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Try out an exciting way of learning and fully absorbing Latin or Greek or Akkadian! Living Classical Languages is all about enjoying our languages by speaking them – or trying to!
SALVÉTE! XAÍPETE! LŪ ŠULMUM!
Welcome to Living Classical Languages. Whether you want to begin learning classical languages (Latin, Greek, Akkadian), or you already know them to any level, with us your fluency will soar as you practise expressing yourself in the languages, meet lots of like-minded Latinists, Hellenists, Akkadologists, and certainly have loads of fun. Our sessions are free and open to all, including students from other universities and non-students, so why not give it a try?
Who we are
We are a group of students, researchers, lecturers, and language enthusiasts, seeking to cultivate the active use of perennial Latin, classical Greek, ancient Akkadian. Established in 2017 following the success of the first UCL Living Latin Workshop, led by Dr Emily Chow-Kambitsch, UCL Living Latin, then Living Latin & Greek, and now Living Classical Languages, provides a space to actively learn and practise the fascinating languages we are devoted to.
What we do
We facilitate free living classical languages instruction with the communicative approach at various levels, from complete beginners to advanced, and particularly those who have no previous experience speaking them. We are open to everyone!
For details on specific programmes, please refer to the section below. If you are interested in any of our classes, please contact the facilitator(s) of the session(s) indicating which one you would like to join and that you would like to be added to our mailing list.
Why we do it
We know from research on second-language acquisition in general and for our languages in particular [cf. Lloyd & Hunt (edd.), Communicative Approaches for Ancient Languages (2021)], and indeed from our very personal experience, that actively engaging with and immersing ourselves in Latin or Greek or Akkadian, just as we do with the modern languages we learn, enables us to develop a greater mastery of those languages. All the benefits of traditional composition practice are enhanced by the immediacy of conversation, which forces us to absorb in advance what we otherwise find in grammar books and dictionaries. It is composition, but on your feet! This in turn boosts the ability to read, not just translate, the literature with much greater ease. Philological intensive reading cannot be substituted, but the communicative approach fosters an ancillary extensive reading fluency [cf. Aurora, «Spoken Ancient Greek and Latin Today» (2022)] that allows us to cultivate a more confident appreciation of that literature in its wider sense (of interest also to philosophers or historians) and even engage with the scholarship and commentary produced across the ages directly in those languages (most of which remains untranslated) as we likewise discuss the texts in those same languages in which they were written. The absorption and degree of acquisition of the languages that active mastery ensures is also a guarantee that we will never now forget them or grow unable to access them for the rest of our lives.
We are a community of like-minded people who all share an interest in the classical languages, and, whether that be for academic reasons, or to access the wealth of their perennial literature, or because we simply find enjoyment in expressing ourselves in the languages we love, find tremendous joy speaking Latin and Greek and Akkadian in the friendly company of each other.
Come and join us!
When we do it
- Latin Beginners with Lúcás: Wednesdays 5-7 pm
- Latin Intermediate with Matthæus: Mondays 6-8 pm
- Greek 1 with Τῑμόθεος: Wednesdays 5-7 pm
- Greek 2 with Ἄϊτος: Tuesdays 5-7 pm
- Akkadian 1 with Awīṭ: Wednesdays 6-8 pm
- Akkadian 2 with Awīṭ: Thursdays 6-8 pm