This log will track my efforts to learn Latin and Ancient Greek (plus any other classical/dead languages I choose to study in the future).
For years now I've been intending to learn both of them - and also Biblical Hebrew - but I coudn't decide on which one to study first, what resources to use, whether I should for now concentrate on living languages only or not, et cetera. I just let time pass expecting things to sort themselves out, and while that didn't happen, an opportunity that couldn't be refused did present itself: Latin and Ancient Greek online courses, both offered by a single institution, following the direct method. The classes are given solely in Latin or Ancient Greek, and the books used are Familia romana and Vivarium Novum's edition of Athenaze (refer to this great post by lorinth for a good overview of how the method is supposed to work).
The courses are coupled with a collection of classics to be published by the school itself and sent to the students, at the rate of one book per month, starting with an edition of the four Gospels in Greek, accompanied by their Latin counterpart of the Vulgata. The school will also offer online seminars on each book (with classes also given in Latin or Ancient Greek) and the audiobook version of them for download.
Needless to say, I'm enrolled. I'm aware, of course, that the collection isn't going to be of much use for a long time, but I guess owning copies of the books I want to be able to read will be a great motivating factor. However, for me and my particular learning style I believe the access to full recordings of the books is even more important than the physical collection (since there are tons of great editions of most of the books that will comprise it after all, and all of them are available on the Internet too).
There will be 40 classes for each language, a new one being made available every week, so the courses will take me the rest of the year at the least (of course, being online means that I can go through them at my own pace). I don't know yet if there will be a second year based on Roma aeterna and Athenaze II, but, with the first part completed, I think I'll have no problem continuing on my own, if necessary.
Though the first three classes of each course are already available, I'm waiting for Familia romana and Athenaze to be delivered, so my estimate is to get started next week or just after Easter. I'm very excited.
Statistics: Posted by zatris — Fri Mar 18, 2016 9:50 pm