Modern educational “reformers” unplugged the long extension cord that connected us to our history. Classical educators are now in the process of plugging education back into its power source. Indeed, by its very name, Classical Education makes a promise: We will bring you into contact with the greatness of the Classical world. And we cannot do this without the Classical languages. Are we succeeding?
We founded the Ancient Language Institute to help with this. We want people to develop such proficiency with Latin and Ancient Greek that they will be able to “enter the ancient courts of ancient men,” as Machiavelli once wrote, and “ask them the reason for their actions.” If you are going to speak with Homer and Virgil, you need to understand their actual words.
In our classes, tutorials, and teacher trainings, we use the languages we are learning. Day one, as a total beginner, you’ll speak the language you’re studying. It’s like baseball: You can watch tape of a good hitter, you can read about the mechanics of a good swing, you can listen to a coach explain how to stand in the box. But at the end of the day, you really just need to grab a bat and swing, over and over again.
That is what we do in our courses. We are training students to read ancient texts. But we use lots of methods to get there. We read simple stories, have conversations, listen to audio, memorize vocabulary, and study grammar. While we adjust the details based on the language being studied and the background of the students, the principles of learning by example, practicing new skills, and learning the theory behind it all, are constant.
We run online courses for adults in Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, and Old English. We also do summer training for Latin teachers, and run year-long courses for kids in Latin and a High School Ancient Greek course. We have a few other fun initiatives going on as well, from Greek immersion camps, to a podcast on the humanistic tradition, to publishing a brand-new Old English textbook.
In the same letter in which Machiavelli spoke of the “ancient courts of ancient men,” he called his reading of the ancients “that food… which I was born for.” We hope you will enjoy the same feast, and would love for you to come visit us for a taste.
Come take a tour of what we have to offer: https://ancientlanguage.com
