Recipient Profile

E-mail: cloesch2@nd.edu

Language: Latin

Location of Study: Rome, Italy

Program of Study: The Paideia Institute’s Living Latin in Rome

Sponsors: Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures and the College of Arts and Letters

Blog URL: http://sites.nd.edu/sla2019/author/cloesch2/

Pre-departure

A brief personal bio:

I am currently a freshman PLS and Classics double-major, with a minor in Linguistics from good old South Bend, IN. I took 4 years of Latin and 2 years of Greek in high school and have been enjoying continuing my Latin education at Notre Dame so far. I have been interested in Linguistics, particularly philology and sociolinguistics since high school, and love learn almost anything about language. I am looking forward to improving my Latin in Rome this summer.

Why this summer language abroad opportunity is important to me:

This SLA Grant will allow me to learn Latin in a way that I have so far been unable to- namely, spoken Latin. It will also help me to gain a better understanding and appreciation for the landmarks and sites that surrounded the writers of the texts that we read in the classroom. The ability to focus on just learning Latin for five weeks, instead of having to work on it amid my other classes during the year, will also aid my ability to read Latin more quickly and accurately. Being able to more fluently understand a synthetic language in addition to my native mostly analytic English will also influence my understanding and grasp of linguistic concepts and allow me to make cross-linguistic comparisons.

What I hope to achieve as a result of this summer study abroad experience:

“The Living Latin in Rome” Program will help me to better understand Latin through a spoken, conversational approach in a way that standard memorized vocabulary building cannot. The Program will greatly improve my Latin proficiency so that I can better understand the texts that I will read in my future Latin classes at Notre Dame. The familiarity with Rome’s sites, landmarks, and geography that the program will provide me will also help me better appreciate and contextualize what I read in my Classics and PLS classes. Being able to understand Latin more fluently will also help me to better understand and appreciate the Tridentine mass.

My specific learning goals for language and intercultural learning this summer:

1. By the end of the program, I will be able to hold an informal conversation in Latin.

2. By the end of the program, I will be able to read longer Latin passages with minimal aid from a dictionary.

3. By the end of the program, I will be able to refer to the geography of Rome to help me better understand geographical references in Latin texts.