Stage I·Grades 7 & 8·Middle school
Oxford Latin
For the twelve- and thirteen-year-old, who is ready to ask why. Half story, half grammar: the reading keeps the language alive, and the grammar makes it exact.
- ForGrades 7 and 8, no Latin needed
- MethodHalf nature method, half grammar-translation
- LengthSix terms, under a year and a half
- MeetsOnce a week, two hours
Why this way, at this age
The old schools taught the liberal arts in an order: grammar first, then logic, then rhetoric. Middle school is the age they gave to logic. A thirteen-year-old wants reasons, and enjoys catching a rule at work. The grammar-translation method becomes a powerful tool here, because it names each rule and asks the student to apply it.
But a middle schooler is still a reader of stories, and still learns well from context. So Oxford Latin keeps both: each lesson begins with a Latin story about one Roman family, set in a real and turbulent stretch of Roman history, read for meaning; then the grammar inside it is named, practiced, and put to work in translation.
A class period, step by step
- Certamen
A quick round of questions on what was learned last class: forms, vocabulary, grammar, one student at a time. Students prepare for it without being told, and it is the format of the Latin contests.
- Review
We go over the homework: the translation of the assigned Latin passage, and the exercises in grammar and syntax.
- New grammar, and practice
The new grammar and syntax of the chapter, explained as briefly as it can be, then practiced aloud until it settles.
- Socratic seminar
A discussion of the Roman world, drawn from the topics of the reading: politics, family, religion, war.
The road from here
Oxford Latin takes six of our terms, under a year and a half. Then Latin Literature, then AP Latin, and, for those who want to go further, Advanced Latin Literature.
- Oxford LatinSix terms, under a year and a half
- Latin LiteratureTwo courses in two terms, or one Summer Intensive
- AP LatinFall to the May exam, or one Summer Intensive
- Advanced Latin LiteratureOptional: for the top levels of the contests
One honest note
Oxford Latin sits between Natural Latin’s immersion and Grammar Latin’s directness. It moves through material at a college level, and by the final term, students are reading real Roman authors rather than Latin written for students.
This winter
- Oxford Latin 1, for beginners, from November 21Saturdays, 11 AM–1 PM Korea time
- Oxford Latin 3, for about a year of Latin, from November 21Saturdays, 7–9 PM Korea time
Common to every Latin course
What every course here shares
One teacher, live, every class
Every class, from a ten-year-old’s first sentence to the last line of the AP exam, is taught live over Zoom, in English, by Ioannes Magister. There is no second teacher and no substitute. Classes last two hours.
The work happens in the room
Students read aloud, translate at sight, and defend their answers out loud. A machine can translate a Latin sentence; only the student can learn to read it, and in class there is nothing to outsource. Latin in the age of AI →
Nothing is lost
Every class is recorded and posted to the student’s Google Classroom for the whole course. Homework is submitted online, checked, and graded. When a question cannot wait until the next class, the answer comes as a short video, made for that question. A student who is busy for a whole term can even follow the course from the recordings and hand in the work online; several students each term do exactly that. How that works →
Every course leads to the contests
Each class opens with a certamen (why?), and the translation practiced in class is the literal kind the contests reward. Before each international contest in Latin and classical humanities, a separate preparation course of up to five sessions works through real past exams, many going back decades, and study guides of our own. Our students take part through the year, and their results are recorded as they come in.
Credit and standing
Emerson Latin works on the Carnegie Unit standard used in American secondary schools, is a registered chapter sponsor of the National Latin Honor Society through the American Classical League, and is pursuing accreditation with WASC. Students who have needed credit transferred to their schools have received it, on the strength of our syllabus and transcript.
Is this the right course for your child?
Fifteen minutes will settle it, and it costs nothing: in English with Ioannes Magister over Zoom, or in Korean with our administrator by phone. If your child already knows some Latin, a free Placement Reading shows exactly where to begin.