Learn Latin & Greek

Classics for the People

On May 31, I saw yet another article about a Classics department dropping their language requirement.

Since Classics departments are dropping language requirements I have decided that I will learn Greek and Latin. Where do I begin?

— Jelle Huisman (@jellehsmn) May 31, 2021

This tweet touched a nerve, it was liked and shared by a few hundred people (thank you!)

Something clicked for me: if those Classics depts can’t do their job, I will teach myself, thank you very much! But there is obviously also a real problem in academia in general. Cutting languages is also bad for students who get (a) a degree and (b) a mountain of debt but are now deprived of the one “real life skill” namely the skill of actually learning another language.

So let the real decolonisation of the classics curriculum begin:

• Teach yourself Latin and Greek.

• Teach someone else Latin and Greek.

• And support good scholars and schools who care.

But how? Here are some ways you can teach yourself Latin and Greek:

(1) Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata

As someone wrote: “Hans Ørberg’s brilliantly executed textbook written only in Latin, but with the vocabulary so gradually introduced with the aid of illustrations that there is no need for a dictionary or previous study.”

• Buy the book here: https://www.abebooks.com/products/isbn/9781585102235/ (download)

• Listen to the book on YouTube

(2) Duolingo

• Use the Duolingo app to learn Latin (5 minutes per day) https://www.duolingo.com/course/la/en/Learn-Latin

(3) Minimus

• Use the Minimus book: http://www.minimuslatin.co.uk/

(4) Learn more about different language learning options

• The WikiHow article “How to Learn Latin on Your Own”

• All Language Resources has “Learning Latin Made Simple(r): A Self-Study Guide”

(5) Check out schools or courses such as:

• https://www.paideiainstitute.org/

• https://ancientlanguage.com/

• https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/latin-101-learning-a-classical-language

• https://www.latinitium.com/

• https://thepatrologist.com/shop/

• https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/latin/first-form-latin/

• https://www.latinum.org.uk/home

• https://learnchurchlatin.com/

(Photo by Gabriella Clare Marino on https://unsplash.com/photos/5A1N3pNS7g0)