Plus, a Latin letter to Santa

She’s here!

We’re not sure if she’s made a list or has checked it twice — and we do not want to be on it at all if she has — but Erictho has finally come to town! Our tiered Latin reader about Erictho in Lucan’s Pharsalia is now available on Amazon in the US, UK, and large EU markets. We will continue to expand availability of Erictho: Tartarorum Terror by adding it to Ingram Spark and their distributors. If you have questions about availability, please email us: contact@lupusalatus.com.

Bridging the “intermediate gap”

Many learners find that despite having attained a solid grasp of grammar, reading authentic Roman literature is still too often a struggle, and doubly so when it comes to poetry. The grammar and vocabulary gap between the texts they’re used to from their textbooks and readers, on the one hand, and unadapted classical-era Latin, on the other, is simply too large. Yet the resources to bridge this gap are almost non-existent: learners are simply told to force their way towards literature using a dictionary, or at best a bilingual edition.

The tiered reading approach that we used to write Erictho: Tartarorum Terror is a great way to bridge the intermediate gap, as it’s commonly called. A target text is picked and then rephrased at two or more lower levels of difficulty, ideally supplied with a monolingual glossary using vocabulary commonly found in textbooks. The amount of input is thus greatly amplified, and the learner is able to start at a comfortable level and progress to the original text while staying in the target language. Watch our demonstration of the tiered reading approach!


Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!

The most reprinted newspaper editorial in the English language is a response to eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon’s question about the existence of St.Nick. The Sun’s editor Francis Pharcellus Church first published his thoughtful response in 1897, which was widely reprinted during the holiday season throughout the 20th century. And a Latin translation exists! Before Christmas, we will edit the Latin version of this timeless Classics and post a recitation of in on Youtube. We’ll also make a pdf of the text available here for you!

Curate ut optime (et festive) valeatis!


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