When I wrote this entry, I lazily took Scipio’s word for it that there were no other blogs in Latin; had I given it a moment’s thought, I would have realized that couldn’t be the case (there are a couple of blogs in Klingon, after all), and miram in the comments kindly directed me to three others: DEVS EX CRAPVLA, colloquia in lingua latina, and Diarium latinum. Furthermore, Justin of The Mad Latinist’s Journal mentions that he will be posting only in Latin from July 29th to August 6th; he also links to a list of a half-dozen other blogs in Latin. Me paenitet offendisse!
I wonder, is it coincidental that all of these are livejournal blogs (except Scipio Scripsit)? Maybe everyone got to them via that Wikipedia/Latin site.
Now I’m waiting for the classical Chinese and Japanese blogs.
Can one guess the writer’s first language from their Latin blogging style? Is there still “Latin Prose Composition”, where they try to get schoolboys (third form maybe) to write in imitation of de Bello Gallico and in Catilinam?
I have no idea why there are so many on LJ and so few elsewhere. It could just be that I am more likely to hear about ones that are on LJ, but it does seem very odd. The Wikipedia page is of course expressly about LiveJournal, so that’s why Scipio Scripsit isn’t listed.
One can definitely guess someone’s first language from their Latin composition. Of course there are very few people who can compose Latin well, so often it’s a question of analyzing their errors, rather thant their style.
Many colleges still offer Latin composition, but in the US I would be shocked to see an old fashioned composition course being taught in Highschool or lower. That said, Latin classes for that age group do typically involve composition assignments, but the standards are not anywhere near as high as they were for the traditional European classes. I remember hearing about a German composition exam where you were marked down for using words and/or constructions that did not occur in Cicero more than twice. His letters, of course, did not count 😉
That’s just sick.
I just discovered another one: http://pluteopleno.blogspot.com/