LECTIONES ANTIQVAE
Immortalis mortua vivit lingua Latina
Latin in Europe
Because of the Roman conquests, latin became extremely important in Europe.
As Rome was not only the political but also the intellectual capital of the Empire, Latin was used in everything that was produced among scholars.
It maintained this function from ancient times until very recently, when the emergence of modern nations caused it to fall into disuse, giving way to vernacular languages.
After the fall of the Roman empire, the political order was completely fragmented.
The Catholic Church, then, took on responsibility for maintaining the civilizational unity of the West, taking on functions that previously belonged to the Empire.
One of the ways she accomplished this was by making Latin her official language.
During this entire period, the number of works that were written by philosophers, poets, theologians, jurisconsults and other intellectuals is incalculable.
Did you know?
Ancient poetry was not based on accentuation and rhyme, but on syllable length?
Below is my recitation of an excerpt from the famous Aeneid, written by Virgil, one of the most influential writers who ever lived. In the West, poets of all ages have held him up as an example of elegance to be followed: Dante, in his famous Divine Comedy, takes him as his guide and is conducted by him from Hell to the entrance of Paradise:
" Now, art thou that Virgilius and that fountain
Which spreads abroad so wide a river of speech?
Canto 1, 79-80
Latin is hard, but not that hard
Many people do not allow themselves to learn Latin, thinking that it is too difficult.
The truth, however, is that the hardest part of any subject, not just a language, is the beginning.
When we become familiar with it, our learning becomes easier, even though the new elements that appear on our path are more complex than the previous ones.
" Nec ullo casu arbitror hoc constanti homini posse contingere, ut ulla intermissio fiat officii." - Cic., De Amic.
Knowing Latin allows us to have access to this immense cultural heritage, of which little has been translated and much is lost in translation.
Its knowledge also helps us understand many references made to classical literature by authors of all ages.
In this language, we travel through the writings not only of Cicero and Julius Caesar, who lived around 40 BC; of Seneca, who was born shortly after Christ; of the first Christians; of medieval theologians; of humanists; but even of René Descartes, Isaac Newton and more recent scholars.
Method
The classes proposed for beginners are based on the 1st volume of the Lingua Latina Per Se Illutrata series. Its title is Familia Romana.
In it, we follow the day-to-day life of a Roman lord, Julius, and his family.
In each chapter, new words and new elements emerge, so that the student learns them within a context, not in separate sentences, and practices them in a real Latin conversation.
Roma Aeterna is the title of the 2nd volume, which is aimed at intermediate students.
In it, the student is guided from the mythical origins of Rome, that is, the arrival of the Trojan hero Aeneas to Italy and the myth of the brothers Romulus and Remus, up to the times of Julius Caesar.
All the texts in this book were taken from classic authors so that the student immerses themselves in the knowledge of Roman history and culture.
As the student progresses, however, we shall alternate such books with others, such as the Epitome Historiae Sacrae, the Ad Alpes, and the Fabulae Syrae, or even works written by ancient authors.
But why speak Latin?
Because Latin is no longer spoken by any people, there are people who think that it is useless to learn to speak it and that we should be content with just reading it.
This idea is still very widespread, especially in universities, which reflects the method with which Latin is taught there.
In this method, learning the language is replaced by the mere learning of its grammar, causing the student to acquire vocabulary in the most tedious way possible: consulting the dictionary countless times while translating phrases that are often disconnected and without context.
There are teachers who go further and (honor sit auribus!) use texts by Julius Caesar or Cicero to teach beginners.
They analyze each element of a sentence, while the student desperately tries to remember the previous one not to lose track of what the sentence express.
Thus, if in the same sentence Caesar used a deponent verb, a future participle and a supine, the student is obliged to learn these three elements (and the words too!) having a single sentence as reference.
After hours, having worked so hard to understand one sentence, many students come to the conclusion that Latin is too difficult and give up.
Reading is a form of listening
A language is, first and foremost, a system of sounds, or rather, of sound symbols, with written language being subsequent to it.
Even in the daily lives of civilized people endowed with written language, speaking and listening predominate over it.
In fact, what is reading if not a secondary form of listening?
Indeed, when we read, we convert the figures we see into sounds we hear in our minds.
If we already know the words in question, our mind immediately recognizes the meaning associated with those sounds, and thus understanding occurs.
For this reason, even if the focus of learning an ancient language, such as Latin, is reading ancient writings, the best way to make students capable of it is to make them integrate writing and reading with listening and speaking, and not excluding the last two.
A good teaching method presents the students with one thing at a time and gives them the opportunity to find it in different examples, while the teacher leads a conversation that makes them use the learned element, as the LLPSI does.
Values and Availability
Private lessons
The trial class is free.
If the student wishes to continue, the individual class costs $20.00 and lasts one hour.
This value can be reduced when purchasing a package of 4 classes ($75.00) or 8 classes ($128.00).
Payment details will be provided during the first class.
Attention: If payment is not made, classes will not be provided. Thank you for your understanding.
Scheduling
You can easily schedule a trial class by selecting one of the available times on my Google Calendar.
* I'll leave the meeting after 10 minutes if the student doesn't show up.
After filling in your details and confirming your appointment, you will receive an email with the link that will be used to access the meeting.
Please, if you are unable to attend it, cancel your appointment in advance.
Once we agree on a fixed time for our future classes, I will reserve it for you.
Feel free, however, to contact me by email if you prefer: magister@lectionesantiquae.com.
Who am I?
My name is Giovani Marchi, and I am the founder of the Lectiones Antiquae project.
I started studying Latin at the age of 15 because I wanted to understand ancient texts in the original.
The languages I speak and can teach in are Portuguese, English, French, Italian and Modern Greek.
My goal is to make the language of the ancient Romans and the works written in it more accessible to those who wish to read or even listen to them.
In addition to teaching it, I record audiobooks to encourage the practice of listening and immediate understanding, the benefits of which were discussed above.
