Frequently Asked Questions
The following are some frequently asked questions that apply to both the LatinStudy and GreekStudy mailing lists.
- How do I manage the email?
- Where are the archives?
- Why can't I email an attachment to the list?
- Who is in charge?
- What is the posting policy?
- Are there other language mailing lists?
- How do I use a collation?
How do I manage the email?
The daily amount of email on a list varies from a normal dozen or so messages to the occasional deluge, especially when a new beginners group starts and there are many new subscribers.
If you don't want to see all the postings on the list, please use your email reader's filtering software. Group-specific postings should have a group tag in their subject line for easy identification. Each list's activities posting has the list of group tags. People are fallible, however, so you may see the occasional posting that doesn't interest you. Just delete it.
And no, you can't sign up for email from just one study group on a list. We are deliberately mixing experienced people with beginners.
However, if you want to batch a list's postings into one or two emails per day, go to the list's subscription page (LatinStudy or GreekStudy) to set your subscription to digest mode. Be sure to leave the digest mode as MIME and not plain text.
Where are the archives?
Neither list is archived. There are two reasons for this. First, we do not want to contribute to the delinquency of those-who-must-work-for-grades. The answers to your classwork can be found elsewhere (we cast a disapproving look in your general direction). Secondly, we want to encourage a community of people asking and answering questions. Merely searching through an archive for an answer does not encourage the collaborative learning exchanges that make these lists so valuable.
Why can't I email an attachment to the list?
Is that a picture or a virus in your email? Because of security concerns email with attachments will be rejected by the list software.
Who is in charge?
The lists are moderated by Meredith Dixon and Kirk Lougheed. Major decisions are made by the consensus of the oligarchs, the group of present and former coordinators and long-time list participants. Administrative issues should go to latinstudy-owner@lists.quasillum.com or greekstudy-owner@lists.quasillum.com. Questions about the language or software should be posted to the appropriate list.
What is the posting policy?
Posts to the list should be related to the study of Latin or Greek, as appropriate. Occasional off-topic posts are fine, although longer running, off-topic conversations will probably elicit protests from the other members.
In January of 2005 the LatinStudy list had a heated discussion about what constituted appropriate language on the list, considering that minors sometimes frequent the list. The upshot was the following posting from the listowner:
“LatinStudy is aimed at an adult audience and will stay that way. If someone wants to set up a group to translate the racy bits of Catullus or Martial, that's well within the charter. I confess, however, that when I coordinated a Martial group, I tended to stay with his tamer offerings.
There are around 800 subscribers on the list. I am not about to moderate the list and verify that every posting meets some standard. There will be instances when someone will post something that some or many people feel is offensive. We'll deal with that as it happens, which fortunately is relatively seldom.
If I feel someone is being deliberately disruptive to the list, I will unsubscribe that person. I have a vague memory of last doing so a couple of years ago.
I have described how this list has been operating for the past ten years. If anyone feels that that model of operation is unacceptable, they are welcome to go elsewhere. Similarly, if anyone feels the need to be gratuitously scatological or otherwise off topic, they may also go elsewhere.”
The above policy applies to both the LatinStudy and GreekStudy lists.
Are there other language mailing lists?
Yes. In addition to the LatinStudy and GreekStudy lists, there is Textkit, a bulletin-board based approach to learning Latin and ancient Greek. Textkit also has a supply of downloadable, public domain textbooks in PDF format.
Gary Bisaga has collected a list of language lists that, in his words, “should generally appeal to people who are language loons, self-starters, and glad to help others in their own language learning by sharing their experiences”.
- Englisc is a moderated forum for people to send in compositions in Old English, ask questions about learning, and just generally converse about the language. They also have an extensive list of on-going Old English projects, including a project to translate the Bible into Old English.
- The Selfstudyhebrew list is dedicated to the collaborative self-study of Hebrew (biblical, rabbinic, modern). There are usually several active groups working concurrently. Please note that this is a heterogeneous group and posts should be limited to issues relating to Hebrew language only.
- Italian is a group of adults at different stages of learning the Italian language. We also discuss Italian music, culture, art, food, travel and almost anything else Italian, hopefully using more and more of the language to discuss these topics as we learn. All are welcome from beginners to fluent.
- English_Spanish_Language_Interchange is a Yahoo group consisting of a number of English-speaking language learners (primarily norteamericanos), but also a number of native Spanish speakers from various countries. The members are very willing to offer evaluations of each others' posts, critiquing them from the point of view of a native language speaker. This list is pretty high traffic.
How do I use a collation?
After receiving your collation, you should compare your translation or homework with those of other people in order to correct yourself and learn. If your translation is very different from the others, figure out why. If you're stumped, post a question to the list or the group's coordinator. Take a look at some of the non-majority translations and try to figure whether they're right or not. Bear in mind that there can be generally more than one “right” answer or translation and that the majority does not necessarily rule.