit of time reviewing noun endings and discussing the dative case (I believe I mentioned in my previous message that Fellini demonstrated an understanding of how an indirect object (this is what we use the dative case for) functions by coming up with several sentences involving a senator harming the emperor), but in our most recent meeting, we shifted our focus back to verbs. Sometimes when we make a transition after focusing so intently on another area, things can feel a bit fuzzy, particularly when a learner has also been away from class (as Fellini was during his recent trip). Yet Fellini remembered quite a bit from our previous discussions of verbs. I get the sense that the language is coming together for him more easily; while it still requires effort (and Fellini always gives his best effort!), I think he feels increasingly comfortable with it, and this is evident in his growing excitement around translation and grammatical exercises. He’s even been keen to translate an entire story on his own! Because he is putting himself out there so much, he’s ensuring that he’s working with the language on a more intense level, and this has benefited him tremendously: I see a big difference in not only the accuracy of his translation work, but in the ease with which he seems to put the pieces together. I’ve also been incredibly impressed with the amount of vocabulary he’s been retaining. Overall, I really cannot say enough good things about his work, his attitude, and his progress, and I am so pleased to be able to offer such a stellar progress report.

Fellini is a unique and creative learner with a great sense of humor. In our last class, as we were beginning our discussion of the second person plural for verbs, I asked him if “y’all” is used much in Florida. He said it wasn’t (and that it was more of an Alabama thing!), and then he proceeded to say that many southerners say, “yeehaw, y’all!” I don’t know that this is necessarily true, but I appreciated his linking of the two sounds; he’s very clever and quick witted. Fellini makes me laugh at least once (and generally much more) in every class, and I am pleased that he seems to find the classroom such a comfortable environment.”