Greek & Latin Summer School

     NB: we intend to offer all classes in person on campus.  Should the Government's public health guidelines prevent us from doing so, we may move all (or part of) our teaching online.  The Course outline and details regarding accommodation below are tentative and subject to change, depending on how the global COVID-19 situation develops.        

                              22nd annual, 8-week intensive

INTERNATIONAL GREEK AND LATIN SUMMER SCHOOL

June 21st - August 12th 2021

UCC’s Greek and Latin Summer School was established in 1999 in order to offer complete beginners the opportunity to acquire the skills necessary for reading original Ancient Greek or Latin texts.

The course is ideal for Masters and Doctoral students in any discipline who require knowledge of either language for their future research and applications from such candidates will be prioritized. Although undergraduate students, teachers and anyone over the age of 18 with an interest in Classics are welcome to apply, the Department of Classics reserves the right to reject applications based on the previous academic record of the applicants.

The Summer School was awarded the European Label for Innovative and Creative Language Teaching and Learning in 2004 by the Linguistics Institute of Ireland on behalf of the European Commission. The jurors were "impressed by the planning, energy and dedication which is being invested to ensure the success of such an intensive language learning module" and that we "have succeeded in making the UCC course exemplary at an international level" due to "the vision and professionalism" of all involved.

Permanent Staff

Mrs Vicky Janssens, Director and Latin Teacher

How to Contact Us

Enquiries about the Summer School should be directed to:

Mrs. Vicky Janssens, Department of Classics, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

tel +353-21-4903618/2359; fax +353-21-4903277; e-mail v.janssens@ucc.ie

Course Modules

Parallel programmes are offered in Latin and Ancient Greek and both start from scratch, with the assumption that students have no prior experience in either language. The 8 weeks actually comprise 3 separate modules.

In Latin:

LT6101 Beginners' Latin I: weeks 1-4 (15 ECTS credits)

LT6002 Beginners' Latin II: weeks 5-6 (5 ECTS credits)

LT6003 Latin Texts: weeks 7-8 (5 ECTS credits)

In Greek:

GK6101 Beginners' Greek I: weeks 1-4 (15 ECTS credits)

GK6002 Beginners' Greek II: weeks 5-6 (5 ECTS credits)

GK6003 Greek Texts: weeks 7-8 (5 ECTS credits)

Classroom Hours

In each language 6 weeks will be spent completing the basic grammar. Classes occupy the mornings 6 days a week (9.30am-1pm MWF, 10am-12.30pm TThS, with a half-hour coffee break each day). Weekly tests will be held on Saturdays at 10am (no alternative arrangements will be possible). It is essential to complete and pass these to gain credit.

During the last two weeks classes are from 10am-1pm (with a half-hour coffee break) for 8 days (Monday to Friday and the following Monday to Wednesday) and the final exam will be on the morning of the last Thursday (i.e. August 12th)

For the whole 8 weeks, afternoons are left free to allow for absorption of material and to complete homework assignments for the following day, and staff are always on hand for consultation. Though classes are only held in the morning the course is very demanding and requires complete dedication.

Textbooks

The basic textbooks for Latin for the first 6 weeks are:

P. Jones & K. Sidwell, Reading Latin: Grammar and Exercises,2nd ed. (Cambridge, 2016)

P. Jones & K. Sidwell, Reading Latin: Text and Vocabulary 2nd ed. (Cambridge, 2016)

Module 1 (weeks 1-4) will cover Reading Latin sections 1-4; Module 2 (weeks 5-6) will cover Reading Latin section 5. Module 3 (weeks 7-8): text to be announced.

The basic textbooks for Greek for the first 6 weeks are:

Reading Greek: Grammar and Exercises (Cambridge, 2007)

Reading Greek: Text and Vocabulary (Cambridge, 2007)

Module 1 (weeks 1-4) will cover Reading Greek parts 1-3; Module 2 (weeks 5-6) will cover Reading Greek parts 4-5. Module 3 (weeks 7-8): text to be announced.

In the final two weeks of the course students will read original texts. The aim is to read as much original Greek or Latin as possible while at the same time acquainting the students with the basic tools for translations (dictionaries, grammar books, commentaries, translations, etc.).

Texts in previous years have included Vergil Aeneid 4 and 6, Livy Book 1, Horace Odes I and Ovid's Heroides in the Latin class, and Plato's Apology and some of Lysias' speeches in the Greek class.

Fees and How to Apply

The tuition fee (including text books) for the 8-week course is €1900.

Payment must be made in Euro by electronic bank transfer (contact v.janssens@ucc.ie for payment details). Please note that we do not accept cheques or credit card payments.

There is no deadline for the submission of application forms, but applications will be dealt with on a first-come, first-served basis. To guarantee a spot, please post or e-mail us your completed Application Form 2021 accompanied by a non-refundable deposit of 10%.

Your application will only be secured once we receive both the Application Form 2021 and the deposit.

Full payment must be made before 22nd May 2021.  

Accommodation and Campus Facilities

Accommodation

We offer self-catering accommodation at University Hall, a 3/5-bed apartment complex near the main UCC campus.

The charge for accommodation from Sunday 20th June until Friday 13th August is €1350.

Should you wish to arrange your own accommodation, you may find websites such as www.ucccampusaccommodation.com, Daft, Myhome, or AIRBnB useful.

Campus Facilities

Students will be able to use the UCC Library and the university’s sports complex (http://www.mardykearena.com/).

School Reviews

I took the Summer Latin course in 2014 and I thoroughly enjoyed the course.  To be perfectly clear, this is an intensive course and requires a considerable investment of time and effort on the part of the students. That being said, I have never had more fun in a language class.  Vicky's instruction is energetic, enthusiastic and engaging and had me looking forward to class every day, even though the material was frequently challenging.  By the end of the first four weeks I was amazed by how much I had learned and how much Latin I was able to translate without a dictionary. The exams were difficult, the homework was time consuming (expect at least as much time completing the homework assignments as is spent in the classroom), the pace was sometimes gruelling, but it was all worth it in the end.  As an Historian of the sixteenth century, I encounter Latin texts on a weekly, if not daily, basis and this course provided an excellent foundation for my work with those documents.  I cannot say enough good things about Vicky and her instruction methods, I cannot imagine anyone else covering the material as thoroughly and as enjoyably as she does.  As I said, though, this is an intensive course, be prepared to work and work hard in order to get the most out it.

                                                                                                                                William Kramer, USA

I went on to teach Latin for two years to intermediate school and had great success thanks to you and your program. One of my former students is now enrolled in a prestigious university Classics program and I was her first Latin teacher. Your program was one of the best language courses I have ever taken. I couldn't praise it highly enough. 

                                                                                                                                Brendan Sheridan, USA

The Latin Summer Course at UCC is an intensive, challenging, and rewarding experience. Before this course, I had had four years of both formal and informal Latin, yet this course was able to provide a much more solid foundation on which I can continue to build. The teachers were competent both in the language and as teachers, and what is more, they were excited to teach, which made a great difference. I think that, as a Roman Catholic seminarian, I will be able to use what I learned in this course to enter more deeply into the rich patrimony of the Church, which would be otherwise impossible without facility in Latin. Overall, then, I can wholeheartedly recommend this course to anyone who is willing to do the work and to engage one of the main languages of Western culture.                                      

                                                                                                                                Mitchell Brown, USA

UCC's Greek Summer School is a four-star program, which exceeded my ambitious expectations.  The goal of my summer sabbatical was to be able to enjoyably access classical Greek texts in my spare time.  If Lawrence of Arabia could do it, why not I?  I had a bit of a head start, having studied Homeric Greek in high school fifty years ago.  That certainly helped, but only subliminally.  I am now enjoying the dividends of eight weeks of intensive study, with stimulating classmates, dedicated instructors, and excellent course materials.

                                                                                                                                William Anderson, USA

My undergraduate degree was in Classical Studies and German and, having spent the summer studying Latin, my knowledge of the grammar rules of both languages has increased greatly, and I can now engage with German grammar with greater confidence. I would certainly recommend any student studying a Germanic or Romance language to take part in the summer school to better their understanding of the grammar of their chosen languages.

The class hours were very reasonable and the workload manageable, though it seemed daunting at first. The teachers were very approachable and showed genuine care for the welfare of their students’ studies.                                                                                                             

Gavin O’Brien, Ireland

UCC's Summer Latin Program is very intensive and requires a lot of dedication, but the payoff is more than I could have hoped for.  I went from one semester of basic Latin to being able to sight read with a good amount of fluency.  Even during the course, I would marvel to my classmates that we went from not being able to read anything to being able to read Ovid, and even when my English translation wasn't perfect, I still understood the meaning well.  The teachers - Vicky and Shane - were both absolutely wonderful and exhibited outstanding levels of care and enthusiasm, and I truly don't know how well I would have done in such a challenging course if not for their excellent teaching.  I only wish that there was another class I could take with them.  I would highly recommend this program to anyone interested in putting in the work for a wonderful Latin foundation in only eight weeks.

  Kaitlin Moore, USA