Minimus - Mouse on a Mission Trivia Quiz | Languages

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Minimus Mouse, are you ready to take on this mission to help young children to learn Latin through a Minimus Club? Choose the best reply.

Answer: paratus sum

Minimus would reply with "I am ready". He is a mouse so he is not "magnus" which means big, as in the word "magnify". He may be "sordidus" which means dirty but that is not likely to get him the job. He is definitely not a horse, "equus" as in "equestrian". Many people have been prepared to take on the role of setting up and running Minimus Clubs, ranging from people who have been teachers, to people like myself with a 40 year old "O-Level Certificate" in Latin.

The clubs have been supported by a range of printed and on-line resources and some financial help.

The course is also used in a formal lesson setting in some schools and forms part of the primary curriculum.

2. Your first task is to introduce the members of your family in Latin. A good way to do this is to make a set of cards and play "Snap", the game where if the information on both cards is about the same person you shout "SNAP!". Minimus, tell me which of these pairs would NOT be a "SNAP!" about a Roman family.

Answer: "filius" and "father"

The family who feature in the Minimus programme are
Flavius, the father ("pater", as in "paternal")
Lepidina, the mother ("mater", as in "maternal")
Iulius, the son ("filius", as in "filial")
Flavia, the daughter ("filia") and
Rufus, the little child ("infans", as in "infant").
There are also some servants and slaves and Vibrissa, the cat.

The characters are based on a real family which lived at the Roman fort at Vindolanda, near Hadrian's wall, around AD100. Some of the archaeological finds from the site are featured in the textbook which can be used in Minimus Clubs. Over 50,000 copies of this book have been sold all over the world.

3. By now, Minimus, the members of the club might have noticed that in Latin many masculine nouns and adjectives end in -us and feminine ones end in -a. To help them remember this you could play "Memory" or "Concentration", the game where matching pairs of cards are placed face down in a grid and players take it in turn to turn over two cards. If they match, the player keeps the cards. You can make it more difficult by insisting the adjective must be appropriate (both in ending and meaning) for the noun. To show you're up to the job, pick out a winning pair.

Answer: porcus sordidus

A "dirty pig" would be a match. "Vespa" is a wasp (remember the Vespa scooters buzzing around?) but it is not big and the ending is masculine. "Balaena", as in "baleen" - the comb-like structures by which some whales filter-feed, means "whale". A whale is unlikely to be described as very small, even though the ending of the adjective matches the noun.

The horse, "equus", could be taking strenuous exercise while it is being energetic but the endings do not match.

4. Minimus, to make it fun for the children, you will need to do some craft activities. A good one to start with would be to make a birthday card. Which of these Latin phrases would be appropriate to write inside?

Answer: felix dies tibi sit

"May the day be happy for you" would be more sensible than "beware of the dog" (cave canem). "Per ardua ad astra" is the motto of the Royal Air Force and means "through adversity to the stars". "Semper parata semper fidelis" was my school motto and means "always ready, always faithful".

Craft activities form an important part of Minimus Clubs as they can be a link to the culture of the Romans. Making a pair of sandals, dressing paper cutouts in the fashions of the day, weaving and writing on wax all help children to appreciate the way people lived many years ago.

5. Another good activity, Minimus, is singing. Which of the following songs would be a Latin equivalent of "London's burning"?

Answer: ardet Roma

"ardet Roma!, ardet Roma!, vigiles, O vigilate! en! en! flammae! aquam ferte! aquam ferte!"

The "vigiles" were watchmen and were involved with firefighting and patrolling the city of Rome at night.
"Gaius est agricola" is a Latin equivalent of "Old Macdonald had a Farm"; "tres mures" is sung to the tune of "Three Blind Mice" and "laetus natales, tibi" is "Happy Birthday to you".

6. Are you feeling hungry, Minimus? I've made something special for you. I used flour, water, oil, yeast and honey to make some slipper bread. What would you like to eat with it?

Answer: caseus

Minimus, being a mouse, would like the cheese. Casein is the protein in cheese. "Pavo" means "peacock", which was a favourite delicacy at Roman meals; "psittacus" means "parrot", as in the disease psittacosis and "pollo" is chicken. The word "pollo" is still being used today in Spanish, which has strong roots in Latin.

If the club has access to cooking facilities, there are several authentic recipes for biscuits/cookies and bread available. Honey would be used as sugar was not known to the Romans. Slipper bread was eaten by the Roman army and my Minimus Club members loved it. Ciabatta bread is today's equivalent.

7. Now, Minimus, you will have to make sure children follow your instructions. Which of these would you NOT ask your members to do?

Answer: dormite!

Minimus would be happy for them to write ("scribite", as in "scribe"), work ("laborate", as in "laboratory") and to read ("legite", as in "legible") but would would not expect them to sleep.

A good way of helping children with imperatives is to play games such as "Simo dicit" or "Simon says". If "Simo dicit" they do it but they don't if he doesn't tell them to. Alternatively, one child could play the role of a centurion and the rest are soldiers who are "out" if they make the wrong action.

8. Minimus, the members of your club will expect you to praise them when they do well. Which words would they most like to hear?

Answer: euge! bene! optime!

Hooray! Well done! Very well done! The members of the club would probably not be impressed if Minimus did a Julius Caesar impression and told them "I came, I saw, I conquered" and it would depend on what he was asking them to do three times a day (tris per diem). Oh dear! (eheu!), look! (ecce!) and don't touch! (noli tangere!) might be useful at times but hardly count as praise or encouragement.

Recognition of the club members' efforts and achievements is also catered for by a range of merchandise such as stickers and Minimus pencils, as well as certificates.

9. There's a slight possibility, Minimus, that at one of your meetings a child may feel unwell. You will, of course, ask "ubi tibi dolet?" (Where does it hurt?) But what answer would you expect if the child had toothache?

Answer: dentes mihi dolent

If the child answered "dorsum" it would be a backache. "Digiti" are fingers and "pedes" are feet. A dentist could sort out the toothache. He might read the digits on the cheque you pay him with, endorse it and then pedal his bicycle to the nearest bank to pay it in. The verb form "dolet" is not an error - the word "dorsum" is singular.

A role play between doctor and patient is a good method of reinforcing vocabulary for parts of the body. The cartoon strips which tell the stories are excellent for encouraging all club members to have a go at reading Latin aloud - many find it much easier than other languages as there are no silent letters and no accent to worry about.

10. Finally, Minimus, thank you for answering my questions. It's a close race between you and the other applicant, Vibrissa the cat. You are called Minimus because you are very small. If you can tell me why Vibrissa is a good name for a cat, the job is yours!

Answer: Vibrissa means "whiskers"

I suspect that Vibrissa will be rather upset that Minimus got the job and will be using her whiskers to find him and make his life a misery. "Beautiful" would be "formosa", which was the name given by the Portuguese to Taiwan. "Lucky" translates as "felix", a popular name for a cat. This is rather similar to the word for cat, "feles". Vibrissa is a large cat who may well be "gravis" or "heavy".

I hope I have given you an idea of how Minimus Clubs and resources help children to relate to the culture of the Romans, to get a taste of the Latin language and to better understand English grammar and vocabulary.
If you want to know more about how Minimus is progressing with his mission, just type "Minimus mouse" into your search engine. You'll also find him under Minimus - "the mouse who made Latin cool".

Source: Author bucknallbabe

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Leau before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Minimus - Mouse on a Mission Trivia Quiz

Minimus is a cheese-loving Roman mouse living with a family in Britain. He is working hard to help children of primary school age to learn Latin. Join him on his job interview to see if you would be up to the task.

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