Speaking Latin and Greek for a Day
22nd June 2023
When I started to learn Latin at school in the 1990s, the idea that the spoken form of the language should be used as part of its teaching barely arose. Certainly, we were encouraged to read gobbets of text aloud before translating them to appreciate their auditory effects: for instance Virgil’s sound-painting of a storm or the hissing of snakes. But the language played little part in active communication. One teacher would bellow sedete! (“sit down!”) after he entered the room, and call us lumbricus terrestris (“earthworm”) if he found our homework less than impressive. However, beyond this, the language in those times remained firmly on the printed page.
Yet, in recent years, the discipline of Classics has shown itself to be far more open to trying out different methods of teaching. The use of spoken Latin is becoming increasingly popular. In the UK, various groups at Oxford are in the forefront of using the ‘Active Method’ to teach not just Latin, but also Ancient Greek and other early languages. I recently visited Oxford to attend a Dies Latinus et Graecus (“Latin and Greek Day”), designed amongst other things to show teachers and students how this method may be used practically.