User:Johnricard

Wikipedia user Johnricard is known as John Finley Ricard.

My main interests are in classical studies, Latin and ancient Greek, ancient philosophy (particularly ancient mysticism and shamanism in classical Greco-Roman culture) and ancient forms of magic and sorcery.

Education

I received my M.A. in Classics from Florida State University and my B.A. in History of Art also from Florida State University.

Philosophy of Education

In learning a foreign language, mastery must be demonstrated through active use of the language, i.e. being able to produce communication as needed on demand. Passive use of the language is important, as that is half of the exchange in communication - but not the means by which we should assess someone's mastery of a language.

Since Latin is referred to as a dead language, its methodology of instruction has typically been reserved to merely deciphering texts, translating the texts to understand what they say. This creates a problem for students in learning the language as they never learn how to actively communicate and instead rely on passively translating everything they do read. This makes the language artificial and a code more so than a language to be understood. This also is reinforced by the grammar method of learning. I believe the natural method of learning and teaching a language is more beneficial as it gives the student the power to communicate in the language thereby giving them the ability to think in the language as opposed to relying on translating all thought in the target language into their native language to communicate.

Professional Background and Experience

Currently I am working on my professional certification for Latin in the state of Florida. I teach at Doctors Charter School in Miami Shores, Florida. This is my 2nd year teaching Latin and I have taught courses in Introduction to Latin, Latin I, Latin II and Latin III.

I have presented papers at several conferences on various topics. To learn more, please visit my online portfolio at JohnRicard.info