APIS VERBORUM

Abstract

Examiners and moderators of Latin annually note that the biggest bane of Latin matriculants is inadequate command of vocabulary. The common core syllabus prescribes active command of the 1500 words contained in Smuts et aI., Lexis Latina (pretoria, Academica 1987), but matriculants have in the past seldom attained this goal. CASA-WP teachers have at last found a cure: for the second year running the WP-Branch teachers' sub-committee late in 1994 ran an Apis Verborum ("Word Bee"). Schools enter per standard. For each class a number of words from Lexis Latina is prescribed. Standardised texts are circulated to be taken at each school on a set date, and are marked by the local teacher. These are then submitted to the committee for moderation. Prizes are awarded not for individual achievement but for the average mark attained by the class as a whole. In 1994 the standard was exceptional: Jan van Riebeeck went off with first prize in Std. 10 with 98%, and also achieved two second places and two third places. The standard in the other classes was consistantly excellent: Herschel (std 9 winner) also achieved 98%, and this school's std 8 and 7 classes could not be bettered, with a 100% and 99% average mark , respectively. In std 6 the overall winners were Wynberg Girls' High, whose std 8 and 9 pupils were placed second in their respective standards.