National Latin Exam Time!

     It's going to be a crazy week! We are starting foreign policy congress and this Tuesday morning  I'm taking the National Latin Exam. I have quite the love/hate relationship with Latin and this is my last taking Latin, which means this is my last year to do well on the Latin exam. (Only enrolled students may take the exam). So today I want to talk about Latin and the Latin exam to pump myself up for this exam Tuesday morning.
       Taking Latin isn't like taking any other language. Latin is different, Latin is special. Other "living" language classes have oral exams and extend their grammar rules over different units throughout the years. Latin has no oral examination and you learn at least one new grammar rule a day. Latin is a grammar heavy class. It's also a culture heavy class, Ancient Rome provides a plethora of topics to explore. Be it religion, geography, recreation, family life, or government, Latin students learn all about. Latin is different, which is why our department is so small, because Latin is not for the faint of heart. I mean, which other language classes are willingly taking an exam before 8 AM Tuesday morning? No one else. Better yet, which other language class is excited about taking an exam before 8 AM? I assume no other class. For Latin students at Blair, the NLE is basically the Superbowl.
    

So what is the National Latin Exam or NLE for short? The NLE is an exam given to current Latin students to test basic mythology, grammar, vocabulary, etc. It is founded by the American Classical League and the National Junior Classical League. The exams are distributed based on what level Latin class the student is in. Current exams include: Latin I, Latin II, Latin III Prose, Latin III Poetry, Latin IV Prose, Latin IV Poetry, and AP Latin. The test is forty multiple choice questions within a forty minute time limit. Students who excel on the exam have the opportunity to win medals and certificates.

So what do we do the prepare? Well, lots and lots of homework that's for sure!Latin classes at Blair test on previous Latin exams and translate stories and excersies out of our infamous textbook, Ecce Romani! We do practice exams in class and put together multiple study guides. But I think it's kind of worth it, you know? The NLE only comes once a year and its always nice to do well.

So wish the sixteen other upper level Latin students and I good luck!