Fall 2025 Latin Course Schedule
- John Cho
- Aug 13
- 12 min read
Updated: Sep 6
Fall Registration Deadline
August 31, 2025
(Ask us about late registration)
10-week Course
September 8 - November 16, 2025
2-hour class meets once a week over Zoom
A Letter to Parents
Why Your Child’s Latin Journey Matters More Than You Think
Dear Parents,
You’ve likely heard the familiar refrains: "Latin is dead," "It’s too difficult," or "What’s the practical use?" Perhaps your child has struggled with language learning before, or you’re concerned about adding another challenging subject to their already demanding schedule. These are perfectly reasonable concerns, and frankly, they deserve better answers than the usual platitudes about "mental discipline" and "SAT scores."
The truth is more compelling—and more personal—than that.
Your child lives in a world where genuine intellectual confidence is increasingly rare. They’re surrounded by shortcuts, quick fixes, and surface-level understanding. What they truly need is the deep, unshakeable confidence that comes from mastering something genuinely challenging—and discovering they’re far more capable than they ever imagined.
Latin isn’t just another subject. It’s a proving ground for the mind, a place where your child can discover that complexity yields to patient analysis, that confusion transforms into clarity, and that the most rewarding achievements require the most dedicated effort. The students who emerge from serious Latin study don’t just know an ancient language—they know themselves to be learners who can tackle anything.
But here’s what most Latin programs get wrong: they mistake brutality for rigor, confusion for challenge. They present the language as an ordeal to be endured rather than a mystery to be solved. This is pedagogical malpractice, and your child deserves better.
Our approach is different. We believe in high standards without humiliation, in intellectual rigor without intimidation. We know that the most profound learning happens when students feel both challenged and supported, when they’re stretched beyond their comfort zone but never abandoned there.
The courses below are designed not just to teach Latin, but to transform how your child thinks about learning itself. Choose the path that best fits where your child is now, knowing that each leads to the same destination: genuine mastery and the quiet confidence it brings.
Warmly,
John Cho
Tutor, Emerson Latin
For Beginning Students
ASAP Latin 1: A No-Nonsense Path to AP Latin
Grades 9–11 | Saturday 9–11am KST | Intensity Level: High
Perhaps your teenager has already sampled the typical high school language experience—years of vocabulary drills, worksheet exercises, and conversations about ordering pizza in Spanish that somehow never lead to actual fluency. Or maybe they’ve heard that Latin is “impossible” from friends who suffered through traditional programs that mistake confusion for rigor.
These experiences, while frustrating, have taught your child something valuable: that most language instruction is simply broken.
Our ASAP program represents a complete departure from this failed model. Instead of the typical four-year slog through endless conjugation charts and artificial dialogues, we’ve designed a focused, 60-hour campaign that cuts straight to the heart of what Latin actually is: a logical system that yields its secrets to systematic analysis.
Here’s our approach: We treat Latin like the intellectual puzzle it truly is. No games, no songs, no pretense that ancient Rome was just like modern America. Instead, we present the language as it deserves to be presented—as a sophisticated tool of thought that rewards careful study with genuine understanding.
Your child will discover that Caesar’s prose isn’t intimidatingly complex—it’s elegantly systematic. That Cicero’s periods aren’t impossibly convoluted—they’re masterfully structured. That Vergil’s poetry isn’t mysteriously beautiful—it’s precisely crafted according to principles they can understand and appreciate.
What your child gains: This fall course is the first of three intensive terms (fall, winter, spring) that together comprise the complete ASAP Latin sequence. By the end of all three terms, meeting just once weekly, they’ll possess the grammatical foundation that typically takes other programs up to three full years to build. More importantly, they’ll have proved to themselves that they can master genuinely challenging material when it’s presented clearly and logically.
Upon completion of the three-term sequence, students will be fully prepared to tackle AP Latin preparation and succeed on the exam—but more importantly, they’ll be equipped for a lifetime of confident learning.
Grammar Latin 1: A Rejection of Muddled Thinking
Grades 8–11 | Sunday 2-4pm KST | Intensity: Moderate
Your child has probably been told that there are many different "learning styles," and that successful language acquisition requires finding the approach that matches their particular brain. This sounds reasonable and inclusive, but it’s built on a false premise.
The truth is simpler and more encouraging: there’s one way that consistently produces fluent readers of Latin, and it’s the same way that’s worked for centuries. It’s called the grammar-translation method, and despite being unfashionable in educational circles, it remains undefeated in actually producing students who can read complex texts.
Why other approaches fail: The “immersive” methods so popular today work beautifully for living languages, where students can be corrected by native speakers and learn through daily conversation. But Latin has no native speakers, no daily conversation, and no forgiving social context where “close enough” is sufficient. Latin demands precision, and precision requires understanding structure.
Our approach: We embrace the analytical power of your child’s mind. Instead of hoping they’ll absorb Latin through osmosis, we teach them to dissect it like a geometry proof—systematically, logically, with every step building inevitably toward mastery.
This isn’t the mechanical drilling that gives grammar-translation a bad name. This is detective work, where every sentence is a mystery to be solved and every solution reveals more about how the language actually works.
What your child achieves: In 80 hours—half the time most programs require—your child will build an unshakeable foundation in Latin grammar. More importantly, they’ll develop the analytical thinking skills that make advanced study in any field more manageable.
This program creates confident problem-solvers who understand that complexity isn’t chaos—it’s simply order that hasn’t been properly explained yet.
Oxford Latin 1: A Refusal to Be Ignorant
Grades 7–11 | Saturday & Sunday 4–6pm KST | Intensity Level: Low
You may have heard that Latin is only suitable for “gifted” students, or that it requires a special kind of mind, or that starting too early is somehow harmful. These claims are not just wrong—they’re insulting to your child’s intelligence and potential.
The truth is that Latin has been successfully taught to children for over two millennia, not because it’s easy, but because it’s systematic. A well-designed Latin program doesn’t require exceptional students—it creates them.
The problem with scattered approaches: Most Latin programs, even in elite boarding schools, lack a structured curriculum that leads seamlessly to the AP Latin requirements established by the College Board. Teachers present their own material and personal agenda each year, creating educational gaps and inconsistencies. This lack of systematic progression produces students who can conjugate verbs but can’t read sentences, who know vocabulary but can’t understand passages, who pass individual tests but arrive at AP Latin woefully unprepared for the exam’s actual demands.
Our solution: We provide what elite schools promise but rarely deliver—a truly systematic curriculum with every lesson building toward AP Latin mastery. Over a full academic year, meeting twice weekly, we follow a carefully designed progression where each skill builds upon the last, every text prepares students for the next level of complexity, and every assessment measures genuine progress toward the ultimate goal of confident reading of Caesar, Cicero, and Vergil.
We combine the best of two proven approaches: the structural clarity of grammar-translation for analytical understanding, and the natural acquisition methods that help students develop an intuitive feel for the language. Your child will learn to think in Latin, not just about Latin.
What your child experiences: By year’s end, they won’t just know Latin—they’ll be readers of Latin, prepared for our advanced literature courses and equipped with thinking skills that will serve them in every academic endeavor.
Most importantly, they’ll have discovered something precious: that they’re capable of far more than they imagined, and that the most rewarding learning happens when we refuse to accept artificial limitations on what young minds can achieve.
For Intermediate Students
Cambridge Latin 2: Beyond the Flashcards—A Sane Approach to Latin
Grades 5–8 | Saturday 2–4pm KST | Intensity: Low
Your child has probably experienced the frustration of learning vocabulary lists that seem to evaporate from memory the moment the test is over. Or perhaps they’ve struggled with grammar rules that make perfect sense in isolation but fall apart the moment they encounter a real sentence. These aren’t signs that your child “isn’t good at languages”—they’re signs that something fundamental is wrong with how language is typically taught.
The great fallacy of modern language instruction is the belief that we must choose between “fun” and “effective,” between engagement and rigor. This false choice has produced programs that are either dry and mechanical or entertaining but ineffective.
Our approach: We reject this false choice entirely. The Cambridge Latin series, trusted by elite schools across the US and UK, proves that rigorous language learning can also be genuinely engaging. We spend 80% of our time with compelling Latin stories—not simplified children’s tales, but sophisticated narratives that respect your child’s intelligence while building language skills naturally.
But we’re not so naive as to believe that structure emerges through exposure alone. The remaining 20% of our instruction provides the analytical tools your child needs to understand why the language works as it does. This isn’t busy work—it’s the foundation that transforms casual familiarity into genuine mastery.
What your child achieves: By combining the natural acquisition of language through narrative with the intellectual precision of grammatical analysis, your child develops both fluent reading skills and analytical thinking abilities. They emerge prepared not just for advanced Latin study, but for confident learning in any complex field.
More importantly, they discover that true academic challenge isn’t punishment—it’s the path to genuine achievement and lasting confidence.
Natural Latin Beta 2: A Better Way to Learn a Language
Grades 5–8 | Sunday 9–11am KST | Intensity: Low
You’ve probably watched your child struggle with language learning that feels artificial—memorizing dialogues about situations they’ll never encounter, drilling verb forms in isolation from any meaningful context, working through exercises that test their memory rather than building their understanding.
This approach isn’t just ineffective—it’s actively harmful, creating the impression that language learning is a grim march through arbitrary rules rather than a journey toward genuine communication with great minds.
The problem with speed: Too many programs, anxious to show quick progress, rush students through material before understanding has had time to develop. The result is fragile knowledge that crumbles under pressure and students who lose confidence in their ability to master complex subjects.
Our philosophy: Young minds don’t need to be hurried—they need to be nourished. Real language acquisition happens not through force-feeding but through rich, comprehensible input that allows understanding to develop naturally.
In our Natural Latin Beta program, your child will hear, speak, read, and write Latin in meaningful contexts every week. Grammar and vocabulary aren’t memorized in isolation but absorbed through stories, conversations, and writing that make the ancient world come alive.
What your child experiences: Instead of racing toward an artificial finish line, your child builds deep, lasting language skills that serve as a foundation for advanced study. They develop not just knowledge of Latin, but confidence in their ability to master complex material through patient, thoughtful work.
Most importantly, they discover that learning can be both challenging and joyful—that the deepest understanding comes not from shortcuts but from taking the time to truly comprehend.
Oxford Latin 5: The Final Chapter in Your Latin Journey
Grades 8–11 | Saturday 7-9pm KST | Intensity: Moderate
Your child has come far in their Latin studies, but you may be wondering if they’re truly prepared for the challenges that lie ahead—the AP exam, advanced literature courses, or simply the satisfaction of reading authentic Roman texts with confidence and understanding.
This is the crucial moment in any Latin student’s journey: the transition from learning the language to mastering it, from studying about Roman authors to actually engaging with their ideas.
The challenge: Advanced Latin grammar isn’t just “more of the same”—it’s qualitatively different, requiring not just memory but genuine analytical skill. The subjunctive mood, the ablative absolute, the subtle art of Latin prose rhythm—these aren’t simply additional rules to memorize, but sophisticated tools that reveal the true elegance and power of Roman thought.
Our approach: Over 20 carefully structured classes, we complete your child’s grammatical education while beginning their transformation from student to reader. Every construction is taught not as an isolated rule but as part of the larger system that makes Latin literature so precise and powerful.
What your child achieves: By course completion, your child possesses every grammatical tool needed for confident reading of authentic Roman texts. More importantly, they’ve developed the analytical thinking skills that serve them well beyond Latin—in literature, history, philosophy, and any field requiring careful textual analysis.
This is where years of careful preparation pay off in genuine intellectual achievement and the quiet confidence that comes from true mastery.
For Advanced Students
Latin Literature: Caesar
Grades 9-12 | Sunday 7-9pm KST | Intensity: Moderate
There is no figure more quintessentially Roman than Julius Caesar, the ambitious general who declared himself dictator for life. Long before his clash with Pompey and his assassination on the Ides of March, Caesar served as governor of Gaul—where he launched a series of bold campaigns against tribes like the Helvetians, the Nervii, and even crossed into Britain. These dramatic events are vividly recounted in his own words in the Commentarii de Bello Gallico, which students will read, translate, and discuss throughout the course. This class offers rich exposure to authentic Latin prose and is ideal for students seeking to strengthen their translation skills. It also serves as excellent preparation for those planning to take the AP Latin Exam.
Comprehensive Passage Coverage: Prose Passages from Caesar’s Bellum Gallicum: We dedicate 20 class hours to an in-depth study of the prose passages from Caesar’s Bellum Gallicum. Each session focuses on detailed translation and comprehension of the text.
AP Style Practice Questions: For every passage studied, students engage with AP-style practice questions, including multiple choice, translation exercises, and short analysis responses. This varied practice helps students become adept at the different types of questions they will encounter on the exam.
Detailed Translation Practice: Emphasis is placed on literal translation with meticulous attention to the inflected endings of Latin words, which is essential for achieving a top score on the AP Latin Exam and in international contests at advanced levels. Students learn to translate accurately while understanding the grammatical structures of Latin.
Stylistic and Thematic Analysis: Beyond translation, we delve into analyzing passages for stylistic devices and figures of speech. Discussions also cover the broader thematic and philosophical meanings of the texts, providing a well-rounded understanding of the material.
AP Latin Prose
Grades 9-12 | Intensity: High
10 weeks | Saturday 11am-1pm KST
You may have heard the fashionable claim that AP courses are somehow "beneath" truly elite education, that the best schools create their own curricula that transcend such pedestrian concerns as standardized assessments. This sounds sophisticated, but it's actually a form of educational malpractice disguised as intellectual superiority.
The truth is more mundane but more useful: the AP Latin curriculum represents a rigorous, comprehensive course of study that has been refined over decades of experience. Schools that claim to offer something "beyond" AP often simply offer something less systematic and less thorough.
The real problem: Many schools treat the AP exam as an afterthought, spending most of the year on tangential material and then rushing through the actual required readings in the final months. This approach serves neither genuine education nor exam preparation—it achieves the worst of both worlds.
Our solution: We make AP preparation the heart of a comprehensive classical education, not an obstacle to it. This course must be taken concurrently with AP Poetry, as the College Board requires mastery of both prose and poetry for the AP Latin exam. Over the course of three connected terms in each track, we read, translate, and analyze every required prose passage with the thoroughness it deserves.
Each class session combines rigorous translation work with the kind of analytical thinking that produces not just correct answers but genuine understanding. Your child will engage with Pliny's sophisticated epistolary style—the primary prose author designated by the College Board—while also exploring the broader world of Roman literature through Caesar, Cicero, Seneca, and other masters of Latin prose. Every class includes practice with authentic AP-style questions, ensuring students are thoroughly prepared for the exam's specific format and expectations.
What your child achieves: Mastery of the AP curriculum, yes—but more importantly, the ability to engage confidently with some of the most sophisticated prose ever written. They develop not just Latin skills but the analytical and writing abilities that serve them well in college and beyond.
Your child will compete successfully not just on the AP exam but in advanced international competitions, proving their abilities on the global stage.
Students unable to join in the fall can enroll in our AP Latin Prose Winter Intensive to catch up with fall students during winter break and stay on track for the AP Latin Exam in May 2026.
Winter Intensive Schedule
2 weeks | December 22, 2025 - January 4, 2026 | M-Th, 9am-1pm KST
AP Latin Poetry
Grades 9-12 | Intensity: High
10 weeks | Sunday 11am-1pm KST
The Aeneid isn't just another text to "get through"—it's one of the supreme achievements of human literary art, a work that has shaped Western culture for over two millennia. Yet too many students encounter Vergil only through scattered excerpts and hurried explanations, never experiencing the full power and coherence of his epic vision.
This represents not just a missed educational opportunity but a genuine loss—your child deserves to experience what makes the Aeneid great, not just to know that it's supposed to be great.
The challenge: Vergil's poetry operates on multiple levels simultaneously—narrative, psychological, political, religious, literary. Understanding any one passage requires not just grammatical competence but cultural knowledge, literary sensitivity, and the ability to hear the music of Latin verse.
Our approach: We begin our comprehensive study in the fall, giving your child the time needed to truly inhabit Vergil's world. Every required passage receives the careful attention it deserves, with translation serving as the foundation for deeper literary and cultural analysis.
Your child will learn to hear the rhythm of Latin poetry, to appreciate Vergil's psychological insight, and to understand how the Aeneid speaks to universal themes of duty, loss, and the price of civilization.
What your child achieves: Genuine appreciation for one of literature's great masterworks, combined with the analytical skills needed for success on the AP exam and in international competition. More importantly, they develop the kind of literary sensitivity and cultural knowledge that marks truly educated people.
They emerge not just as successful test-takers but as readers capable of engaging with sophisticated literature in any tradition.
Students unable to join in the fall can enroll in our AP Latin Poetry Winter Intensive to catch up with fall students during winter break and stay on track for the AP Latin Exam in May 2026.
Winter Intensive Schedule
2 weeks | December 22, 2025 - January 4, 2026 | M-Th, 2-6pm KST
Ready to begin your child's transformation into a confident, capable scholar of the classical world?
Choose the course that meets your child where they are and discover where dedicated study can take them. Registration closes August 31, 2025.
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